The Cathedral Sanctuary

The photo taken of the sanctuary from the Choir loft in circa 1910.

The view of the Original Bishop's Throne at the Gospel Side of the Sanctuary in circa 1910.

The photo of the sanctuary was taken in 1970 from the choir gallery before the alternations were made.

When it was announced that the remodelling of the sanctuary included the removal of the High Altar and using the Tabernacle element as the focal point of a new Eucharistic Shrine at the present location, some opposition was met with from a number of parishioners. A petition with the names of sixty persons was presented to Bishop Kavanagh requesting that "the altar be preserved whole and complete in any reconstruction of the sanctuary" and "if necessary, a separate Blessed Sacrament chapel be buit to house the High Altar."

In December 1969 the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society through its Director expressed an interest in preserving the High Altar and having it rebuilt in the Sargood Wing of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Although this meant, in the event of the Art Gallery Council taking over the whole unit of the High Altar, that a new Eucharistic Shrine would have to be designed, the Cathedral authorities indicated they would not stand in the way of the Council. By the time A. E. Tilleyshort and Co. Ltd. had commenced the removal of the High Altar to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, a public appeal for financial assistance to meet the expenses incurred by the Art Gallery had raised about five hundred pounds.

The Original High Altar has been at the Dunedin Art Gallery since 1970 for 26 years in storage. The sanctuary was remodelled in 1969 by Mr E. J. McCoy, a Dunedin architect to meet the requirements of the liturgical changes following the Vatican Council. A new altar was sited nearer the congregation, the presidential chair (with the Bishop of Dunedin's Coat of Arms) was placed on the site of the old altar, and a new lectern was located in the sanctuary.

In his modernisation of the sanctuary, Mr McCoy made use of the same quartz materials to achieve a visual unity between the altar, the lectern and the presidential chair. A metal crucifix with coloured translucent panels was suspended on the back wall.

The metal crucifix with coloured translucent panels, designed by Mr E. J. McCoy for the Modernised Sanctuary in 1969, was suspended on the back wall of the sanctuary. The figure of Christ on the cross is bronze and enamel. This figure was featured at an artists' exhibition by Arte Granda Studio, Madrid.

The new Sanctuary area is now enlarged. The Original High Altar still has remained at the rear of the sanctuary. The new wooden altar in Gothic style is now closer to the congregation, also the new wooden lectern at the left in Gothic style is now located adjacent to the new altar, and the Bishop's Thorne at the right side of the sanctuary has been installed next to the new altar. The new sanctuary steps have been built in the original plan. The steps to the original High Altar have been built and a sanctuary step in front has been made in curve towards the nave of the Cathedral..