he Cathedral of St Michael and St George, situated at the intersection of High Street and Hill Street in
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Grahamstown is a landmark which has been in existence since the beginning of its construction 1824.
The Cathedral is home to a diverse community of people, and work has been done and continues to be done to make the church an inclusive space for all.
Watch this video to find out more about this historic building and its community:
or many Grahamstown residents, be it Rhodes University students or folks who have lived in the city for decades,
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the Cathedral at the intersection of High Street and Hill Street is nothing more than a landmark. However, if one attends a service at the Cathedral of St Michael and St George, one can immediately feel the sense of community among the clergy and parishioners.
The Cathedral, as many church buildings in South Africa, was built by the British colonial settlers who settled in Grahamstown (then Graham’s Town). The construction of the original church cost £4,404 (approximately R80 887). Building began in 1824 and in 1830, the church opened as a functioning Anglican church.
"The construction of the original church cost £4,404"
The church was proclaimed a Cathedral in 1853, the same year in which Grahamstown was declared a city. In order for a church to become a cathedral, it needs to have a Cathedra or Bishop’s Throne. The Cathedra in the Grahamstown Cathedral can be found in the Chancel, near the High Altar. According to British law of the time, a town had to have a cathedral in order to be recognised as a city.
Throughout the following century, several additions to the Cathedral building were made, ending with the Lady Chapel, which was added in 1952. The building we see today is the completed building, as it has been since 1952. The South Wall on the right hand side of the building is all that remains of the original church building from 1824.
Memorial tablets can be found all around the cathedral and those found on the South Wall date back to the 1840s. Racist words of the period have, in recent years, been censored, due to the church becoming a multicultural, multiracial space of worship.
Most, if not all Anglican churches have stained glass windows. Stained glass windows are renowned for their beauty and the windows in the Grahamstown Cathedral are no exception. They are valued at about R20 million, and are well over a hundred years old. Due to their age, the leading has eroded, making the windows immensely unstable.
The spire, one of the most iconic parts of a church, was erected, alongside the bell tower, in 1879. This structure is 50m tall, making it the tallest church building in South Africa. The bell tower contains a ring of 10 bells, which are the oldest and heaviest bells in the country. These bells were the first ring to be installed in the whole of Africa. Between 1879 and 1997, several changes were made to the bells. The bells range a full octave from bell 1 (G) to bell 8 (G), with two extra notes on bell 9 and 10 (F and E♭).
"The spire is 50m tall, making it the tallest church building in South Africa".
In previous years, the bells have been rung every Sunday. However, in the last few years, the Cathedral has struggled to maintain its band of ringers, due to student ringers leaving Grahamstown. Catherine Letcher, together with Director of Music, Cameron Luke, are trying to build up a new band of ringers. They are holding bell ringing practices every Sunday evening, to teach new people how to ring. It is expected that in the near future, the bells will be rung each Sunday again.
One instrument which has become synonymous with churches is the organ. The organ was moved to its current position in 1893. The pipes are contained in a large chamber and range from 30cm to 5m in height. Each pipe corresponds to a key on the keyboard of the organ and produces sound by driving pressurised air (wind) through the pipe. Each pipe produces only a single pitch and for this reason, the pipes are organised into sets which are known as ranks. These ranks are organised according to a similar timbre (sound quality) and volume.
The Cathedral’s organ comprises three keyboards (played with the hands) and one pedalboard (played by the feet). It also makes use of four sets of stops – each of which corresponds to one of the four sets of keys. These stops allow the organist to change the sound of those particular pipes. Unlike a piano, an organ pipe will sustain a note for as long as the corresponding key is held down. This is due to the constant supply of wind through the pipes. Due to using both hands and feet to play an organ, the organist must read three lines of music at the same time – one line each for the left and right hand, and the third line for the feet.
The Cathedral is rich in history, but it is also home to a wide community of people in Grahamstown. Although the Cathedral is Anglican in denomination, anyone of any denomination is welcome in the church and allowed to take communion. The Cathedral also does not discriminate against anyone of any race, gender, sexuality or age. In previous years, the Dean of the Cathedral, The Very Reverend Dr Andrew Hunter, has given sermons encouraging parishioners not to make any people of the LGBTQI community unwelcomed in the church. He even suggested that marriages between same-sex partners could be blessed in the Anglican Church in years to come.
The Cathedral is home to people of various races and cultures, both in its clergy and its congregation. Although the main sermons are in English, the liturgical language is different each week and features both African and South African languages. Hymns in South African languages are sung, alongside the traditional English hymns. The Cathedral makes space for those who enjoy a more traditional service at 7:30am and 9:30am each Sunday, followed by a student service at 6:30pm. During the morning services, children are encouraged to attend Sunday school.
The Cathedral and its clergy appear to have made every effort to ensure that no person feels unwelcomed in the church, and encourages its congregation to do likewise. Despite its colonial beginnings, the Cathedral is now home to a wide range of people from the greater Grahamstown community.
For more information on the Cathedral, visit their website at: https://grahamstowncathedral.org/ or find a leaflet at the back of the church titled Inside the Cathedral of St Michael and St George Grahamstown.
Examples of my previous work can be found here.