Pipe Organs in WA
 
 
 
 
 

First Church of Christ Scientist, Perth
The pipe organs of Western Australia


First Church of Christ Scientist

Whitehouse Organ

Whitehouse Organ
The original Whitehouse organ
Photos: Bob Elms

First Church of Christ Scientist

First Church of Christ Scientist
Photos: Bruce Duncan

First Church of Christ Scientist
Console of the organ
State Library of Western Australia

First Church of Christ Scientist

First Church of Christ Scientist

Property
Name of institution   First Church of Christ Scientist
Type of institution0   Church
Street Address   264 St. George's Terrace
City  
State   Western Australia
Postcode  
Country   Australia
Name of building   First Church of Christ Scientist
Name of room  
Dates of the building   1939
Register of Heritage Places   Permanent Entry 28/06/2005
Heritage Place number   11595
Architect   Ochiltree & Hargrave
Builder   A.T.Brine Pty. Ltd.

Special architectural features and fittings   A single storey masonry horizontal building with strong vertical emphasis to the corner. Use of strong, geometrical mouldings particularly emphasising the monumental form of the entrance.

The external walls are rendered with a stucco treatment imitating Donnybrook stone.

The adjacent Sunday School building built in the 1960s is not included in the assessment.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Perth, is an ashlar ruled stucco finished masonry church building with a corrugated iron roof, designed in the Inter-War Art Deco style applied to a church building. It is a landmark in the procession of buildings leading into the City from the west and from the terrace of Parliament House and is one of most notable modern public buildings designed and built in Western Australia in the Inter-War period.

The church has beautiful parquetry floors of local jarrah and she-oak, supplied by Bunning Brothers, the interior walls were in waltex supplied by Waltex Products Co., the ceiling was done by Perth Modelling Works, the windows which were done in deep grav'e work (a type of sand-blasted plate glass carrying designs) were done by Barnett Bros. Ltd.; Bon Marche supplied over 200 yards of carpeting and J.L Mattinson did the lighting.

Other location information   In 1926, following unanimous agreement of members, the present church site at the corner of St Georges Terrace and Elder Street (then George Street) was purchased.

By 1938, it was realised that a church should be built; plans were drawn up by Mr Hargrave of Ochiltree & Hargrave, architects, and erected by A.T.Brine Pty. Ltd., one of Perth's prominent builders at that time. In the early hours of the morning of 2nd February, 1939, a small group of church officers met for the laying of the foundation stone. The building was completed as we see it today, and the first church services were held on Sunday, 25th June, 1939. However, since a church must be free of debt to be dedicated, this ceremony did not take place until 26th June, 1949.

When the church was built in 1939 the garden included tall, dark green pencil pines, and a strawberry tree. Lawn was planted in 1966 when the church gained more space in front, as a result of the realignment of roads as part of the freeway construction. In 1979 severe water restrictions in Perth, including a total sprinkler ban, prompted the removal of the pencil pines and lawn; they were replaced by Western Australian native plants that did not require watering. Most of the native garden – with the exception of three gum trees – was removed in 1999. The strawberry tree remains.

Name of contact  
Mailing Address  
Telephone  
Email  
Other contact information   First Church of Christ, Scientist, web site.

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Previous organ(s)
Date of previous organ   1953
Detail of previous organ   Whitehouse Brothers, Brisbane, instrument
3m.,21sp.st., 10c., el.pn.

GREAT
Bourdon 16'
Open Diapason 8'
Hohl Flute 8'
Octave 4'
Harmonic Flute 4'
Fifteenth 2'
Swell to Great Sub
Swell to Great
Swell to Great Super
Choir to Great
.
SWELL
Violin Diapason 8'
Lieblich Gedeckt 8'
Salicional 8'
Principal 4'
Picolo 2'
Cornopean 8'
Oboe 8'
Tremulant
Swell Sub
Swell Super
.
CHOIR
Stopped Diapason 8'
Dulciana 8'
Suabe Flute 4'
Clarinet 8'
Tremulant
Swell to Choir
.
PEDAL
Harmonic Bass 32'
Bourdon 16'
Echo Bourdon 16'
Bass Flute 8'
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Choir to Pedal
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Dates when key work has been undertaken   Enlarged 1970s F.J. Larner & A. White.

Dates of any moves that have taken place   None

Variations from original design of organ  
Information on previous organ   The organ by Whitehouse Bros, Brisbane, is the only example of this firm's work in the state.

Research results:
I can confirm from the records of the Whitehouse firm that the organ at First Church of Christ Scientist, Perth, was definitely built in 1953. Its a little difficult to pin it down to a particular month, as I have no record of the opening, but I would read that it was commenced in June that year. The cost was £5,326, and there were further "forwarding charges" (I guess, transport to WA) of £1,758.8.0 on 31 August. The final payment seems to have been made in early October 1953.
Dr Geoffrey Cox, Brisbane.


Information about comparable instruments to previous organ  
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Present organ
Type of installation   Chamber

Case description   Handsome modern case with three flats surrounded by two pedal towers.

Placement in room   Front of sanctuary center chamber

Builder's name   Bellsham Pipe Organs

Opus number  

Date of completion/installation   1983

Construction materials  

Number of manuals   Three (3)

Key compasses   CC - ccc

Number of keys   61

Key material  

Pedal compass   CC-f

Number of pedals   30

Pedalboard type   Concave radiating

Pedalboard material  

Type of chests   Slider chests in the Choir and Great
Cone valve chest on the Swell (Whitehouse)

Type of key action   Electro-magnetic

Type of stop action   Electro-magnetic

Couplers   Swell to Great
Swell to Choir
Swell to Pedal
Choir to Great
Choir to Pedal
GT & PED combinations coupler
Great to Pedal

Tremulants   Swell, Choir

Accessories    Two expression shoes - mechanical to Swell and Choir shutters

Console type   Detached drawstop

Stop label material  

Placement   Angled jambs

General design   Console has:
Standard memory system with 500 levels accessed through “up” & “down” pistons
16 general pistons
8 pistons to each division
6 reversible interdivisional coupler pistons, duplicated on toe studs
Full organ piston/toe stud
Transposer ± 6 semitones
Sequencer with over 10,000 steps, “next” and “previous” thumb pistons/toe studs.
Stepper
This system uses an Altera Cyclone III programmable IC with over 25,000 logic cells.

Playing aids   There are 8 thumb piston presets (5 above the Swell keyboard, 3 below the Great keyboard, to the right), with a total of 32 preset selections possible via a four way key switch above the Swell keyboard, to the right. There are two swell pedals: the left one is for the Choir and the right one for the Swell pipe sections.

Combination Action:
Solid State Instant Capture Action.
5 Thumb-pistons to Great organ combinations
5 thumb-pistons to Swell organ combinations
5 thumb-pistons to Choir organ combinations
5 toe-pistons to Pedal organ combinations
5 toe-pistons duplicating Swell thumb-pistons
8 thumb-pistons to General combinations
3 toe-pistons duplicating General thumb-pistons
1 thumb-piston operating General Cancel
1 thumb-piston operating combination Setter (protected by a lock)
Reversible thumb-pistons to all couplers
Reversible toe-pistons to Great to Pedal and Swell to Pedal
Drawstop operating 'Great and Pedal Combinations' coupler.
The thumb-pistons for the Swell and Great sections are in pp - ff arrangement.

New Control/memory system by Pipe Organs W.A. designed by Tomasz Nowak, installed in Sept 2017.
Wireless transmission from console to chamber via bluetooth.

Divisions   Great, Swell, Choir, Pedal

Wind pressures  

Stop list  
GREAT
Bourdon 16' Bass 30 pipes from C C
Open Diapason 8'
Hohl Flute 8'
Diapason 4'
Harmonic Flute 4'
Twelfth 2 2/3'
Fifteenth 2'
Forniture IV
Trumpet 8'
.
SWELL
Geigen Diapason 8'
Lieblich Gedeckt 8'
Salicional 8'
Voix Celeste 8'
Gemshorn 4'
Picolo 2'
Mixture III
Fagot 16' A
Cornopean 8' A
Oboe 8'
Clarion 4' A
.
CHOIR
Gedackt 8'
Viola da Gamba 8'
Spire Flute 4'
Nazard 2 2/3'
Principal 2'
Tierce 1 3/8'
Larigot 1 1/3'
Scharf IV
Clarinet 8'
Tuba 8' D
.
PEDAL
Principal 16' B
Subbass 16' C
Octave 8' B
Bass Flute 8' C
Quint 5 1/3' C
Fifteenth 4' B
Trombone 16' 12 pipes separate chest, 18 pipes from D D
Trumpet 8' D
.
Total number of stops   38

Total number of ranks   33

Total number of pipes   2,316

Dates when key work has been undertaken on current organ   New Control/memory system by Pipe Organs W.A. installed Sept 2017.
Wireless transmission from console to chamber via bluetooth.

Dates of any moves that have taken place to current organ   None

Information on current organ   Pipework and the swell chest of the original Whitehouse organ are incorporated into the Bellsham organ.

There are 38 stops in four divisions, using electromagnetic transmission to slider chests in the Choir and Great and cone valve chest on the Swell.

Comparable instruments to current organ  

Assessment of organ and current status   In very good condition

Other organs by this builder   There are several organs by Bellsham Pipe Organs in Western Australia. Please refer to Western Australian Organs Builders Index

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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 28 November 2008.
Research information on first organ provided by Bob Elms 1 February 2012.
Building and historical information from the church web site.
Photo of the original organ from the Bob Elms collection scanned by Patrick Elms 18 May 2019.
Particular details from Graham Devenish 29 October 2019.
Photograph of console sourced by Andrew Gardner 19 April 2020.
Stoplist of Whitehouse organ from Organ Historical Trust of Australia, 08 January 2024.