Former Uniting (Methodist) Church

Gladstone Street, Moonee Ponds

Built 1921 George Fincham & Sons.
Church sold and organ broken up by new owners of building 2007: case remains in building.
2 manuals, 16 speaking stops, 5 couplers, tubular-pneumatic action




Former Uniting Church, Moonee Ponds – exterior
(photograph by John Maidment [2006])


Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, January 2022


The Moonee Ponds congregation built its first church in Puckle Street in 1882, although Wesleyan activity in the area dates back as far as 1846. The foundation stone of the present building was laid in September 1890. The architect was A.E. Duguid, a native of Scotland, who was in business in Aberdeen and arrived in Melbourne in 1884, the majority of his work confined to the city and north-western suburbs including the Flemington Presbyterian Church (destroyed by fire). The building was opened in April 1891 and the cost around £4,000.1



Former Uniting Church, Moonee Ponds – interior and organ
(photograph by John Maidment [1966])

The organ was built in 1921 by Geo.Fincham & Sons, with a detached stopkey console and tubular-pneumatic action. Placed within the apse, it remained unaltered until it was broken up by the new owners of the building around 2007 and the parts disposed of. The organ case remains in the building.

GREAT
Open Diapason
Claribel
Dulciana
Principal
Stopt Flute
Fifteenth
Swell to Great
8
8
8
4
4
2


    
SWELL
Open Diapason
Gedacht
Viol d’Orchestre8
Voix Celeste
Octave
Horn
Oboe
Sub Octave
Super Octave
Tremulant


8
8
8
8
4
8
8



TC





(by rocking tablet in keycheek)

  
PEDAL
Bourdon
Echo Bourdon
Bass Flute
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
16
16
8
A
A (derived at low wind pressure)
A


  

Compass: 61/30
Balanced mechanical swell pedal
3 fixed thumb pistons to Great
3 fixed thumb pistons to Swell
Detached console with rocking tablets
Tubular-pneumatic action2



Former Uniting Church, Moonee Ponds – organ case detail
(photograph by John Maidment [1995])


1 Syd Smith. One hundred years in Moonee Ponds: a history of the Gladstone St. (now Uniting) Church. Moonee Ponds: the church, 1982.

2 Specification noted John Maidment 1966