WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PIPE ORGANS

The refurbished organ 13 December 2015

Name of institution	St John's Anglican Church
Type of institution	Church
Street Address	Wellington Street
City	Northam
State	Western Australia
Postcode	6401
Country	Australia
Name of building	St John's Anglican Church
Name of room	Church sanctuary
Dates of the building	1890
Architect’s and builder’s names	Francis Bird, Architects Howard Evans designed the Parish Hall in 1897
Special architectural features	St John’s Anglican Church and Parish Hall, Northam has a high degree of authenticity. The majority of the fabric of both the 1890 church and the 1897 hall remains intact. The hall was extended in 1957 and remains largely as completed at that time. A vestry was added to the church in 1971 and the altar was adapted to conform to liturgical changes. The roof of the church was replaced with shingles in 1928, repaired with sheoak shingles after a fire in 1944, and replaced with asbestos shingles in 1977. No other major changes have been made to the church and it remains largely as it was constructed in 1890. St John’s Anglican Church and Parish Hall, Northam is significant as a pair of well-composed stone ecclesiastical buildings in a landscaped setting constructed in the Victorian Academic Gothic style built over several periods of development.  The Church is a fine example of an Anglican Church constructed in a major regional centre in the late 19th century to a design by significant Perth architect, Francis Bird. The belltower, stained glass windows and tessellated tiles to the floor of the porch are details of particular aesthetic value.
Special fittings	F. G. B. Hawkins designed the WWII Memorial Screen in 1948, Marshall Clifton designed the vestry in 1971, and stained glass artists E. G. Bowers (1955) and A. S. Brown (1982) made the windows.
Other location information	St John’s Anglican Church and Parish Hall is sited on elevated land on the northern outskirts of the town of Northam. The buildings are spaced apart with mature trees, landscaped gardens and a recent stone boundary fence. The church demonstrates the growth of the Northam Anglican community in the 1890s, as a larger church was needed to replace the original smaller St James Anglican Church (1851). The location of the new church demonstrates the pattern of occupation of Northam as the town centre had shifted since St James’ construction.
Name of contact
Mailing Address
Telephone
Email
Other contact information
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Date of previous organs	None
Detail of previous organs
Dates when key work has been undertaken
Dates of any moves that have taken place
Variations from original design of organ
Information on previous organs
Information about comparable instruments to previous organs
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Present organ
Type of installation	Chamber
Case description	Polished mahogany gothic casework
Placement in room	South transept
Builder's name	J.E. Dodd & Son, Adelaide.
Opus number
Date of completion/installation	Ordered 1923 Installed 1925
Construction materials
Number of manuals	Two (2)
Key compasses
Number of keys	56
Key material
Pedal compass
Number of pedals	30
Pedalboard type	Concave radial
Pedalboard material
Type of chests	Slider
Type of key action	Mechanical (originally tubular-pneumatic to pedals)
Type of stop action	Mechanical
Couplers	Swell to Great, Swell to Pedal, Great to Pedal
Tremulants	Swell
Accessories	Balance Swell pedal
Console type	Integral, drawstop
Stop label material
Placement	Drawstops on flat jambs
General design
Playing aids
Divisions	Great, Swell, Pedal
Wind pressures
Stop list	Stoplist from 1982: GREAT Open Diapason 8' Claribel 8' Dulciana 8' Principal 4' Fifteenth 2' . SWELL Violin Diapason 8' Viol d'Orchestre 8' Hohl Flute 8' Dulcet 4' Labial Oboe 8' . PEDAL Bourdon 16' .   Rebuilt stoplist 2015: GREAT Open Diapason 8' Stopped Diapason 8' New Harmonic Flute 4' New Principal 4' Fifteenth 2' Mixture IV New Trumpet 8' New . SWELL Clarabel 8' Moved from GT Viol d'Orchestre 8' Celeste 8' New Flute 4' Piccolo 2' New Oboe 8' New . PEDAL Bourdon 16' .
Total number of stops	Originally 10, then 11, now 14
Total number of ranks	Originally 10, then 11, now 17
Total number of pipes	Originally 504, then 590, now 926
Dates when key work has been undertaken on current organ	Originally built as 2m., 10 sp.st., 3c., tr. & tub.pn. pedals.  Gt: 8.8.8.4.  Sw: 8.8.8.4.8. Ped: 16. Restored in 1982 by Bellsham Pipe Organs (Australia).  Pedal converted to tracker action, Fifteenth added to Great. Removed from the church for rebuilding and enlargement June 2015. Tonal design enhanced with addition of reeds and upperwork. Reworking of the transmission to remove heavy action and to provide full length wooden trackers to all divisions. Swell box enhanced with new timber lining to accommodate a new Oboe (not labial), Celeste and harmonic flute. Great windchest replaced to provide for Trumpet and four-rank Mixture. The organ returned to the church in December 2015 and was partially available for the service on Sunday 13 December. Regulation and voicing was completed in the following week and the organ used in its full capacity for Christmas services.
Dates of any moves that have taken place to current organ	None
Information on current organ
Comparable instruments to current organ
Current status	In excellent condition
Assessment of organ
Other organs by this builder	There are many existant organs by J E Dodd in Australia
Photographs	Pre refurbishment photograph of the organ by Graham Devenish Photos of the church and organ by Bruce Duncan
Technical documents	In The Pipeline article
General documents	Information on buildings and historical detail from the Heritage Council of Western Australia
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Supporting information
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Document control	Original entries J R Elms, OAM, Gazetteer of Western Australian Pipe Organs, 1971, 1999,2003 and 2004. This entry D B Duncan 15 January 2009. Additional photograph from Graham Devenish 10 February 2009 Stoplist added by Bruce Duncan 26 February 2009. Additional photos of organ added by Bruce Duncan 12 December 2012. Detail of organ rebuild by Bruce Duncan 18 October 2015. Further detail of organ rebuild by Graham Devenish and new photos Bruce Duncan 12 December 2015. Clipping from West Australian Newspapers sources by Nola Chamberlain 09 April 2018.