Chapel of the Maternal Heart

Calvary Hospital Chapel, Wagga Wagga

1968 S.T. Noad & Son
2 manuals, 3 ranks extended, electro-pneumatic action






Historical and Technical Documentation by Kelvin Hastie
© OHTA 2003 (last updated October 2023)


Calvary Hospital was originally known as 'Lewisham Hospital', having been established in 1926 by the Order of the Little Company of Mary as a branch of Lewisham Hospital in Sydney. The Chapel of the Maternal Heart, in an impressive Spanish Mission Romanesque style, was built during the years 1952-1954 and incorporates important windows by the Sydney stained glass artist Stephen Moor (1915-2003) who studied art history and stained glass at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. The pipe organ was supplied by S.T. Noad & Son in 1968. In spite of limited resources, the instrument is noted for its forthright tone in a favourable acoustic.

Unusual features of this modest three-rank extension instrument are its short-compass 4ft Principal rank which starts at Tenor C, the Clarabel Flute rank, which is of stopped wood construction, and the absence of couplers. The console does, however, include a crescendo pedal and double-touch cancellers for the stopkeys.

It seems likely that some of the work was sub-contracted to Roger H. Pogson, as the design of the electro-pneumatic chests, reservoir and stop switching system is similar to the first three unit organs built by Pogson in the years 1964-66. The instrument was cleaned and overhauled in 1999 by Peter D.G. Jewkes.




Photo: James Flores (May 2023)

GREAT
Claribel
Salicional
Principal
Open Flute (sic)
Twelfth
Fifteenth

SWELL
Claribel
Salicional
Flute
Salicet
Piccolo
Tremulant

PEDAL
Bourdon
Bass Flute
Salicet

8
8
4
4
2-2/3
2


8
8
4
4
2



16
8
4

A
B
C
A
B
C


A
B
A
B
A



A
A
B

Compass: 61/30
Electro-pneumatic action
Balanced swell pedal
Crescendo pedal
No couplers or pistons













Photos: James Flores (May 2023)


Sources:

* Keith J. Swan, A History of the City of Wagga Wagga: Wagga Wagga City Council, 1970, p.58.

* John Maidment, Gazetteer of New South Wales Pipe Organs. Melbourne: Society of Organists (Victoria) lnc., 1981.

* Specification and other information on organ supplied to Kelvin Hastie by Peter Jewkes August 2003 and on 5 October 2023.

* information on the building supplied to Kelvin Hastie by Sr Marie Tooze August 2003.

* Jenny Zimmer, Stained Glass in Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 121-122.