Cathedral of St Michael and St John a rare example of one of only four 19th century Cathedrals in NSW and is the second Cathedral to be built in the colony. The design of the building is one of only a few prepared by English architect Charles Hansom for use in Australia and notably modelled on St Osburg's Church in Coventry dating from the 1840s. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. The Cathedral of Saints Michael and John is representative example of a mid 19thbcentury Catholic Cathedral which was established during a
Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels to be built was the St. Michael's Parish Church, which was located where the St. Mary's Anglican Church now stands. The original St. Michael's Parish Church was a small wooden church constructed between 1660 and 1665. Destroyed by a hurricane in 1780, the church was rebuilt nine years later. The church was later damaged in the great hurricane of 1831 but not destroyed. When the Diocese of Barbados was established, the St. Michael's Parish Church became the St. Michael's Cathedral, with Bishop William Hart Coleridge as its first bishop in 1825. The St. Michael Cathedral is made of coral stone