Former St John's Catholic Cathedral, Maitland (1846 building) : exterior
[Photograph: John Maidment 2005]
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA (last updated February 2011)
Former St John's Catholic Cathedral, Maitland (1846 building) : exterior
[Photograph: John Maidment 2005]
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA (last updated February 2011)
St John's Chapel was opened in 1846 and became the cathedral of the diocese in 1866. This sandstone building is thought to have been designed by the noted colonial architect Mortimer Lewis. It has a distinctive western tower with pinnacles and battlements. On 26 November 1933, a new Pro-Cathedral opened in a former picture theatre nearby and the old cathedral became a Marist Brothers school hall, the side walls being greatly altered. It is now in a perilous state, having been affected by the 1989 earthquake and the erosion of stonework.
Former St John's Catholic Cathedral, Maitland : the Willis organ
[Photograph: David Evans c.1973]
The organ is an almost completely intact example of the work of Henry Willis & Sons, London and was built for the former St John's Cathedral, and moved in 1933 to the Pro-Cathedral. Its siting there was most unfortunate both acoustically and visually as much of the upper casework was hidden from view. The organ has since been dismantled and moved into storage following the establishment of a new diocesan cathedral at Sacred Heart, Hamilton, Newcastle in 1994.
The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser for Tuesday 27 July 1880, pp.4-5 described the opening of the organ at St John's Cathedral, West Maitland, on the previous Sunday. It stated:
The new organ was built by Messrs. H. Willis and Sons, of London. The instrument has two complete manual organs; the compass of each is CC to G in Alto, fifty-six notes; also an independent pedal organ, CCC to Tenor F, thirty notes. It is enclosed in a neat panelled case, with handsomely finished speaking pipes in front. The pipes are of the best spotted metal. The action contains all the latest improvements, thereby rendering the touch light and elastic.
The specification was also described:
| GREAT ORGAN Open Diapason Lieblich Gedact Principal Fifteenth SWELL ORGAN Open Diapason Gemshorn Hautboy PEDAL ORGAN Bourdon Three couplers |
[8] [8] [4] [2] [8] [4] [8] [16] |
The tone of the new instrument is notably sweet; its power was not put to the proof on Sunday morning. It will manifestly render more effective the services conducted in the cathedral, and worshippers therein are to be congratulated upon so valuable an addition to their means of praise.
The tonal design of the instrument is almost identical to the celebrated 'Willis on Wheels' organ at St Paul's Cathedral, London, except that the London instrument has a Cornopean on the Swell rather than a Hautboy. The Lieblich Gedact of the Maitland organ has stopped metal pipes to the bottom note, the bass pipes having double mouths. The Swell Diapason has a stopped bass.
At a later time, the stop labels have been replaced, so that the specification below that was recorded in November 1973 by John Maidment showed several departures from the original Willis nomenclature:
| GREAT ORGAN Open Diapason Stop Diapason Principal Fifteenth SWELL ORGAN Diapason Gemshorn Oboe PEDAL ORGAN Bourdon COUPLERS Swell to Great Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal |
8 8 4 2 8 4 8 16 |
Mechanical action
Compass: 56/30
Trigger swell lever
Later changes also included the painting of the organ casework and the spraying of the facade pipes with gold paint, obliterating the original decoration.