St Thomas' Anglican Church
Hay Street, Port Macquarie

1855 J.W. Walker, 1m., 5 sp. st., pedal pulldowns, tr.
Barrel mechanism with three barrels, each containing 11 hymn tunes.






Information taken from the church's website http://www.midcoast.com.au/~stthomas/History.html:

St Thomas' is the fifth oldest church still in use in Australia. The 1855, the J.W. Walker & Son organ was ordered by the "Morpeth Church, Newcastle" for St Thomas' Anglican Church, Port Macquarie, NSW. It was described as a "finger and barrel" organ with job number 574. It was restored in 1970 by H.W. Jarrrott from Brisbane and further restoration work has been undertaken. The barrel mechanism is in working order and consists of three studded barrels, each containing eleven hymn tunes, making 33 in all. Its landed cost in 1857 was 161 pounds sterling, and it was housed in the gallery built in 1844 to accommodate the Seraphine (early harmonium) and choir. 

The specification is:

Manual
Open Diapason
Stop Diapason
Stop Diapason Treble
Dulciana
Principal
Fifteenth

8
8
8
8
4
2
TC
)
)
TC


Compass 54/17
"German Pedals" permanently coupled with manual
"Neat mahogany case...gilt pipes in the front"
Case 2.9m high, 1.83m wide
Three barrels in revolving frame, each to play 11 tunes
Two composition pedals

Extracts from: ‘History of St. Thomas’ Church Port Macquarie Convict built 1824’ Revised Edition 2000

Research: David Rogers; Nanette Lewis and Gwen Griffen, Port Macquarie Historical Society.
Edited: Nanette Lewis
Preparation: Michael Matthews

The Walker Pipe Organ

‘The existing pipe organ was purchased in London from Walker Brothers in December 1856 and arrived at St Thomas’ on 11 June 1857 and placed in the organ gallery.

In 1868 an organ builder was employed to move the organ out of the gallery and reassemble it in the north-east corner of the nave where the orchestra and seraphine once stood. It remained in that position for just over a century. In 1969, the organ was reconditioned with a new barrel action and playing mechanism reproduced from corrosion free metal as near as possible to the original workings. The reconditioned Walker organ was returned to its original position in the organ gallery in May 1970.

The organ has 246 pipes of metal and wood, six stops, a keyboard compass of 54 notes CC to F, and a pedal board compass of 20 notes CC to G directly coupled to the manual. The stops may be operated by two others at the rear of the instrument. Whilst the pump handle will still operate the bellows, nowadays the wind is supplied by an electrifugal blower.

The organ is a pipe and barrel type, the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere, and is the smallest made by Walker Brothers, being one octave short. The three original barrels can be seen at the back of the organ. Each barrel is studded with brass staples of varying length and when a barrel was brought to a central position it could be turned by hand and brought into contact with the tracing fingers (comb-like device) which in turn opened the appropriate organ stops striking the notes. The organ played the tune. Each of the three barrels contains eleven hymn or psalm tunes giving a total of thirty three tunes for the three barrels.’



























From a postcard


Box pews

Photos: Trevor Bunning 25 May, 2010