In 1843, on first being received into the Catholic Church, the young English architect and engineer William Wilkinson Wardell adopted the motto ‘Inveni quod quaesivi’ (or ‘I have found that which I sought’).
His friends Augustus Pugin and (Cardinal) John Henry Newman influenced his interest in Gothic Revival architecture and encouraged him to convert to Roman Catholicism. Wardell was drawn to the Catholic art and architecture he encountered as he travelled throughout England working on engineering surveys for the country’s new railway systems, and further study and enquiry gave him a deeper appreciation of the spirituality and tradition of English Catholicism.
On converting to Catholicism, he made an abrupt break with his past, dedicating his life to the glorification of God through the design and building of timelessly beautiful buildings in his honour.
Some of the mementos Wardell left behind give us a glimpse into his deep spirituality. In each of the homes he established in England and in Australia, he created a chapel for private prayer, withdrawing there periodically through the day and night. The central feature of these chapels was a beautifully carved wooden crucifix acquired in France in the 1840s and now kept by the Diocesan Historical Commission, along with his prayer books, Bible and rosary beads.
In the pages of one of these prayer books, Wardell transcribed two prayers to the Blessed Virgin, of his own composition, invoking Mary as ‘my patroness, my mother, and my advocate with God’ and consecrating himself ‘for ever, with all that belongs to me, to thy service’.
Throughout his 56 years as a Catholic architect, periods of prayer would precede periods of remarkable productivity as he worked often tirelessly drafting the plans of church buildings in the tradition of Pugin, as well as many other public buildings.
Wardell’s poor health prompted him to migrate with his wife Lucy and young family, and in September 1858 they arrived in Melbourne aboard the Swiftsure. He was appointed to the positions of inspecting clerk of works and chief architect in the Department of Works and Buildings the following year. Later, as inspector-general of public works, he was responsible for the construction of all Victoria’s public buildings, including landmarks such as Melbourne’s Government House. He also designed St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney as a private commission.
Of the many buildings he designed during his 40 years in Australia, St Patrick’s Cathedral is perhaps the most famous, a building of global significance and one of the world’s finest examples of the Gothic-Revival style. It is also the largest church to have been begun and substantially completed anywhere in the world in the 19th century.
St Patrick’s Cathedral is a monument to those faithful Catholics who envisioned and financed it, to Wardell, who designed it, and to the builders and craftsmen who erected it. The leaders of this team effort were Wardell and Fr John Fitzpatrick, Dean and Vicar-General, who regarded the project as ‘God’s work’ and—even when the funding was precarious—as something that ‘must not be stopped’.
Wardell was occupied with the erection of St Patrick’s Cathedral the entire time he lived in Australia, juggling the project with his substantial public and private practice. Wardell prepared the plans, which did not change substantially during construction, soon after his arrival in 1858; the nave and its aisles were completed in 1868; the building was consecrated in 1897; and at the time of his death in 1899, Wardell was still completing designs for altars and other fittings that were not in place when the Cathedral was consecrated.
In its proportions and decoration, St Patrick’s Cathedral conforms closely to the principles of Gothic architecture and to its interpretation by the masters of the Gothic Revival. Wardell masterfully adapted the so-called ‘true style’ or ‘Christian architecture’ to the requirements of his age, and the order and symbolism of the Cathedral’s interior show his familiarity with the great buildings of the Middle Ages, particularly in England, and with the best examples of European Gothic-Revival architecture. His letters and notes make it clear that St Patrick’s was to be a building for all time.
William Wardell died in 1899, leaving a legacy of impressive buildings inspired and informed by his Catholic faith, St Patrick’s Cathedral not least among them. Wardell’s quest for architectural perfection is evident in every detail of this most impressive tribute to God, described as ‘the work of centuries crowded into years’ at the time of its consecration in October 1897.