Christ Church St Laurence Anglican Church
George Street, Railway Square
Hill & Son 1892 (3/26 mechanical and tubular-pneumatic)
Henk Klop 2011 (1/4 mechanical)
Sources: SOJ February/March 1986, Winter 2003, Winter 2006, personal comment P Jewkes September 2009.
Christ Church has been the centre for Anglo-Catholic worship in Sydney and maintains a high musical standard. The building was consecrated in 1845 and is dominated by a tall copper spire designed by Edmund Blacket in 1856.
The original 1844 George M. Holdich (London) organ, destroyed by fire in 1905
Mitchell Library (State Library of NSW): Small Pictures File, PXA 2113, box 47
The Hill & Son organ of 1892 in its original position in the church between 1906 and 1912
(Photograph supplied by Peter Jewkes, having been given to William Chapman by the family of Robert Andrews)
The first organ was destroyed by fire in 1905 before the current organ was purchased from the residence of R A Andrews of Leichhardt for £1,000. It had spent the first 15 years of its life in the concert room of Mr Andrew's Leichhardt residence "Frog Hollow". For seven years it stood at floor level in the position now occupied bay the St Laurence Chapel (where its predecessor had also stood, prior to the disastrous fire which destroyed the interior of the church's East end). In 1912 it was raised to its present rather unusual location on a high platform at the right hand side of the chancel by Charles Richardson, who also added a concave and radiating pedalboard. Slight modifications were made to timberwork in the façade, to accommodate the casework under the chancel ceiling. A new Swell bellows was also installed, to permit the addition of a Tremulant for this division. The organ was overhauled in 1966 by ST Noad and Son when tuning slides were fitted, the Swell Celeste replaced by a Piccolo and the pedalboard re-faced. In 1979-80 Orgues Létourneau Ltée of Québec carried out a renovation and enlargement, adding a second hand Trombone 16 ft and Fifteenth 4ft to the Pedal using electric action.
In 1994 the 2 Pedal windchests were restored by Peter D G Jewkes Pty Ltd, with the external power motors returned to their original traditional design. At this time the firm also installed a new Pedal Trombone, with new windchests, the pipes themselves being donated by Orgues Létourneau. A new windchest for the Pedal Fifteenth was also made by the Jewkes firm, and this stop was relocated to its present position, level with the manual pipework. In 2005, work was done on the organ gallery to provide better access and more room around the console and in 2006 the Jewkes firm took the organ apart for a thorough cleaning. The Choir Clarionet was also fitted with new reed tongues revoiced to restore the original Hill tonal qualities.
Click here to download an MP3 file (7.9MB) of Michael Dudman playing the Bach B minor Fugue BWV 544 recorded 1982
Hill & Son 1892 (3/26 mechanical and tubular-pneumatic)
| Great Open Diapason Violon Diapason Hohl Flute Principal Harmonic Flute Mixture Trumpet Swell Bourdon Open Diapason Rohr Flute Salicional Principal Piccolo+ Mixture Horn Oboe Tremulant^ Choir Gamba Dulciana Lieblich Gedeckt Wald Flute Clarionet Pedal Open Diapason Bourdon Violoncello Fifteenth* Trombone* Couplers Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Choir to Pedal Swell to Great Swell to Choir |
8 8 8 4 4 III 8 16 8 8 8 4 2 III 8 8 8 8 8 4 8 16 16 8 4 16 |
3 pistons to Swell
3 pistons to Great
Great to Pedal toe lever
Mechanical action to manuals
Tubular-pneumatic action to stops and pedals
Electro-pneumatic action to pedal additions
Compass 56/30
+ replaced original Voix Celeste 1966
* 1979-80/1994
^ originally added by Richardson, replaced by Létourneau
© PdL 2005
Rushworth p. 283
Christ Church St Laurence Anglican Church
George Street, Railway Square
Continuo organ
Henk Klop 2011 (1/4 mechanical)
Peter Jewkes writes (11/8/11):
Christ Church St Laurence recently took delivery of a 4 stop chamber organ by the Dutch builder Henk Klop, who specialises in such instruments. Housed in an attractively carved Cherrywood case, the organ has the following specification:
| Gedact Flute Principal Quinte |
8 4 2 1-1/3 |
(from middle C) |
All pipes are made from wood.
The delightful key action is mechanical, and the organ transposes to play at 415, 440 or 465 Hz pitches. Though it will mostly be used with orchestras for concerts and services in the church, it has also proved its worth accompanying the choir in "early" repertoire. It was dedicated on 31st July at High Mass and Confirmation, after which a brief recital/demonstration was given by music staff Neil McEwan, Peter Jewkes and Edwin Taylor. Recently in the absence of Organ Scholar and Director of Music, Organist Peter Jewkes conducted and accompanied the first half of Choral Evensong from the little organ which was a resounding success, even in the Office Hymn!
The photos are by Daniel Mitterdorfer, taken 6/8/11.