Augustus Short, the first Bishop of Adelaide, held the first ordinations there on 29 June 1848 (St Peter's feast day).

[1]: 6  When Adelaide was surveyed by Colonel William Light over a decade before, land in Victoria Square had been set aside for public use.

[1]: 11 Bishop Short purchased just over an acre of land, on Pennington Terrace in North Adelaide, on 8 August 1862.

[2] He reported in 1868 that the funds gathered were sufficient and announced to the diocese's synod of his decision to begin construction of a cathedral.

[1]: 14  Bishop Short had William Butterfield design the cathedral, but the long communication gap between England and Adelaide contributed to delays and disagreement.

Bishop Short laid the foundation stone, a 13 long hundredweight (0.7 t) block from Glen Ewin Quarry, on St Peter's Day 1869 in front of over a thousand people.

Much of the furnishing was also donated including stained-glass windows, a marble font, the chancel's tessellated pavement and an altar.

Governor the Earl of Kintore laid a foundation stone, 1.5 long tons (1.5 t) of Monarto South granite, on 27 September.

The ceremony included Masonic Honors as the Governor was Grand Master of the South Australian Freemasons.

The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary) were present when the nave was consecrated and a Boer War memorial unveiled on 14 July 1901.

Hammer dressed Tea Tree Gully sandstone—from what is now Anstey Hill Recreation Park— was used in the sanctuary, choir, transepts and part of the nave.

Four coloured panels below the figure of Christ depict events in the life of St Peter, the patron saint of the cathedral.

Though by 1929 it was ironically concealed by the organ, since 2018 this window has been lit from the inside, enabling it to be seen, at night time, from the memorial gardens at the cathedral's liturgical north side.

[1]: 33–34 [4] The bells are rung by members of The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers who also operate the Adelaide Ringing Centre of 8 dumb-bells for training which opened in 2012.

Located in what is now the sacristy, it was used for over fifty years before relocation in 1930 to St Augustine's Church in Unley, South Australia.

The current organ was built by William Hill & Son and Norman & Beard of Melbourne and London and was dedicated on 29 July 1929.

Some tonal irregularities dating from the 1980s were reversed, ensuring the instrument once again speaks and sounds to the original Hill, Norman and Beard specification.

The console was also upgraded to include a capture system and modern playing aides, and the casework was completed, drawing inspiration from the original Bagot design.

This work was completed at a cost of approx AU$1.5 million and the "First Chords" played on Advent Sunday 2 December 2018.

The dean and chapter operated as an independent body, meaning they were not required to report to the synod of the Diocese of Adelaide.