St Columba’s Uniting (formerly Presbyterian) Church

cnr Macalister & Raymond Streets, Sale

Built 1968 Laurie Pipe Organs Pty Ltd
2 manuals, 18 speaking stops (7 ranks extended), 2 couplers, electro-pneumatic action




St Columba’s Uniting Church, Sale – exterior
[photograph by Simon Colvin (2011)]


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

The first Presbyterian service was held on 29 January 1854 at the Woolpack Inn, Sale.1 A permanent church building was erected in 1859 and this was demolished in 1972.2 The present church was opened in 1958 and was designed by noted church architect Keith Reid.3



St Columba’s Uniting Church, Sale – organ from nave
[photograph by Simon Colvin (2011)]

The organ was built in 1968 by Laurie Pipe Organs Pty Ltd and incorporates a werk-prinzip style case. The design of the organ was evolved between Bill Martin, a former organist, and Steve Laurie, and was regarded as a classical organ built on the extension principle. It was dedicated on 14 July 1968. The pipes were voiced with little or no nicking and a sibilant articulation.4

The specification of the organ is derived from the following units:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
 16
8
8
8
2
2/5
1
 Pommer
Principal
Still Gedeckt
Spitz Gamba
Wald Flute
Tierce
Mixture
49 pipes
85 pipes
73 pipes
73 pipes
61 pipes
37 pipes
96 pipes


GREAT
Principal
Still Gedeckt
Octave
Gedeckt Flute
Fifteenth
Mixture 15.19.22
Positive to Great
8
8
4
4
2
III
B
C
B
C
B
G


  
POSITIVE
Pommer
Spitz Gamba
Spitz Octave
Waldflute
Tierce
Larigot
Sifflute


8
8
4
2
1-3/5
1-1/3
1
A
D
D
E
F
E
E




middle C
tenor G


PEDAL
Pommer
Spitz Gamba
Gedeckt
Quinte
Waldflute
Great to Pedal
16
8
8
5-1/3
4
A
D
C
C
E

  

Great and Pedal Pistons

Compass: 61/30
Detached stopkey console
Electro-pneumatic action
Wind pressures: 2-11/16” except 1-12 of A 3”
All metal pipework above 4ft of spotted metal5

1 The Argus, 29 January 1954, p.7

2 https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/denominations/uniting-church-in-australia/directory/237-st-columbaand%2339%3Bs-uniting-church, accessed 11 January 2022

3 https://www.builtheritage.com.au/dua_reid.html, accessed 11 January 2022. The design for The Avenue Church, Blackburn followed in the same idiom.

4 Steve Laurie, ‘An Extension organ in the Classical Style’, Society of Organists (Victoria) Incorporated Newsletter, July 1968, pp.10-11

5 Specification noted 1968 John Maidment

 



St Columba’s Uniting Church, Sale – organ case close up
[photograph by Simon Colvin (2011)]




St Columba’s Uniting Church, Sale – organ case, publicity photograph
[photograph by Ritter Jeppesen Studios (July 1968)]




St Columba’s Uniting Church, Sale – console
[photograph by Simon Colvin (2011)]




St Columba’s Uniting Church, Sale – piston selector mechanism
[photograph by Simon Colvin (2011)]




St Columba’s Uniting Church, Sale – church interior looking towards sanctuary
[photograph by Simon Colvin (2011)]