Sacred Heart Cathedral, Townsville Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Sacred Heart Cathedral, Townsville
Church of the Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart Cathedral, 2007
19°15′32″S 146°48′42″E / 19.2589°S 146.8118°E / -19.2589; 146.8118
Country	Australia
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Cathedral (since 1921) Parish church (1902–1921)
Founded	7 October 1900 (1900-10-07)
Founder(s)	Right Rev. Dr Joseph Higgins, Bishop of Rockhampton
Dedication	Sacred Heart of Jesus
Dedicated	16 November 1902 by Bishop Joseph Higgins
Architecture
Architect(s)	Reed, Smart & Tappin
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1896–1902
Specifications
Materials	Brick; corrugated iron
Administration
Diocese	Townsville

The Sacred Heart Cathedral is a beautiful old Roman Catholic church in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It's located at 266 Stanley Street in the city center. This important building was constructed between 1896 and 1902 by a builder named Dennis Kelleher. It is also known as the Church of the Sacred Heart.

The cathedral is a "heritage-listed" building, which means it's officially recognized as important to Queensland's history and protected. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992. Today, it serves as the main church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville, and the current leader is Bishop Tim Harris.

History of the Cathedral
What the Cathedral Looks Like
Why it's a Heritage Site
Images for kids
See also

History of the Cathedral

The Church of the Sacred Heart in Townsville was built in a few steps between 1896 and 1902. The plans for the church were drawn up in 1894 by architects Reed, Smart & Tappin from Melbourne. Local architects Eaton, Bates and Polin helped oversee the building work.

Early Catholic Church in Townsville

The very first Roman Catholic church in Townsville was called St Joseph's, built in the 1870s. Townsville itself started in the mid-1860s as a port for the farming areas inland. When gold was found nearby in the 1870s, Townsville grew very quickly. By the 1890s, it was the main port in North Queensland.

As more people moved to Townsville, the Catholic community needed a bigger and more central church. In 1884, Father William Mason Walsh, the second priest in Townsville, bought land on Stanley Street. This land was on the side of Castle Hill, overlooking the main part of Townsville. He hoped to build a grand new church there.

Designing and Building the Church

In 1894, a competition was held to design the new church. The winning design came from Reed, Smart & Tappin, famous architects from Melbourne. Their plan was for a large brick building in the Gothic style. It would have a big basement, a main church area with a nave, aisles, and other parts, plus a tall front tower and spire. Some people think this design was a smaller version of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bendigo, Victoria, which the same architects also designed.

Work began in 1896 with digging out the site and building the foundations and basement. This part alone cost £1,160. Then, there was a break in construction. On October 7, 1900, Bishop Joseph Higgins of Rockhampton laid the foundation stone.

The main part of the church, including the nave and aisles, finally started being built in early 1902. Denis Kelleher, who had also built the Catholic cathedral in Rockhampton, won the contract. He finished the work in just 10 months for £8,330. Bishop Higgins officially opened and blessed the building on November 16, 1902. People thought the inside was very well made, with beautiful ceilings of shiny pine wood.

Challenges and Changes

Just over three months after it opened, a strong storm called Cyclone Leonta hit Townsville on March 3, 1903. The Church of the Sacred Heart was badly damaged. Its roof was ripped off, and a lot of water got inside. The church was repaired, but the original plan to build a bell tower and extend the church further back was never completed. Later, a steel bell tower was added instead.

Around 1931, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville was created. Because the Church of the Sacred Heart was now the main church for the Bishop of Townsville, it became a "cathedral."

The roof was damaged again in 1972 during cyclone Althea, causing water to leak onto the northern wall inside. The steel bell tower was removed in the 1970s and given to a chapel at Lavarack Barracks. Part of the decorative iron and brick fence around the church was also removed at that time.

What the Cathedral Looks Like

The Sacred Heart Cathedral has a rectangular shape, similar to an old Roman basilica. It has a high ceiling above the main area (the nave) and aisles on both sides. The back part, called the apse, is framed by a wooden arch. The ceiling is made of wooden boards. The roof is made of corrugated iron.

The front of the church has two smaller towers and large Gothic-style windows. There's also a central space for a statue. The outside walls are made of red bricks with special white mortar lines. They also have contrasting cement decorations.

One interesting thing about the cathedral is that it faces north-south, not the usual east-west direction for many cathedrals. This was probably because of the shape of the hillside it was built on. You enter the church from the street on the northeast side, and the altar faces southwest.

The cathedral sits on a rocky part of Castle Hill, right across from another important church, St James Anglican Cathedral. It looks out over the city center. The lower parts of the hill around the church have grass and small bushes. A stone wall holds up the ground around the cathedral, creating a road from Stanley Street. There are also grassy areas and small shrubs around the building, especially at the bottom of the main stairs.

Near the cathedral is a two-story brick building called a presbytery, built in 1938. This building houses the bishop and the priest of the cathedral parish. Its red brick and stucco design matches some of the decorative parts of the cathedral.

Why it's a Heritage Site

Sacred Heart Cathedral was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992. This means it's considered very important for several reasons:

Part of Queensland's History

The cathedral shows how the Catholic Church worked to establish itself in the growing towns of Queensland in the late 1800s. The fact that the church wasn't built exactly as first planned shows the challenges the Catholic Church faced in North Queensland. These challenges included a tough economic time in the 1890s, a drought from 1900-1902, and the damaging Cyclone Leonta in 1903.

Unique Design and Features

The Sacred Heart Cathedral was designed to be impressive. It's a great example of a large brick church that uses traditional Gothic design elements, but it's built in a tropical climate.

Beautiful and Important Landmark

The cathedral stands proudly on Castle Hill, looking over the city. It has strong aesthetic value, meaning it's very beautiful and adds a lot to the look of Townsville.

Important to the Community

As a well-known landmark, the cathedral is very important to the local community. It continues to be a central place for Catholicism in North Queensland. It has been a place of Catholic worship in Townsville since 1902.