The earliest description of St. John’s dates from 1839 from the ‘Walker-Caddy Expedition’ edited by D. M. Pendergast in his book “Palenque.” It is described as “a brick structure of neat appearance having a tower and a spire, the interior is handsomely fitted and contains an excellent organ.” The bricks were imported from Brittain as ballasts—the same bricks which can be seen at some dwelling houses in Regent Street and at the Prison in Gabourel Lane. The spire, a wooden steeple, was removed in 1862 and the brick upper section of the Tower was built in 1926 when the Rector was the distinguished Dr. George Henry Hogbin, who was also Archdeacon of the Diocese. The organ which dates from 1826 is no longer a pipe organ but an electric organ, although its structure remains the same and its position in the West Gallery is unchanged.

It is not only the imported bricks which gave St. John’s its distinctive character. It is also the wood which came from the native forests of Belize and without which there would have been no Settlement in Belize. The sapodilla roof and the mahogany beams and pillars which support the Tower and West Gallery, are all significant features of the interior. So also is the simple but elegant mahogany altar-table which was designed and made by The Hon. Benjamin Fairweather, Churchwarden of St. John’s. The Cathedral is a memorial to the early woodcutters who helped to mould the shape and destiny of this nation.

The Bell of St. John’s is over 175 years old, as it was brought from London in 1826. The bell was made by T. Mears of London.

In the graveyard behind the High Altar is the grace of Archbishop Dunn, who was Bishop of British Honduras from 1917 and Archbishop of the West Indies from 1936-1943. Besides the graves of Bishop Holme and Rector Dr. Matthew Newport, there is also the grave of Edward William Clarke, the Chaplain of the Garrison, who died in 1843 at the age of 37.