ST ANDREW’S CHURCH & GREAT WESTERN HOTEL – 1823 & 1883

The Church of St Andrew and St Columba is also called Scottish Kirk (Kirk is a Scottish English word for Church). It was built in the Neo-Classical style by Captain Sam Goodfellow between 1816 and 1819 and a spire was added four years later. However it was struck by lightning in 1826 and had to be replaced. Its interiors are simple, with plain glass panes instead of stained glass, a stone ceiling and a circular altar area with arches built into the walls. The church received the Urban Heritage award in 1993.
The building that housed the Great Western Hotel in the late 1800s is also one of the city’s oldest standing buildings. In 1764 it served as the residence of the Governor Willian Hornby. Between 1770 and 1792, it was known as Admiralty House and was the residence of the Commander in Chief of the Indian Fleet. Around 1800 it was purchased by the Government and used as the Recorders Courthouse until 1878. In 1883 it was sold again and converted into a hotel known as the Great Western Hotel. The hotel itself has long closed down and its rooms divided up and rented out. Today, it is called the Great Western Building and houses small businesses, an art gallery, and a designer garments store.