Remains of St Andrew's Cathedral

Image: © Tiger Taken: 26 Aug 2009

The original church on Shakespeare Street, designed by John McCracken, was opened in 1813 and enlarged in 1872 by George Goldie. St Andrew's became the pro-cathedral for the Diocese of Galloway on the restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Scotland in 1878, replacing the ruined cathedral founded by St Ninian at Whithorn. The cathedral was destroyed on Ascension Day (11 May) 1961 in a dramatic fire thought to have been caused by a combined gas leak and electrical fault in the organ loft. Today all that remains is the south tower, 135 feet high, of red stone and designed by John H. Bell in 1843, topped by the octagonal stone spire added by Alexander Fraser in 1858. A carving of St Andrew, patron saint of the cathedral and of Scotland, with his saltire cross. survives above the arch on the east side. The shorter tower in the background was part of the school, built in 1842 and said to have been designed by Marmaduke Constable-Maxwell of Terregles. Both towers are now inhabited largely by pigeons. Information mainly from "The cathedrals of Scotland" by Peter Galloway (Scottish Cultural Press, 2000)

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