Bishop Short arrived in Adelaide in 1847 with gifts of over 1000 pounds to be put towards the building of an Anglican cathedral. Governor Robe offered the Bishop land in the centre of Victoria Square as a site. However, this offer was contested by the Adelaide City Corporation. In 1855 the case went to court and Bishop Short lost his claim. Consequently, in 1862, he purchased land at North Adelaide and here the foundation stone for the cathedral was laid in 1869. English architect William Butterfield was asked to design the building and his plans, using polychrome brick, were modified by local architect Edward Woods, using local sandstone and limestone. The first stage of the building including sanctuary, transepts and one bay of the nave was completed in 1876. In 1890 Bishop Kennion began the work of completing the cathedral to the original design, but funds ran out in 1894. Presbyterian Sir Thomas Elder left a substantial bequest for the work when he died in 1897 and his brother-in-law Robert Barr Smith then gave another large gift in 1901 so that the towers and spires could be completed. Ultimately it took almost 40 years to build the cathedral, which is perhaps the finest example of Gothic Revival architecture in the city.

St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide, South Australia