St Mark's Anglican Church

corner Burke & Canterbury Roads, Camberwell

Built 1928 Geo. Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd
Enlarged 1944 Geo. Fincham & Sons (Great Open Diapason I and 16ft extension)
Rebuilt and enlarged 1952 Geo. Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd (Choir Organ added and detached 3 manual drawstop console)
Tonal changes 1968
Rebuilt & enlarged 1989-90 Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd
Renovation and tonal changes 2023 Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd
3 manuals, 49 speaking stops, 15 couplers, electro-pneumatic action

St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: exterior from the south-west
[photograph by John Maidment (5 August 2024)]


Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA (last updated August 2024)

In 1912, the present church site was purchased and the parish established. The first service was held on 27 April 1913. The foundation stone of a brick church hall, designed by architects North & Williams, was laid on 5 April 1914 and the building opened on 30 August of that year.¹ A single-manual pipe organ was acquired from the Methodist Church, Pleasant Street, Ballarat. This had been built around 1857 by Jesse Biggs for St Andrew's Church, Brighton and was dedicated on 5 June 1922. It was sold to St Paul's Anglican Church, Fairfield, but no longer exists.

The foundation stone of the present church, designed by architect Rodney Alsop, was laid on 10 September 1927 and the building dedicated on 21 July 1928. The building was constructed in brick with stucco rendering on the exterior and interior except for the chancel, sanctuary and chapel, which are lined with sandstone reclaimed from the former National Bank of Australia in Collins Street, Melbourne. Measuring 138ft 6in in length and 62ft wide, it incorporates a nave of seven bays with lofty clerestory and passage aisles, an elevated chancel and sanctuary, the apse of the latter ingeniously accommodated within a square east end. The Warriors Chapel of St George, a war memorial, is placed to the right of the chancel and a lofty tower with broach spire is located at the north-west corner, behind which is placed an octagonal baptistery. The building incorporates outstanding stained glass by Christian and Napier Waller, Sir Ninian Comper, D. Taylor Kellock, John Orval and Joseph Stansfield.

The building was described in The Herald newspaper:

St Mark's Church occupies land at the corner of Canterbury and Burke road. This is an ideal site for a suburban church, is at an intersection of two of the main arteries of urban life, clustered round by dwellings and shops, and it will be a constant reminder of the ideals for which it stands.

The Rev. J. A. Schofield, M.A., the vicar, was ever foremost in efforts that have culminated so successfully. First, he increased the congregation of his church to such an extent that the schoolroom where services are now held has become too small; then by exhortation, organisation and unwavering faith he spurred his parishioners on to raise £15,000 needed for the building of the new church.

The task has not been easy. It was more than two years ago that the wardens of the church asked Mr Rodney H. Alsop, F.R.I.B.A., to prepare sketch plans and approximate estimates, and it is Interesting to note that the price of the successful contractor, Mr. H. G. White, is within a few pounds of Mr Alsop's original estimate.

138 FT. LONG BY 63 FT. WIDE

The total length of the church is 138ft. 6in., and its greatest width measures 63 feet. The western door is set back eight feet from the footpath of Burke road and the south porch comes right up to the building line of Canterbury road. At the north-west corner, a tower rises nearly 150 feet. The structure is of brick, covered outside with cement, colored and treated in an especially pleasing manner, while inside, the plaster is brought to a sanded texture except where mouldings demand a smoother finish.

A notable feature of the church is its Chapel of Remembrance, lined throughout with stone; and its chancel, also lined with stone, where the splayed apse gives an added effect of perspective on the inside, and increases the beauty of the outside eastern end. The promoters have been able to use the dignity and beauty which belongs alone to stone, because the material was given to them by Mr O. R. Yuncken.

The nave and choir will seat 600 worshippers [actually 400]. The Chapel of Remembrance is separated from the chancel only by an arcading, and could, at any time, be used to swell the seating accommodation. This Chapel is, in reality, a Shrine, where the sacrifice of those, who fell in the Great War is hallowed, and in a niche on one side of the Altar, a Book of Remembrance will be kept, recording their names.

The open timber roof over the nave rises to a height of 43 feet at the apex. The tie beams will be bracketed underneath with winged figures. The aisles serve their true functions as ambulatories only, and do not contribute at all to the seating area. An octagonal Baptistry, under its own roof, nestles against the tower and the northern wall of the church, and provides a charming home for this important aspect of church activity.²

On 2 and 3 September 1927, Geo. Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd quoted £1060 and £1500 to build a two manual organ, the first of 12 speaking stops and five couplers and the second of 15 speaking stops – the latter appears to have been chosen.³

The organ was built by Geo. Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd and opened by Mansley Greer, organist of Scots Church, Melbourne on 29 August 1928.⁴

Compass: 61/30
Tubular-pneumatic action
Detached stopkey console5

In 1944, Geo. Fincham & Sons added a large Open Diapason to the Great with a 16ft extension, the bottom 12 pipes coming from the former organ in St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne.⁵

St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: John McClure at the 1952 console
[Margaret Hookey, St Mark's Camberwell, p.74]

The organ was rebuilt and enlarged by Geo. Fincham & Sons and dedicated on 17 August 1952. A third manual (Choir Organ) was added together with electro-pneumatic action and a new detached drawstop console which faced outwards into the church.

Compass: 61/30
Detached drawstop console with stopkeys for couplers⁶

In 1968, a number of tonal changes were made by the Fincham firm in association with organist John Mallinson. The Great Harmonic Flute was transposed to form a Tierce. The Swell Horn was replaced on the main windchest and the Oboe extended at 16, 8 and 4ft pitches, the Voix Celeste was removed from the Choir and replaced in the Swell, the Swell Bourdon was removed and a new Mixture III-IV ranks provided. A vacant slide remained on the Choir Organ, the Pedal Acoustic Bass was converted to a Quint 10-2/3 derived from the Subbass, and the Contra Oboe was borrowed on to the Pedals. The voicing was generally brightened up. A Swell to Pedal Super coupler was provided and the Choir to Great Sub and Super couplers deleted. This work constituted the Norman W. Stringer Memorial and was dedicated on 24 November 1968.⁷

St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: organ cases
[photograph by John Maidment (5 August 2024)]

The organ was further rebuilt in 1990 by Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd as a memorial to the organist of St Mark's R.E.V. Church who held the position from 1926-1963.⁸ In order to address a serious problem with tonal egress from the organ chamber, a second opening was cut out from the walls, with its own case, to the left of the original case. The action was updated and a new three-manual drawstop console, encased in oak, provided. The organ was reopened on Sunday 27 May 1990.

Great & Pedal pistons coupled

Compass: 61/32⁹

While the 1990 work was well executed overall, with a fine new oak console, the instrument had lost much of its unison foundation during this rebuilding and the sound failed to project satisfactorily from the organ chamber. The present work by Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, under Daniel Bittner, has included the rearrangement of pipework within the organ chamber to improve tonal projection and the addition of further unison ranks as well as overall rebalancing and some revoicing. The solid state systems and swell engines have also been replaced and a new swell box fitted to the Choir Organ facing directly into the church.

St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: console following 2023 work
[photograph by John Maidment (5 August 2024)]

Great and Pedal Pistons Coupled
Autobass¹⁰

Compass: 61/32
Detached drawstop console with rocking tablets for couplers
Balanced electric swell pedals for Swell and Choir
Transposing device

St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: left-hand stop jamb
[photograph by John Maidment (5 August 2024)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: right-hand stop jamb
[photograph by John Maidment (5 August 2024)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: couplers
[photograph by John Maidment (5 August 2024)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: organ case from chancel
[photograph by John Maidment (5 August 2024)]




St Mark's Anglican Church, Camberwell: interior from west end of nave
[photograph by John Maidment (10 August 2008)]

1 Margaret A. Hookey, St Mark's Camberwell: the first seventy-five years. Camberwell: the Vestry of St Mark's Church, Camberwell, 1988 gives a valuable chronology on p.108

2 The Herald, 22 June 1927, p.13

3 Geo. Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd letter books (State Library of Victoria)

4 The Argus, 28 August 1928, p.13

5 Geo. Fincham & Sons letter books

6 Specification noted by John Maidment 1966

7 Details noted by John Maidment and also outlined in Hookey, op.cit., p.63

8 R.E.V. Church's career is documented in an article by Beth Williams at https://ohta.org.au/doc/articles/REVChurch.html

9 The Anglican Church of St. Mark Camberwell : Service of Dedication of the rebuilt 'R.E.V. Church Organ', Sunday, 27th May, 1990

10 Specification noted John Maidment 5 August 2024 with the assistance of organist Greg Lockrey