St Peter's Anglican Church, Gympie
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
St Peter's Anglican Church, Gympie
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 1989, 2007, 2011 (last updated March 2011)
The foundation stone of the present St Peter's Anglican Church in Gympie was laid on 26 July 1951. Constructed in brick with cement dressings and with a prominent bell tower over the main entrance, the building was opened around 1952, and eventually consecrated by Archbishop Reginald Halse on 28 June 1959. It replaced an earlier timber church dating from 1887.1
St Peter's Anglican Church, Gympie, 1887-1954
Images and caption displayed in the present church
[Photographs by John Maidment (October 2007)]
The nameplate on the organ reveals that it was built in London by "Henry Jones & Sons, South Kensington". As the instrument was described at the start of January 1902 as "the new organ constructed and shipped for St Peter's Church,2 it can be assumed that it was built and completed in 1901, and was probably installed in 1902.3
The builder's nameplate on the organ
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (October 2007)]
Henry Jones, snr died in April 1900. This organ appears, therefore, to have been built by his son, Henry S. Jones, who took over the business after his father's death. A high degree of conservatism is suggested in the fact that the specification is almost identical with that of the 1884 Henry Jones organ at St Thomas' Anglican Church, Rozelle, NSW.4
The organ in the gallery of the present church
[Photograph by John Maidment (October 2007)]
The organ was moved around 1952 from the earlier St Peter's Church to the present building, where it is located in the west gallery under a shallow arched ceiling that unfortunately obscures the tops of the façade pipes.
The instrument was restored in 1986-87 by H.W. Jarrott of Brisbane. The case, which had prior to this been painted cream (and before that, silver), was restored to what is believed to be its original polished colour: dark honey. The pipework in the case, which had been painted gold, was sanded back and repainted in a metallic colour. Restoration involved major repairs to the soundboards, in which the timber had shrunk, causing many of the joints to open. A new organ bench was also provided at this time.5 A new blower was supplied by W.J. Simon Pierce in 1997.6
[Photographs by Howard Baker (October 1989)]
[Photograph by John Maidment (October 2007)]
GREAT |
8 8 8 4 4 2 8 8 8 4 8 16 |
[gvd bass] [gvd bass] [bottom octave unenclosed] [gvd bass] [recorded as 'Octave' in Musical Opinion [see below] |
2 composition pedals to Great Organ
Compass: 56/30
Trigger swell lever (horizontal swell shutters)
Mechanical action
Pedalboard: straight & concave.7
[Photographs by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
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1 Glenda Murrell, Anglican Records and Archive Centre Guide to Records (DioceseofBrisbaneWeb, 2001) - accessed January 2004; Photograph of earlier church, and details of foundation stone and consecration of church, noted at present church, October 2007.
2 Musical Opinion & Music Trade Review, vol. 25, no. 292 (1 January 1902), p. 276.
3 The date c.1890 given by the present author in Gazetteer of Queensland Pipe Organs (Melbourne: Society of Organists, 1976) was speculative.
4 Graeme Rushworth, Historic Organs of New South Wales: The Instruments, Their Makers and Players 1791-1940 (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1988), pp. 297-301; see also: Graeme Rushworth, A Supplement to Historic Organs of New South Wales (Organ Historical Trust of Australia, 2006), p. 59.
5 Restoration details supplied to G. Cox by H.W. Jarrott, 1987-88; recorded in Organ Society of Queensland Newsletter, vol. 16, no. 1 (August 1988), pp. 14-17.
6 W.J. Simon Pierce Newsletter (Winter 1997).
7 Specification noted by G. Cox July 1974 and October 1989.
[Photographs by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]