Dean's Sermon 13 May 2012 - 104th anniversary of the dedication of St Cyprian's Cathedral

Footnote - day of anniversaries

On 13 May 1901 Bishop William Thomas Gaul, a former Rector of St Cyprian’s Church, addressed a meeting at Kimberley Town Hall, chiding his former congregation for “continuing…to worship in a tin shanty”. He added his voice to a call for a new, more dignified building for church people; one that would be “worthy of their past, worthy of their present, and worthy of their faith in the future. Why should it not be a Cathedral Church, sooner of later?” By 1907 plans had been provided (by architect Arthur Lindley of the firm of Greatbatch) and building was begun: Bishop Gaul would lay the foundation stone in March of that year. Appropriately enough it was on 13 May 1908 that the completed Nave was dedicated. In stages over the next half century the building was brought to completion (William Timlin, architect and artist, oversaw the addition of the Chancel).  

With the establishment of the Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in 1911, St Cyprian’s became a Cathedral.  

The Parish of St Cyprian originated in the gathering of Anglicans in a tent at New Rush (later named Kimberley) on the Diamond Fields in 1871.

The Parish pioneered education in Kimberley from the early 1870s, the historic Perseverance and Gore Browne teacher training colleges arising from these educational endeavours. On 13 May 2009 the Cathedral dedicated a new St Cyprian’s Grammar School, which today, on the 104^th anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral, commemorated its foundation day.


Illustrations used include a photograph of the Chancel taken by Hanne Baumecker, 2010.