Presbyterian Church, Flemington: the exterior
[photograph by Alan Elliott]
Presbyterian Church, Flemington: the exterior
[photograph by Alan Elliott]
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, 2013 (last updated October 2018)
The foundation stone of the Presbyterian Church, Flemington was laid on 25 June 1888 and the building which was estimated to cost £2,200 opened shortly afterwards.1 The architect was A.E. Duguid who was a native of Scotland previously in business in Aberdeen and arrived in Melbourne in 1884; the majority of his work was confined to the city and north-western suburbs, also including the Wesleyan Churches in Kensington, Moonee Ponds and Essendon.2 The building was constructed in brick and incorporated a tall tower and spire. It was destroyed by fire on 24 April 1970.
The history of the organ is unknown and may have been built for a private residence. This is suggested by the flute chorus on the Great Organ and the elaborate Gothic carving above the console. The console incorporates drawstops with endolithic engraving placed on terraces, possibly copied from the T.C. Lewis console at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne where the terraces have identical diagonal terminations. The adoption of an octave coupler for the Pedal Bourdon is also an unusual feature. It was located in a chamber to the right of the pulpit.
It is likely that the organ was built by Meadway & Slatterie3 who were established in Melbourne by 1912 and maintained the organ at St Paul's Cathedral; they also used a fully mechanical action for their instrument at Holy Trinity, Coleraine, opened in 1921.
Presbyterian Church, Flemington: the console
[photograph by John Maidment (1966)]
Sadly this organ no longer exists and the console photograph is all that is known to survive.
| GREAT Open Diapason Stop Diapason Flute Harmonic Piccolo Swell to Great SWELL Lieblich Gedact Gamba Gemshorn Oboe Tremulant PEDAL Bourdon Pedal Octave Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal |
8 8 4 2 8 8 4 8 16 |
(by rocking tablet) (with 12 additional pipes) |
Compass: 56/30
Trigger swell lever
Composition pedals
Mechanical key and stop action4
1 The Argus 26 June 1888, p.8
2 From notes Historic Churches and Organs of Essendon and Moonee Ponds Saturday 22 April 1995, prepared by John Maidment for the Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord
3 Information provided by Myles Brown September 2018 as advised by the late A.E. Barber, Hill, Norman & Beard tuner
4 Specification noted by John Maidment 1966