St John's Cathedral, Brisbane

The front of St John's (taken late in the afternoon and a very poor photo)


West wall (I think)


Coburn in a side chapel


John Olsen in the same side chapel (west side)


One of the lovely and various cushions on the pews at the front: there must have been hundreds


The little side-chapel for mothers

At the worst of being unable to walk, I took a taxi to St John's which I had noticed in the twilight, and loved its fairytale exterior, and had determined to get a better look at. So I took myself there on a Saturday, to find myself in the midst of an Indian-Anglican wedding. They let me in and after the ceremony I wandered around and took a few photos.

The exterior stonework is that lovely pink / blue rock that Brisbane seems to specialise in when it comes to cut stone, and the front seems to have towers straight out of Perrault's fairy tales.

The interior has all the variety of a well-loved church, well-endowed and full of extraneous beauties: a little chapel for mothers, looking very Greek-influenced, a side chapel with a Coburn wall hanging and what looked like it might have been a variation by John Olsen on his 'Five Bells'. There was a flag in that chapel too, so I wondered if the chapel might have had some military significance.

The interior of the side aisles(almost brick work) was golden, and not particularly impressive. But what was lovely was the sense of accretion over time. (Even if it does truly anger me that the state, supposedly secular, government is contributing millions to some new towers.)