St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills – exterior
(photograph by John Maidment [8 November 2020] )
St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills – exterior
(photograph by John Maidment [8 November 2020] )
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, 2020 (last updated November 2020)
The first service in the present Surrey Hills Presbyterian Church, as it was then known, took place on 11 December 1910.1 The building was designed by prominent Presbyterian architects Campbell & Kernot, the builder was A.H. Robertson and it cost more than £2,000.2 The steeple was 60 feet high, and it contains many fine wooden fittings carved by John Kendrick Blogg (1851-1936) including the massive pulpit.3 There is an outstanding example of Scottish arts and crafts stained glass in the right transept.
The building was later known as St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church from 1947.
St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills – interior
(photograph by John Maidment [2010])
The first organ was a Vocalion reed instrument. On 15 October 1936, Geo.Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd gave quotations of £1,190 and £800 for the supply of a new organ to the specifications of Raymond Fehmel, organist of The Australian Church, Russell Street, Melbourne.4 The contract was later let to C.W. Andrewartha, of Caulfield, and the completed instrument was dedicated on 16 July 1939. The organist was Raymond Fehmel and it cost £935.5
Andrewartha built a small three-manual organ with tubular-pneumatic action and a detached stopkey console.
| GREAT Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Dulciana Principal Wald Flute Swell to Great Solo to Great |
8 8 8 4 4 |
||
| SWELL Open Diapason Gamba Voix Celeste Principal Fifteenth Closed Horn Sub Octave Super Octave Solo to Swell Tremulant |
8 8 8 4 2 8 |
TC |
|
| SOLO (enclosed) Hohl Flute Rohr Flute Piccolo Clarinet Oboe Sub Octave Super Octave |
8 4 2 8 8 |
TC TC |
|
| PEDAL Open Diapason Bourdon Principal Bass Flute Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Solo to Pedal |
16 16 8 8 |
A B A B |
Compass: 61/32
Tubular-pneumatic action
Detached stopkey console
Balanced swell pedals
Fixed thumb & toe pistons6
St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills – organ case
(photograph by John Maidment [2010])
In 1983-84 the organ was rebuilt and enlarged by Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, of Keysborough, in consultation with Lindsay O’Neill. The work included minor tonal alterations, electro-pneumatic action and a detached drawstop console. The organ case was widened to allow improved internal access. It was rededicated on Sunday 11 March 1984 with a recital presented in the afternoon by Lindsay O’Neill.
| GREAT Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Dulciana Principal Fifteenth Swell to Great Choir to Great |
8 8 8 4 2 |
1-12 new new |
|
| SWELL Open Diapason Viola da Gamba Viole Celeste Principal Fifteenth Mixture 22.26.29 Trumpet Sub Octave Octave Tremulant |
8 8 8 4 2 III 8 |
wood bass TC new new |
|
| CHOIR (enclosed) Hohl Flute Rohr Flute Flautina Larigot Clarinet Swell to Choir Tremulant |
8 4 2 1-1/3 8 |
new new |
|
| PEDAL Open Wood Bourdon Quint Flute Octave Flute Hautboy Hautboy Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Choir to Pedal |
16 16 10-2/3 8 4 8 4 |
A A A A B old Closed Horn B |
Great & Pedal Pistons Coupled
Compass: 61/32
Electro-pneumatic action
Detached drawstop console
Adjustable thumb and toe pistons
Reversible thumb and toe pistons for Swell to Great and Great to Pedal7
St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills – pulpit carved by J.K. Blogg
(photograph by John Maidment [2010])
St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills – stained glass window in right transept
(photograph by John Maidment [2010]
1 The Age, 4 July 1910, p.8
2 The Age, 12 December 1910, p.11
3 Marjorie Morgan, Legacy in Sculptured Wood: An Appreciation of the work of John Kendrick Blogg, 1851-1936. Burwood, Vic.: the author, 1993
4 Geo.Fincham & Sons letter 15 October 1937
5 The Argus, 17 July 1939, p.2
6 Specification noted John Maidment February 1966
7 Joy Hearne, ‘The Organ at St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, Surrey Hills’, Victorian Organ Journal (June 1984), pp.22-26