Pipe Organs in WA
 
 
 
 
 

The Chapel of St Mark, Wembley Downs
The pipe organs of Western Australia



Wembley Downs Hale School Chapel

Wembley Downs Hale School Chapel
Photo: Boyd Peters

Wembley Downs Hale School Chapel
Photo: Boyd Peters

Property
Name of institution   Hale School
Type of institution0   School
Street Address   160 Hale Road
City   Wembley Downs
State   Western Australia
Postcode   6019
Country   Australia
Name of building   Chapel of St. Mark
Name of room  
Dates of the building   1968
Register of Heritage Places   Adopted 17 Jun 1997
Heritage Place number   09958
Architect  
Builder  

Special architectural features and fittings  

Other location information   Hale School's Chapel of St Mark is widely used by students, staff and Old Boys. There are between 15 and 20 weddings and baptisms a year and a few funerals held in the School Chapel. An end of month Family Service is well attended and is the forum for baptisms and welcome to first communion.

A wide variety of other events are also held in the Chapel including the Valedictory Chapel Service, Easter and Christmas services, the celebration of Mother's Day and Father's Day, specific House chapels and occasionally, special music or sporting services.

There is also a small Chapel or Oratory above the administration office which hosts daily morning prayer, and a weekly Eucharist on a Thursday lunchtime. These services are open to all. The Oratory is widely used for Religious Education discussions and pastoral care.

Hale School is the oldest independent boys’ school in Western Australia. It was founded in 1858 by the first Anglican Bishop of Perth, Dr Mathew Blagden Hale, a clergyman, educator and social pioneer. The School, which was then known as ‘The Bishop’s Collegiate School’, opened its doors on 28 June 1858, with an initial enrolment of 22 students.

The first campus was established at The Cloisters, St George’s Terrace. In 1914 the School (which was called ‘The High School’ between 1878 and 1929), moved to a bigger site at Havelock Street, West Perth. In 1961, having acquired the name Hale School in 1929, it moved to Wembley Downs, where it is currently situated on a magnificent 48 hectare site, approximately 13 kilometres to the north-west of Perth and two kilometres from the coast.

Hale School is an Anglican day and boarding school, offering primary and secondary education through to Tertiary Entrance Examination level. Whilst day scholars are enrolled from Year 1 to Year 12, boarders are normally accepted from Year 7 to Year 12.

Current enrolment numbers total 1,300, comprising 300 students in the Primary School (Years 1 to 7) and 1,000 in the Senior School (Years 8 to 12). Of this total there are 202 boarders, from various parts of Western Australia and other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Dubai.

Name of contact  
Mailing Address  
Telephone   08 9347 9777
Email  
Other contact information   Hale School website

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Previous organ(s)
Date of previous organ   None
Detail of previous organ  
Dates when key work has been undertaken  
Dates of any moves that have taken place  
Variations from original design of organ  
Information on previous organ  
Information about comparable instruments to previous organ  
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Present organ
Type of installation   Freestanding

Case description   Plain display of pipes

Placement in room   Rear gallery

Builder's name   F.J. Larner & Co.

Opus number  

Date of completion/installation   1968

Construction materials  

Number of manuals   Two (2)

Key compasses  

Number of keys  

Key material  

Pedal compass  

Number of pedals  

Pedalboard type  

Pedalboard material  

Type of chests  

Type of key action   Electro-magnetic

Type of stop action   Electro-magnetic

Couplers  

Tremulants  

Accessories   

Console type  

Stop label material  

Placement  

General design  

Playing aids  

Divisions   Great, Swell, Pedal

Wind pressures  

Stop list  
GREAT
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SWELL
.
PEDAL
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Total number of stops  

Total number of ranks   5 plus mixture

Total number of pipes  

Dates when key work has been undertaken on current organ  

Dates of any moves that have taken place to current organ  

Information on current organ  

Comparable instruments to current organ  

Assessment of organ and current status   The organ is unplayable and replaced with an electronic instrument

Other organs by this builder   There are many organs by John Larner 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 07 January 2009.
Photograph of the chapel exterior from Wickipeda
Photographs of the chapel organ by Boyd Peters 09 May 2021.