St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – exterior from west
[historic photograph supplied by Neil Newitt)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – church exterior
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2017)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – exterior from west
[historic photograph supplied by Neil Newitt)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – church exterior
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2017)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, 2008 (upgraded January 2017)
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church was designed by Nathaniel Billing. The foundation stone was laid on 16 August 1870, and was constructed of bluestone with brick dressings.1 The projected nave measured 60 ft by 30ft, with 20ft walls, and a chancel 24ft by 17ft, with vestry at the side. A handsome tower was envisaged at the south end of the church.2 Only the nave was built and the projected tower and chancel were never constructed. It was reported that the chancel arch of the building fell during the course of erection and while workmen fell with it, they miraculously escaped.3 The building was opened on Trinity Sunday 18714 and includes raked 'free pews' at the west end, which are placed on either side of the organ.
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – the organ before restoration
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2008)]
In 1868 George Fincham built a small single manual organ for Christ Church Anglican Church, Warrnambool where it was opened in mid-1869. This was the earliest known pipe organ in Western Victoria, outside Ballarat and Geelong. It was moved to the Congregational Church, Warrnambool in 1891 and to the Congregational (later Uniting) Church, Hughesdale in 1940. The instrument is significant as the earliest Fincham instrument to survive essentially intact (apart from the substitution of a Gamba for the original Oboe, possibly in 1891) since the partial destruction by fire of Fincham's 1866 exhibition organ at St Jude's Church, Carlton. The lower Gothic casework incorporates unusual trefoil arcading, this extending across the outside of the console doors. An unusual feature is that the Pedal Bourdon has sealed tops and is not fitted with the more usual stoppers.
Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd moved the organ from the Hughesdale church (which has now closed) to St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Victoria in September 2008.
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – the restored organ
[photograph by Trevor Buning (October 2017)]
The organ received a comprehensive restoration by Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd in 2016 and was first used in a completed state at a recital by Rhys Boak at the Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields Festival on Monday 16 January 2017. The restoration work included the refinishing of the casework by Eddie Peck, redecoration of the wooden dummy façade pipes by a Maryborough craftsman, while the double-rise reservoir, mechanical action, slider windchest and pipework were fully restored. New wooden trackers were also fitted.5
The organ is classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) as an instrument of significance.
| MANUAL (enclosed) Open Dia Stopd Dia Clarabella Dulciana Principal Flute Fifteenth Gamba Pedal Coupler PEDAL [Bourdon] |
8ft 8ft 8ft 8ft 4ft 4ft 2ft 8ft 16ft |
TC CC-BB TC TC TC (Oboe originally on this slide) 12 pipes permanently 'on': unenclosed |
Compass: 56/29
3 composition pedals
Lever swell pedal
Mechanical key and stop action6
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – the organ before restoration
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2008)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – the organ before restoration
showing the 'paupers' pews' on either side
[photograph by Neil Newitt (October 2008)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – the organ before restoration
[photograph by John Maidment (October 2008)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – stops
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2017)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – the nameplate
[photograph by John Maidment (October 2008)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – pipework during restoration
[photograph by Daniel Bittner (May 2016)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – replacement trackers during restoration
[photograph by Daniel Bittner (May 2016)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – restored double-rise reservoir during restoration
[photograph by Daniel Bittner (May 2016)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – church exterior
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2008)]
St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, Talbot, Vic – restoration plaque
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2017)]
1 Leader, 27 August 1870, p.19
2 The Argus, 15 March 1870, p.7
3 Ballarat Star, 27 October 1870, p.3
4 Church of England Messenger, 16 June 1871, p.8
5 Details provided by Daniel Bittner 2016
6 Details noted by John Maidment from visits to organ at Hughesdale and Talbot 2006 and 2008