Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo

Sacred Heart Cathedral
Sacred Heart Cathedral
36°45′36″S 144°16′26″E
Address	80 Wattle Street, Bendigo, Victoria
Country	Australia
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	sacredheartcathedral.org.au
History
Status	Cathedral[1]
Founded	1895
Founder(s)	Martin Crane
Dedication	Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Consecrated	1901
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	William Tappin Bates, Smart and McCutcheon
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1897 – 1977
Specifications
Length	75 metres (246 ft)
Width	43 metres (141 ft)
Height	87 metres (285 ft)
Materials	Sandstone
Administration
Diocese	Sandhurst
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Shane Mackinlay
Victorian Heritage Register
Official name	Sacred Heart Cathedral
Type	State heritage (Religion)
Designated	4 September 1997
Reference no.	3311

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo, is an Australian cathedral. It is the Roman Catholic cathedral church of the Diocese of Sandhurst and seat of Bishop Shane Mackinlay. The cathedral is located in the provincial city of Bendigo, Victoria.

The cathedral was designed in the Gothic Revival style in 1895 by an architect of the firm Reed, Barnes and Tappin. TIt was listed on the Victorian Heritage Register on 4 September 1997.^[2]

Description

Sacred Heart Cathedral is one of Australia's largest churches and the third tallest after St Patrick's Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne.^{[citation needed]} It is exceptionally large for a provincial city cathedral in Australia and its construction was made possible chiefly through the estate of Henry Backhaus (1811–1882), a German from Paderborn and the first Catholic priest on the Bendigo goldfields. Backhaus was very skilled in financial matters and accumulated considerable property - not least through encouraging his goldmining parishioners to contribute some of their finds to the work of the church. Backhaus left his wealth for the benefit of the church and enabled the cathedral, among other things, to be built.

In 1895, Martin Crane, an Augustinian and the first bishop of the diocese, called for competitive designs for a cathedral from several architects. The winning architect was William Tappin of the firm Reed, Barnes and Tappin, a firm established by Joseph Reed, one of Melbourne's most significant architects. It was built in the Gothic Revival style from sandstone quarried from the Geelong area.^[3]

The large pipe organ, built by Bishop & Son of London, was installed late in 1905.^[4]

After a long interval, work recommenced on the cathedral in 1954 and was completed in 1977. The later works were designed by Bates, Smart and McCutcheon, the successor of Reed, Barnes and Tappin. The spire was of lighter construction than that originally designed, being steel framed and clad with a masonry veneer.

Sacred Heart Cathedral is 75 metres (246 ft) long and has a ceiling height of 24 metres (79 ft). The main spire is 87 metres (285 ft) high.

Popularity

The Bendigo cathedral is the destination of the annual Christus Rex Pilgrimage, which attracts Catholics with an attachment to the Tridentine Mass from across Australia. Every year since 1991, on the last weekend of October, pilgrims will walk approximately 90km over three days, culminating with a Solemn Mass upon arriving at the cathedral.^[5]

Photo gallery

• 
  Exterior
• 
  Interior
• 
  Stained glass window

References

1. "Sacred Heart Cathedral". GCatholic.org. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
2. "Sacred Heart Cathedral, Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number H1340, Heritage Overlay HO288". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria.
3. Arneil, Stan (1992). Out Where the Dead Men Lie: The Augustinians in Australia 1838 – 1992. Brookvale, NSW: Augustinian Press.
4. Maidment, John (March 2016). "Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral". Organ Historical Trust of Australia. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
5. Sonnen, John Paul. "The Christus Rex Pilgrimage in Australia". Liturgical Arts Journal. Retrieved 1 August 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Diocese of Sandhurst website