Adelaide III

Adelaide CBD

Basically a walk down King Willian Street to Victoria Square and back, snapping photos along the way.

Intersection with exit blocked, and crowd of people in front of columned building

The building is Parliament House, and the street with the people in it is North Terrace. The people are then demonstrating against the Federal Government's budget which was released a few days earlier.

Three storey corner building, with orange walls with white stone horizontal stripes

The sign at the top of the corner tower is Beehive Corner which seems appropriate for such a building.

2 and 3 storey tan coloured building with awning over footpath and outdoor restaurant on top of awning

A clever use of space to create an outdoor restaurant without occupying space on the footpath or interfering with pedestrian traffic, nor customers of the ground floor shops.

Street scene, with three storey stone building with clock tower in the middle

Adelaide Town Hall - that's the building with the clock tower, none of the ones behind it.

Tram car, painted an ochre colour, with Aboriginal motif and tribal names

Adelaide trams (sometimes called street cars, or light rail) are decorated in various ways. This one has an Aboriginal motif, with the names of Aboriginal tribes included.

Stone church, with tower, in front of modern 10 storey building

St. Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral is located at Victoria Square.

Foundation stone of Catholic Cathedral

The foundation stone of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. The cathedral was dedicated in 1886 by Bishop Christopher Reynolds.

There is a second stone for the tower, which was consecrated in 1996. While it is mostly in Latin, there is one curious exception - the year is in Arabic numerals.

Some of its history is available at Adelaide City Heritage.

A very small stone church, with blinds on all the windows

This building - a "little church" in appearance - is a new sacristy dating from about 2006. It blends in well with the adjacent cathedral.

Traditional long corridor church, stone masonary, vaulted ceiling, and some people down near the altar

Inside St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, nearing the end of Baptisms.

Head shot of nun with 2 children, at least one Aboriginal

The western side of the cathedral is Mackillop Plaza, featuring this statue of St. Mary Mackillop, whose life was spent in South Australia, especially around Penola in the south east. Sculpture by Judith Rolevink, Adelaide 2009.

Statue of monarch, view is south part of Victoria Square

This statue of Queen Victoria was donated to the city in 1894, and graces the middle of Victoria Square in the centre of Adelaide's CBD. This view is looking south, where Victoria Square returns to King William Street a bit further down.

Grassy area with small fountain, looking up street with low and tall buildings

Looking north along King William Street from Victoria Square. The "Polites" sign on the building is one of many around Adelaide. Con Polites was born in 1910 to Greek farming parents. He did well in real estate, and when he died in 2001 at age 82, he was fondly remembered as a generous man. More details here.

Time to start walking back to the car.

St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral, North Adelaide

Lightly enclosed garden, path leading to cross, and twin towers of cathedral further back

The Cross of Sacrifice Memorial Gardens are across King William Drive from the cathedral. They are dedicated thus:

To the glory of God and the imperishable memory of the men who gave their lives in the great war 1914 - 1920.
The tribute of the women of South Australia.

This plaque replaces the original inscription on this Cross of Sacrifice and is dedicated to the memory of all who paid the supreme sacrifice in time of war.

Their name liveth for evermore
Anzac Day 1965.

Front of cathedral with twin spires

St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral, at the corner of King William Drive (visible in the photo) and Pennington Terrace, on the left but just out of frame. The full details of the building are detailed in the link, but briefly Bishop Short purchased an acre of land on 8th August, 1862. By 1868 funds were available to begin construction in 1869, and it was consecrated as St Peter's Cathedral in 1878.

Looking down main aisle of church towards sanctuary, vaulted ceiling

The main aisle leading to the sanctuary

Altar and intricately carved wooden wall behind

Closer view of the sanctuary, including altar and intricately carved and detailed wooden back panel.

Historic Houses

Two storey stone house with red bricks around windows

Downer House is located on Pennington Terrace, close to St. Peter's Cathedral. As such, it looks out on Adelaide Parklands.

DOWNER HOUSE
Erected in 1876-1877, this distinctive building was probably designed by architect Rowland Rees, renowned for his elaborate design and detailing. Between 1880 - 1915, Downer House was the residence of the politician and Queen's Counsel, Sir John William Downer who was instrumental in the formulation of the Australian Constitution. Downer played a leading role in South Australian political life and was a Senator in the first Commonwealth Parliament of 1901 - 1903. In 1924, the house was purchased by St Mark's College, a residential college of the University of Adelaide, a use that continues.

Two storey stone house with turret, verandahs and all sorts of oddities

Carclew is located on Montefiore Hill at the corner with Strangeways Terrace. It overlooks the City of Adelaide Golf Club. A plaque on the front wall describes it thus:

CARCLEW
This prominent eclectic High-Victorian building, originally called Stalheim, was built in 1901 by Hugh Robert Dixson, a State MP. The house was purchased by the Bonython family in 1908 which renamed the house Carclew after a Cornish house once owned by the family in Cornwall. Carclew has been associated with the arts in South Australia since the Bonython family sold the house in 1965. A plaque on the wall commemorates the departure in 1861 of Stuart's expedition to cross the continent.

Adelaide II

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