Congregational Church

Gheringhap Street, Geelong

Built 1860 John Courcelle, London; opened April 1861 in previous church in McKillop Street
Moved to new church in Gheringhap Street 1879
Modifications by George Fincham 1889 (extended Swell compass and two additional stops)
Rebuilt 1949 Hill, Norman & Beard (Australia) Pty Ltd (order number V243)
Church and organ destroyed by fire 1961
2 manuals, 13 speaking stops, 2 couplers, mechanical action (before rebuilding)

Congregational Church, Geelong: exterior view
(from a contemporary engraving [1879])

Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, 2013 (last updated April 2013)

An earlier church was opened on 15 September 1854 designed by local architect Benjamin Backhouse. This was replaced by a larger church in Gheringhap Street designed by Ballarat architect Henry Caselli which was opened on 31 March 1879. This building was of cruciform shape and incorporated an octagonal corner turret – its design was very similar to Congregational churches erected in Ballarat and Bendigo.

The Argus reported:

The new Congregational Church in Gheringhap-street, which supersedes the old structure in McKillop-street, was opened yesterday for the first time. Special sermons were preached to large congregations, in the morning by the pastor of the church, the Rev. C. S. Y. Price, and in the evening by the Rev. T. McKenzie Frazer. A tea-meeting to celebrate the event was held in the Mechanics'-hall this evening, and a public meeting held subsequently in the church, when addresses were given by several clergymen, and selections of music rendered by the choir. The building, which is a very handsome one, is built in the Florentine Gothic style, of West Geelong bricks, relieved by Waurn Ponds stone dressings, with bluestone base coignes. It has cost £4,650 and will seat 500 persons. The seats are placed in the amphitheatre style, similar to those of Collins-street lndependent Church. There are three beautiful stained glass windows, made by Messrs Ferguson and Urie, of Melbourne, the cost of them being altogether £320.¹

Congregational Church, Geelong: the organ
(photograph in the collection of John Maidment, from the Revd Noel Robinson)

The organ was one of seven exported to Victoria by the London organbuilder John Courcelle, who was a colleague of George Fincham at J.C. Bishop's establishment in London, and was opened on 5 April 1861.² It was moved to the new church building in 1879 by George Fincham who modified the organ in 1889 through the extension of the compass of the Swell Organ to CC, involving a new windchest, new pipework from CC to BB and the addition of a Gamba 8 and Piccolo 2.³

The original specification of the Courcelle organ was:

Compass: 56/30
3 composition pedals to Great
2 composition pedals to Swell
Lever swell pedal
Mechanical key & stop action⁴

Congregational Church, Geelong: close view of the organ
(photograph in the collection of John Maidment, from the Revd Noel Robinson)

The instrument had a delightful Gothic case, the pipes of the central flat placed beneath an elongated ogee arch and on a curved toeboard above a carved shell motif.

The Swell Organ appears to have had the following specification after 1889:

Hill, Norman & Beard (Australia) rebuilt the organ in 1949 with electro-pneumatic action and a stopkey console. Sadly both the church and organ were destroyed by fire in 1961.⁵

1 The Argus, 1 April 1879, p.6

2 Geelong Advertiser, 23 March 1861, 6 April 1861, cited in E.N. Matthews, Colonial Organs and Organbuilders (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p.169

3 George Fincham letters 3/59, 6/459, cited in Matthews, op.cit.

4 Specification from the collection of John Maidment, source uncertain

5 List of Hill, Norman & Beard orders on the OHTA website at: http://www.ohta.org.au/doc/HillNormanBeardAustralianorders.htm