Our History

The original St Saviour's Church gained Cathedral status as the seat of the first Bishop, Mesac Thomas, when Queen Victoria's rare Letters Patent established the then Goulburn Diocese in 1863. (Canberra and the ACT had not been thought of at that time, with the Diocese extending over most of NSW outside Sydney and Newcastle).

As the seat of a Bishop, the town of Goulburn also then became a city - Australia's First Inland City.

Bishop Thomas and his wife, Mary; the first Dean, William Sowerby; and parishioners worked tirelessly over the next 20 years to leave the thriving provincial city and Diocese with a Cathedral more befitting their importance in Colonial New South Wales.

The Decorated Gothic Cathedral that rose on the site of the original Church was built by local craftsmen using materials mostly sourced from the district, including bricks from the old Church for its floor.

From Australia's bi-centenary in 1988 until the present day, private, community, and government fund-raising efforts have enabled the completion of key elements of Blacket's design and complementary works. 

In today's dollars, the cost of these and other recent projects is approximately $5M.

However, the years have taken their toll of our Cathedral. It now is in need of urgent repair in a number of areas. Heritage Conservation and maintenance in accordance with a formal works program initiated by Michael Fox AM (one of Australia's foremost heritage architects and consultant to the UN) is vitally important. 

To conserve this Heritage masterpiece requires money.