St Mark's Cathedral, George, Western Cape, Anglican cathedral in George, South Africa
St Mark's Cathedral is an Anglican church in George, built in 1849–50 to a design by Sophy Gray in Gothic Revival style. Four Scottish stonemasons worked with stone quarried at Victoria Heights, and the original church seated 200 people. A flèche was added over the crossing in 1924, and the St Mark's Hanging Cross by Cecil Skotnes was placed above the chancel steps in 1990.
Sophy Gray, wife of Bishop Robert Gray, designed the church and laid its foundation stone on 23 October 1849. Four Scottish stonemasons built it with stone quarried at Victoria Heights, and Bishop Gray consecrated it on 7 December 1850. It became a cathedral in 1911.
The St Mark's Hanging Cross above the chancel steps was designed by Cecil Skotnes and crafted by David Brown, and was placed there in 1990. In 2007 the cathedral joined the international Community of the Cross of Nails, linking it with Coventry Cathedral's reconciliation network. Two high wooden gates at the porch entrance, installed in 1991, commemorate Canon Charles Bull.
The building is open to the public and welcomes visitors to explore its architecture and interior artworks. It helps to check opening hours beforehand and consider the events calendar if you want to experience something specific during your visit.
The Muller organ of 1962 has 1,400 pipes, 35 stops and two manuals, and was judged the fourth largest organ in South Africa's Anglican churches. Above the chancel steps hangs the St Mark's Hanging Cross, designed by Cecil Skotnes and crafted by David Brown in 1990.
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