| Name of institution |
St. Matthew's Anglican Church |
| Type of institution |
Church |
| Street Address |
Stirling Square
|
| City |
Guildford |
| State |
Western Australia |
| Postcode |
|
| Country |
Australia |
| Name of building |
St. Matthew's Anglican Church |
| Name of room |
Church
|
| Dates of the building |
1873 |
| Architect’s and builder’s names |
Built by Matthew Wallace to the designs of F. Sherwood. |
| Special architectural features |
St Matthew's Church is located on the site of the earlier church of 1860.
The building is in the Gothic style; the west end includes a porch and a bellcote surmounting the gable. |
| Special fittings |
|
| Other location information |
|
| Name of contact |
|
| Mailing Address |
|
| Telephone |
|
| Email |
|
| Other contact information |
Church web site:
www.stmatthewschurch.org.au |
| . |
|
| Previous organ(s) |
|
| Date of previous organ |
1875-79 |
| Detail of previous organ |
Robert Cecil Clifton organ of 2 manuals, 9 stops (spare slide), 2 couplers,
tracker action. Built for St. John's Anglican Church, Fremantle.
| GREAT |
|
|
|
| Open Diapason |
8' |
|
|
| Stopped Diapason |
8' |
|
|
| Principal |
4' |
|
|
| Octave |
2' |
|
|
| . |
|
|
|
| SWELL |
|
|
|
| Hohl Flute 8' |
8' |
39 pipes |
|
|
8' |
39 pipes |
|
|
8' |
12 pipes |
|
| Wald Flute |
4' |
|
|
| . |
|
|
|
| PEDAL |
|
|
|
| Sub Bass |
16' |
|
|
| . |
|
|
|
|
| Dates when key work has been undertaken |
|
| Dates of any moves that have taken place |
Installed 1884 St Matthew's Anglican Church, Guildford.
Removed, overhauled and installed at St Aidan's Church, Claremont, 1910-1912 by J.E. Dodd, Adelaide. |
| Variations from original design of organ |
|
|
Information on previous organ |
This instrument has the distinction of being the first organ built in Western Australia by a Western Australian builder.
Robert Cecil Clifton was then a clerk in the Lands Department of the Western Australian Public Service. |
|
Information about comparable instruments to previous organ |
|
| . |
|
| Present organ |
|
| Type of installation |
Organ Chamber |
| Case description |
Gothic case, shallow in design but well detailed.
Central corbel holds the three lowest Diapason pipes. |
| Placement in room |
Right Transept |
| Builder's name |
J.E. Dodd, Adelaide |
| Opus number |
|
| Date of completion/installation |
Contract let 1905
Organ completed and installed 1911 |
| Construction materials |
|
| Number of manuals |
Two (2) |
| Key compasses |
CC - aaa |
| Number of keys |
58 |
| Key material |
|
| Pedal compass |
CC - f |
| Number of pedals |
30 |
| Pedalboard type |
Concave and radial (not original) |
| Pedalboard material |
|
| Type of chests |
Slider |
| Type of key action |
Electro-pneumatic |
| Type of stop action |
Electro-pneumatic |
| Couplers |
Swell sub-octave, Swell super-octave, Swell to Great, Swell to Pedal, Great to Pedal. |
| Tremulants |
Swell tremulant |
| Accessories |
Balanced
Swell pedal, combination pistons to manuals and toe
levers to pedal.
Full dust casework on organ to prevent ingress of detrius |
| Console type |
Stopkey console |
| Stop label material |
|
| Placement |
Integral with organ case |
| General design |
|
| Playing aids |
Swell expression pedal
Manual pistons mp and ff selected by setterboard
Original crescendo pedal not installed (mechanism destroyed)
Toe pedal to engage registration according to mini stop buttons
Toe pedal to engage tremulant
Toe pedal to engage tuti (full organ)
|
| Divisions |
Great, Swell, Pedal |
| Wind pressures |
|
Stop list
|
| GREAT |
|
|
|
| Open Diapason |
8' |
|
|
Lieblich Gedact
Replaced original Claribel. |
8' |
|
|
| Principal |
4' |
|
|
Suabe Flute
|
4' |
|
|
Fifteenth
Not original, from cut down Dulciana |
2' |
|
|
| .
|
|
|
|
| SWELL |
|
|
|
| Geigen Diapason |
8' |
|
|
| Hohl Flute |
8' |
|
|
| Viole d'Orchestre |
8' |
|
|
| Flauto Traverso |
4' |
|
|
| Oboe |
8' |
|
|
|
.
|
|
|
|
| PEDAL |
|
|
|
| Bourdon |
16' |
|
|
| Bass Flute |
8' |
|
|
| . |
|
|
|
|
| Total number of speaking stops |
11
|
| Total number of ranks |
11
|
| Total number of pipes |
610 |
| Dates when key work has been undertaken on current
organ |
The contract for the organ was given to J E Dodd in 1905 and built in 1911 by J.E. Dodd with a
tubular pneumatic action, according to vestry records. Some
information within the organ shows items dating from 1905.
Paul F. Hufner carried out an electrification of the primary pneumatic
stage of the key action in 1951 and at some stage after this date the
original wind system was replaced with a single–rise
regulator.
In the 1970s the pneumatic slider motors were replaced by SLIC slider motors by a teacher at Guildford Grammar School.
In 1994, F.J. Larner & Co. constructed a new mechanical action for
the organ, although this was never completed owing to lack of
funds. At this time, the original Great Claribel was replaced by
a Lieblich Gedact of Dodd manufacture and came from a 1928 organ
salvaged from Sydney. The original Dulciana was cut down to
provide a Fifteenth.
In 2003–04 Patrick Elms & Co. refurbished the organ using
the original restored slider chests with a new electric action and
refitting of the console with replica Dodd stopkeys of the
period. The pattern for the stop keys was taken from the original
stop rail of St Mary's Cathedral, which had used the same unusual style
of stop keys. The Dodd sound of the organ has been
preserved. All of the existing Dodd components were reused while
missing parts have been remade in the Dodd style – new winding,
slider motors, Great windchest pneumatics and console fittings.
In 2010 Patrick Elms & Co fitted an electronic transmission system
to activate the super and sub Swell couplers that had been inoperable
for many years (possibly since the 1951 rebuild).
In 2016 a totally enclosed casework was installed in the organ to prevent ingress of dirt and moisture. At the same time a new Pedal Bass Flute 8' was made to provide much more felxibility for that division. The manual pistons, which had been inoperable because the mechanism was destroyed many years ago, were reinstated using electric action. A setter board allows the organist to chose the stops for each piston. The final piece of restoration for the organ was the installation of three toe pedals. It was not possible to determine the original function of these pedals because they and their mechanism had been removed. So the first (left side) of these pedals operates a registration pre-selected by mini-stop buttons installed above the actual console stop tabs. The second toe pedal operates a reconstructed tremulant. The third (right side) toe pedal is a tuti and brings in the full organ. Each of these pedals locks in with a timber fall and is released by toeing the fall back and allowing the pedal to disengage. |
| Dates of any moves that have taken place to current
organ |
The organ has not been moved. |
| Information on current organ |
|
| Comparable instruments to current
organ |
Angaston Uniting Church, SA.
St Mary The Virgin Anglican Church, Burra, SA.
St Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Tanunda, SA.
Parkside Baptist Church, SA
St John the Evangelist, Adelaide, SA.
Pilgrim Uniting Church, Launceston, TAS.
St Thomas the Apostle, Claremont, WA
Ross Memorial Church, West Perth, WA.
St Brigid's Catholic Church, West Perth, WA
St George's College Chapel, Crawley, WA
|
| Current status |
In very good condition
|
| Assessment of organ |
The organ is a fine example of a Dodd instrument in almost original condition. |
| Other organs by this builder |
There are many existant Dodd organs in Australia
|
| Photographs |
Photographs of organ by Bruce Duncan and Mark Quarmby.
Photograph of J E Dodd from OHTA web site.
|
| Technical documents |
Details of the organ and building from OHTA Conference Book 2004.
In The Pipeline article |
| General documents |
Refer to Gathered Fragments, Leon D. Cohen, 1979, for biographical and other detail of Robert Cecil Clifton.
|
| . |
|
| Supporting information |
Organ Historical Trust of Australia
Conference Book, October 2004. |
| . |
|
| Document control |
Original entries J R Elms, OAM,
Gazetteer of Western Australian Pipe Organs, 1971, 1999,2003 and 2004.
Organ Historical Trust of Australia Conference Book, October 2004.
This entry D B Duncan 05 January 2009.
Updated information from Patrick Elms 5th May 2010.
Updates and additional information from John Beaverstock 5 October 2010
Updated information about 2016 restoration by Bruce Duncan 29th January 2017.
|
