St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral church in The Octagon, Dunedin, next to the Dunedin Town Hall in the centre of the city. It is the seat of the Bishop of Dunedin and the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin. Alongside its role as a working cathedral, it hosts concerts and other public events and takes bookings for weddings and similar occasions.
The land for St Paul's was given by the sealer and whaler Johnny Jones of Waikouaiti, and the first parish church of St Paul was built on the site between 1862 and 1863. The foundation stone of the present cathedral was laid in 1915. The main part of the building dates from 1919, although the sanctuary was left unfinished until 1971. The sanctuary was re-ordered in 2003, with the altar moved forward into the nave.
The cathedral was listed by Heritage New Zealand as a Category 1 historic place on 11 November 1987.
A fire broke out in the roof of the new chancel on 11 August 2020, causing substantial damage to the apse and to Raphael Hall beneath it. Work on the roof restoration, reinstatement of the sanctuary and installation of a new organ console was expected to be completed in 2023.
A Romanesque portal leads into a Gothic interior, where Ōamaru stone pillars rise into a vaulted stone ceiling. The cathedral organ was built in 1919 by Henry Willis III in London and installed the following year. It was entirely rebuilt and repositioned by the South Island Organ Company of Timaru in 1972 and has four manuals — great, swell, choir and solo. It is among the largest instruments in New Zealand and underpins the cathedral's regular programme of recitals and choral music.
The cathedral's principal value to organisers is as a ceremonial and performance space rather than a conventional conference room: it suits concerts, choral and organ recitals, civic services, commemorations, graduations, weddings and gala openings, and works well as a headline evening element within a wider conference programme. Its position on The Octagon puts it beside the Town Hall and Dunedin Centre and within a short walk of most central accommodation, which makes pairing it with nearby Dunedin venues straightforward. Capacities, availability and any conditions relating to the building's heritage status and post-fire restoration should be confirmed with the cathedral office.
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Nearby listings on the MICE record — indicative only, not a recommendation unless marked Featured.