St Mark's Anglican Church

Midland Highway, Pontville

B. Bevington & Sons, London; inst. present loc. 1888.
Res. 1958 R. Greaves for J.W. Walker & Sons.
1m., 5 sp.st., ped.pulldowns, tr. Man: 8.8 divided.8.4.2.



Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA (last updated May 2011)





St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : exterior
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (2009)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : exterior
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (2009)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : interior
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (2009)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : interior showing organ to the left
and Tractarian fittings – now removed
[photograph by John Maidment from original by Beattie, Hobart located in church (28 April 2011)]


St Mark's was designed by the colonial architect James Blackburn in a distinctive neo-Norman style and built between 1839 and 1841 by Joseph Moir at a cost of approximately £2,600. It is constructed from local Brighton stone. The main façade incorporates a central Norman doorway flanked by raking arcades and low towers. The interior includes elaborately carved furniture by Hobart woodcarver Ernest Osborne.1 This replaced earlier Tractarian fittings and altar with elaborate hangings.

An order for a new organ was sent in May 1887.2 Replacing a harmonium, the organ was built by Bevington & Sons, London. Dr Bridge, Organist of Westminster Abbey, had been consulted on the organ and given "most satisfactory information ... respecting the new organ."3 It was imported by T.J. Hood and erected by Mr Witherington in 1888.4 Witherington tuned and maintained the Hill & Son organ at St John's Anglican Church, New Town, had his own organ, and was responsible for the specification of the Fincham organ at Wesley Church, Melville Street, Hobart.5 However, it may have been secondhand and date from before 1880 as it is claimed that a signature J. Goss (possibly the English organist Sir John Goss, died 1880) appears on the casework although this has not been reliably sighted.



St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : organ
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (2009)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : organ
[photograph by John Maidment (28 April 2011)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : console
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (2009)]

It is a standard example of a small Bevington single-manual organ, similar examples of which may be found at Christ Church, Low Head, Tasmania and in the south transept gallery of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch, NZ. The casework is made from finely wrought Oregon while a wind indicator behind a window is fitted above the blowing handle, on the right hand side of the case.



St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : detail of drawstops
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (2009)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : view through facade pipes
[photograph by John Maidment (28 April 2011)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Pontville : wind indicator on right side of organ
[photograph by John Maidment (28 April 2011)]


Restoration work was carried out in 1958 by R. Greaves, of J.W. Walker & Sons Ltd, and in 1981 the façade pipes were re-diapered although not to the original patterns.6


MANUAL
Open Diapason ft
Stopt Diap Bassft
Clarabellaft
Dulcianaft
Principalft
Piccoloft

8 ft
8 ft
8 ft
8 ft
4 ft
2 ft

unenclosed to GG, bass gvdft
CC-BBft
Ten. Cft
Ten. Cft
ft
ft


compass: 56/25
pedal pulldowns
mechanical key & stop action
lever swell pedal7


Typical of its builder's work, this instrument has an extraordinarily bold sound, ideally suited to congregational accompaniment.




1 St Mark's, Pontville: a visitors' guide to this historic church. New Norfolk: Derwent Printery, n.d., p.4

2 Church News, 1 June 1887, p.92

3 Church News, 1 September 1887, p.133

4 Information kindly supplied by David Shield, December 2010

5 Ibid.

6 Brian Clark & Michael Johnson, Pipe Organs of Tasmania. 3rd ed. Hobart, Tas.: Hobart Organ Society, 2002, see under organ 59

7 Spec. noted John Maidment 1970