Methodist Church, Denham Street Hawthorn: organ before overpainting of façade pipes
(photograph from the collections of the State Library of Victoria)
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, 2019 (last updated May 2019)
The Wesleyan Church, Denham Street in Lower Hawthorn, as the area was then called, was opened on 2 May 1886. The building was designed by Geelong architect William Henry Cleverdon and was built of brick in the Gothic style. Its dimensions were 55 x 33 ft and the façade incorporated a rose window and spire 50 ft high. A wooden vestry was placed to the rear.1 The building and the organ were seriously damaged by fire on 1 April 1970, started by a painter's blowtorch.2
Methodist Church, Denham Street Hawthorn: organ before overpainting of façade pipes
(photograph from the collections of the State Library of Victoria)
The organ was built in 1900 by E. Cornwall Cook, of Barrington Place, Burwood Road, Hawthorn.3 It was opened on 8 August 1901 by George Peake.4 The Swell strings may have been added (or substituted for earlier material) by Frederick Taylor, whose workshop was nearby in Burwood Road. At some stage the colourfully decorated façade pipes were repainted in a gold finish.5 The organ was badly damaged in the 1970 fire and the metal pipes were sent to Hill, Norman & Beard who melted them down for scrap.6
| GREAT Open Diapason Stop Diapason Gamba Dulciana Principal Fluto Traverso [sic] Piccolo Swell to Great SWELL Violin Diapason Gedact Viol d'Orchestre Aeoline Principal Oboe Sub Octave Super Octave Tremulant PEDAL Bourdon Cello Great to Pedals Swell to Pedals |
8 8 8 8 4 4 2 8 8 8 8 4 8 16 8 |
bass from Gamba metal |
One unlabelled stop
Compass: 61/30
Mechanical manual and stop action; tubular-pneumatic pedal action
3 composition pedals to Great
2 composition pedals to Swell
Balanced mechanical swell pedal (closes shutters in forward position)7
Methodist Church, Denham Street Hawthorn: church interior and organ after overpainting of façade pipes
(photograph from the collections of the Uniting Church Archives, Melbourne)
1 Age, 3 May 1886, p.5
2 Sun, 2 April, 1970
3 Advocate, 19 January 1901, p.13
4 Argus, 10 August 1901, p.12
5 Observable in the second photograph of the church interior showing the organ
6 Noted by John Maidment at the Hill, Norman & Beard factory, Clifton Hill
7 Specification noted by John Maidment February 1966