St John's Anglican Church
Raymond Terrace

1862 J.W. Walker, 1m., 5 sp. st., pedal pulldowns, tr.





From 1981 OHTA Conference handbook and SOJ Summer 2004-2005:

J.W. Walker, London built this organ in 1862. It was originally a "barrel and finger organ" with an attractive spotted metal and pine case in the "Plain Gothick" style (often colloquially referred to by organbuilders as "four-poster bed cases"), bearing the builder's job number 692. Almost identical to the slightly earlier Walker at St Thomas', Port Macquarie, the remaining two barrels list tunes largely composed of metrical Psalm tunes. The original design provided for three barrels on a revolving frame each set to 11 tunes. Sadly the barrel mechanism was removed in the 1960s, concurrently with the installation of a new keyboard and drawstop knobs, however the remainder of the organ remains mercifully unscathed. The case was of polished mahogany, with decorated front pipes, on spotted metal ground. Its cost was £141-10/-. Restoration work was carried out in 1974 by Fr. John Hamer-Howorth of Caloundra, Queensland.

Personal comment from Peter Jewkes (Dec 2006):

In 1978 it was cleaned and overhauled by Peter Jewkes and again in 2004. The organ awaits a thorough restoration.


From OHTA News April 2007, Kelvin Hastie reports:

St John's Anglican Church, Raymond Terrace, in the Hunter District of New South Wales, is home to a small single- manual JW Walker organ which has served the church faithfully for 145 years. Although altered during renovation work carried out in the l970s, a majority of components, such as the case (including candle sconce bases), delicately stencilled façade pipes, action, soundboard, key cheeks, short-compass flat pedal board, composition pedals, bench, nameplate and all internal pipework, survive.

The church has initiated a restoration project to be carried out by Peter D.G. Jewkes Pty Ltd and this will use traditional methods to restore the manual soundboard, the key and pedal action and the pipework. Work also includes releathering of the bellows and the replacement of the plastic stopknobs (dating from 1974) with facsimiles based on existing Walker models, to be made in turned mahogany with recycled ivory inserts. It is important to note that in restoring the pipework no hot water or chemical solvents will be used: cleaning will occur using vacuum process, fine soft brushes and dust mops, in accordance with best international practice. OHTA has granted the project tax-deductible status and it is hoped that this will encourage people to be generous in donating to the work, which will cost just over $40,000. For a small country parish to raise this amount is quite a challenge.

The budget for the project does not allow for the replacement of the supply-house keys installed in 1974 by John Hamer-Howarth, of Caloundra, Queensland, and the reconstruction of the original barrel playing mechanism, removed at the same time. The only other JW Walker organ in New South Wales with a surviving barrel mechanism is the 1856 instrument at St Thomas' Anglican Church, Port Macquarie, further north along the coast. When John Stiller documented the Raymond Terrace organ on 25 February 1985 he noted that the last remaining evidence of the barrel operation was a heavily deteriorated paper notice glued to a back panel of the case. This lists some of the hymn tunes available on the three barrels, each pinned for 11 tunes. Some of the tunes available on No. 3 barrel, and whose names can still be discerned, were Evening Hymn, Rockingham, London New, Mount Ephraim, Darwall's and Hanover. A double chant is also listed.

John Stiller also recorded other changes made to the instrument, including the fitting of tuning slides to most open metal pipes and the removal of the hand-blowing mechanism. The appeal to raise funds for the current project was launched by (now retired) state Member of Parliament, The Hon. John Price, MP, on 4 February 2007. This took place in the grounds of the historic St John's Rectory (a building that dates from 1841) and featured speeches by The Revd Beatrice Patel and the organ restoration project co-ordinator, Don Denham. Readings of poetry, combined with musical items ranging from operatic arias to art song, provided a delightful afternoon's entertainment. OHTA was represented by the Secretary, Kelvin Hastie, who has been appointed adviser for the project.


Peter Jewkes writes (SOJ Summer 2008-09):

Work has commenced on restoration of this Hunter Valley church’s fine 1862 J. W. Walker & Sons instrument. Originally a finger and barrel organ, the organ suffered some infelicitous changes in the 1960s, including lowering of its pitch to the then modern concert pitch of A=440Hz, removal of the barrel mechanism, fitting of new keys made of blonde timber with plastic coverings, and fitting of white plastic stop knobs, not only for its existing stops but for a “prepared for” Pedal division!

The present restoration work will include the organ’s soundboard, action and pipework. The original pitch will be restored, and the crude 1960s tuning slides discarded. New keys will be installed, copied as closely as possible from the 1864 Walker organ in the Jewkes firm’s care at Tyburn Priory Riverstone, appropriately of mahogany frames with polished bone coverings. New stop knobs are also being turned, again facsimiles of contemporaneous Walker knobs, of mahogany with ivory resin inserts. Hand engraving is being specially carried out in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in England.

The organ is also to be moved forward approximately 750 mm from its previous (unoriginal) home at the West end of the church, to permit proper tuning and maintenance access through the rear doors. Advice is currently being sought from conservation experts regarding the most appropriate protection for a paper list of tunes played by the original barrels, presently glued to the inner surface of one of these doors. The project’s consultant is Dr Kelvin Hastie.



The specification is:

Manual (unenclosed)
Open Diapason
Stopd Diapason Bass
Stopd Diapason Treble
Dulciana
Principal
Fifteenth

8
8
8
8
4
2

CC-BB
TC
TC
Pipes
56
12
44
44
56
56


pedal pulldowns permanently coupled to Manual, 20 mnotes C - g0

2 composition pedals

Mechanical action

Compass: 56/20

268 pipes

Pitch and wind pressure (as measured by John Stiller on 25 February 1985) a = 445.6 Hz at 24 C and 2-3/4"

Photos: Trevor Bunning (July 2007)