St John’s Cathedral

St John’s Cathedral is a heritage site with cultural splendour unrivalled in Brisbane. With gothic-revival architecture, the foundation stone was laid in 1901 and the cathedral was finally finished 108 years later in 2009. The Cathedral features wood-carvings, stained-glass, 350 million year old limestone and the only fully stone-vaulted ceiling in the southern hemisphere.

The Cathedral’s front contains pillars of fossiliferous limestone 350 million years old from Frosterley, United Kingdom, in which skeletons of Coral polyps and bi-valve shells are clearly visible. Every window in the cathedral is of significance: from the large early 20th century Wheel window to the collection of William Bustard’s work, and then the later vibrant windows of David Saunders. The Millennium Window, designed by Scott Maxwell and made by Warwick Blair, was installed in 2001.

The Cathedral has 12 huge bells dating back to 1876. You can hear them ringing before the morning Sunday service and for weddings.

St John’s contains one of Queensland’s more notable collections of memorials to the First and Second World Wars. There is an ANZAC-emblazoned flag hanging in the South Transept that was the very last flag flown at the evacuation of the Anzacs from Gallipoli on 19th December 1915.