St Patrick's Church, Mount Lawley: exterior from north-west
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (10 April 2012)]
St Patrick's Church, Mount Lawley: exterior from north-west
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (10 April 2012)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Patrick Elms and Colin van der Lecq
© OHTA 2012, 2017 (last updated October 2017)
St Patrick's Church is a red-brick building built in 1936. The foundation stone was laid on Sunday 22 March, and the building was opened and consecrated on Sunday 9 August. Designed by Messrs Parry and Marshall Clifton in a free Romanesque style, it features an apsidal sanctuary flanked by a massive tower rising to nearly 60ft above the ground. Provision was made for an organ, to be installed at a later date.1
Trinity Congregational Church, Perth: the organ in its original setting
[Photograph from the archives of Hill, Norman & Beard (Australia) Pty Ltd]
The instrument was built by Norman Bros & Beard of Norwich, UK, in 1893 as a mechanical action organ for Trinity Congregational Church, Perth, and erected by Robert Cecil Clifton. The dedication of the organ took place on Wednesday 10 January 1894, a few weeks after the dedication of the church itself, and took the form of a recital by Mr Julius Herz and several anthems and hymns sung by the choir.2
This instrument was the firm's job number 0169 and the cost recorded in its records was £400.3 This was the first of 12 instruments exported to Australia by the firm before 1914, to which may be added the large instrument built by this firm in 1898, now in St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral, Parramatta, NSW.
St Patrick's Church, Mount Lawley: Norman Bros & Beard nameplate
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (10 April 2012)]
| GREAT Bourdon Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Dulciana Principal Flute Twelfth Fifteenth Swell to Great SWELL Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Principal Mixture Horn Hautbois PEDAL Open Diapason Bourdon Principal Flute Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal |
16 8 8 8 4 4 2-2/3 2 8 8 4 II 8 8 16 16 8 8 |
5 Composition Pedals to Great Organ
[Compass: 56/30].4
The organ was removed from Trinity Church in 1929 and installed in Johnston Memorial Congregational Church, Fremantle, where it gave good service until 1969. The specification was altered in 1903 when a Viole d'Orchestre rank was added to the Swell, and the Swell Mixture was combined with the Great Twelfth to create a 3-rank Mixture. J.E. Dodd of Adelaide Dodd carried out this work at about the same time that he added a third manual to the St George's Cathedral, Perth, organ.5
In 1969 the organ was removed, rebuilt and installed in St Patrick's Church, Mt Lawley, by Paul F. Hufner of Perth. Only the building frame, bellows, Swell, Pedal and a new console were installed at this time, while the Great windchest was prepared for installation.
St Patrick's Church, Mount Lawley: the modified Norman Bros & Beard organ case
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (10 April 2012)]
The Great division and case were installed by F.J. Larner & Co. in 1972, with the original Norman & Beard specification reinstated in the late 1970s, then changed back to the Dodd specification by F.J. Larner & Co. in the mid 1980s.6 Console moves were carried out by Lynn Kirkham and Doug Miller around 1983.
St Patrick's Church, Mount Lawley: the later detached console
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (10 April 2012)]
Various refurbishments by Pipe Organ Builders and Services of Perth, 1996 -1998, included repairs to the Great & Swell windchests, construction of new bottom-C pipes for the Pedal Open Diapason 16ft and Bourdon 16ft, reinstating the bellows to double-rise, and new electrics. In April 2017, Pipe Organs WA provided a new wireless control system, including 250 levels of memory and a sequencer.7
| GREAT Bourdon Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Dulciana Principal Lieblich Flute Fifteenth Mixture Swell Sub to Great Swell to Great Swell Octave to Great SWELL Open Diapason Lieblich Gedeckt Viole d' Orchestre Principal Horn Oboe Swell Sub Swell Octave Tremulant PEDAL Open Diapason Bourdon Principal Bass Flute Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell Octave to Pedal |
16 8 8 8 4 4 2 III 8 8 8 4 8 8 16 16 8 8 |
[2017] |
Compass: 56/30
6 thumb pistons for Swell and Great
6 toe pistons for Pedal
12 general thumb pistons and 8 general toe pistons
Thumb and toe pistons for 'Next' and 'Previous'
Reversible thumb pistons for Gt-Ped, Sw-Ped, Sw-Gt, Tutti
Reversible toe pistons for Gt-Ped, Sw-Ped, Sw-Gt
250 levels of memory
Sequencer of 1000 levels, up to 500 steps each
In Sequencer mode, all divisional and general pistons function as 'Next' piston8
St Patrick's Church, Mount Lawley: interior from rear showing organ to left of chancel
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (10 April 2012)]
St Patrick's Church, Mount Lawley: the stop jambs
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (10 April 2012)]
_______________________________________________________________________
1 The West Australian (23 March 1936), p. 17; The West Australian (10 August 1936), p. 12.
2 The West Australian (12 January 1894), p. 7.
3 Norman & Beard list of job numbers, compiled by David Wickens for the British Institute of Organ Studies.
4 The West Australian (12 January 1894), p. 7.
5 The West Australian (18 June 1903), p. 6.
6 Discussion with John Larner, January 2012.
7 Correspondance from church organist, John Beaverstock, 19 October 2017.
8 Information obtained from John Larner, January 2012, and John Beaverstock, October 2017.