All Saints' Anglican Church

Byangum Road, Murwillumbah

C.W. Leggo, Sydney, 1926
2 manuals, 18 speaking stops, tubular-pneumatic action
Moved to present church 1960, and electrified 1973 H.W. Jarrott, Brisbane
2 manuals, 20 speaking stops, electric action
Restored 1998 W.J. Simon Pierce, Brisbane
Additions 2010 W.J. Simon Pierce, Brisbane
2 manuals, 22 speaking stops, electro-pneumatic action

All Saints' Anglican Church, Murwillumbah
(Photograph by Trevor Bunning (November 2011)

Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2011, 2013 (last updated May 2013)

The first recorded Anglican service was held in Murwillumbah on 26 September 1870 and regular worship commenced with the appointment of Rev'd Thomas E. Fox as the first Vicar of the Tweed and Brunswick on 23 December 1886. The district was raised to Parish status on 28 July 1901. Before the present All Saints' Anglican Church, Murwillumbah, was opened on 1 November 1960, the Anglican congregation had worshipped at two previous sites.¹

The organ at All Saints' Church was built by Charles William Leggo in 1926 at the cost of £1,322 for the previous wooden church on another site, where it was dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Grafton, The Right Rev. J. W. Ashton. The original specification of 18 stops was drawn up by the church's organist, Victor Worley, who gave the opening recital on 12 June 1926. One of the unusual features at the time was the inclusion of a Harmonic Bass 32ft on the Pedal. Also of note was the Great chorus complete from 16ft to 2ft.²

The organ located in the present church
[Photograph by Simon Pierce (c.2010?)]

The organ was moved to the present church by H.W. Jarrott of Brisbane, when the new building was opened in 1960. Jarrott electrified the action in 1973, using direct electric action, and provided a new detached console in the gallery. At the same time, he added two Pedal stops, borrowed from the Great, and increased the number of couplers.³

A major restoration of the organ was undertaken in 1998 by W.J. Simon Pierce of Brisbane. As part of the restoration, Pierce converted Jarrott's direct electric action to electro-pneumatic action, refurbished the chests and wind supply, restored the wind pressures to the original levels, and re-leathered the bellows.⁴

Funded by three generous bequests from parishioners and a State Government heritage grant, Pierce added two stops to the Great in 2010, at the same time providing a second (mobile) console at floor level in the church.⁵

The present specification, constructed from various sources, is:

Electro-pneumatic action (originally tubular-pneumatic, and subsequently direct electric)
Compass: 61/30
3 pistons to the Great Organ
3 pistons to the Swell Organ
Balanced swell pedal.⁶

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1 http://www.anglicanchurchmurwillumbah.com - accessed November 2011

2 Graeme Rushworth, Historic Organs of New South Wales: The Instruments, Their Makers and Players 1791-1940 (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1988), p. 167; The Brisbane Courier (24 June 1926), p. 9..

3 Specification and date noted by David Kinsela, as supplied January 1977 for John Maidment, Gazetteer of New South Wales Pipe Organs (1981); Personal communication to G. Cox from Bert Jarrott, November 2011.

4 'News from Organ Builders,' The Organ Voice, vol. 24, no. 1 (March 1998), p. 31 & vol. 24, no. 2 (June 1998), p. 28; Pierce Pipe Organs, 'All Saints' Anglican Church, Murwillumbah,' http://www.piercepipeorgans.com.au - accessed November 2011.

5 Peter Caton, 'Funds make Pipe Dream a Reality,' Daily News (Tweed Heads, 15 November 2010); Pierce Pipe Organs, 'News: All Saints' Anglican Church Murwillumbah (14 December 2010,' http://www.piercepipeorgans.com.au - accessed November 2011.

6 All Saints' Church, Murwillumbah, opening and dedication of new pipe organ, 12 June 1926, and C.W. Leggo records, cited in Rushworth, op. cit., p. 167; Additional details from later sources, as cited abov; An accurate current specification is not yet available.