St Finbar's Catholic Church, Glenbrook
46 Levy Street, Glenbrook (Lower Blue Mountains)
Hele & Co. 1880 (2/22 mechanical)
© PdL 2006
From SOJ Summer 1995, Spring 1998:
Originally built for St Peter's Anglican Church, East Sydney, the organ was sold and moved to Glenbrook after St Peter's church closed in the 1990s. The English firm of Hele & Co. (Plymouth) is only known to have suplied three organs to Australia, and all of these to NSW. Completed in 1880, the organ was shipped and installed in St Peter's Church during February 1881. The church's foundation stone had been laid in 1866 and the first service was held on 25 July, 1867. The church used a secondhand instrument until the need to purchase a larger instrument led to the purchase of the Hele. It was situated on the floor in the north-east corner of the nave and remained in almost perfectly original condition, except for the addition of an electric blower and the pipes being covered in gold paint (obscuring the original decoration), until the church was closed and the organ sold. Upon removal to Glenbrook, the organ was restored by Pitchford & Garside and the case pipes redecorated. The organ now enjoys an excellent acoutic in a new, modern church building and it is often used for concerts. For many years in East Sydney, Norman Johnston had been the organist and used it as a teaching instrument.
The beginnings of the Glenbrook Parish are closely associated with the building of the railway through Glenbrook Gorge in 1911. The many workers living at the Bluff at the time wanted a Catholic school for their children and a church for the celebration of Sunday Mass. The church was built by Father Thomas Barlow, Parish Priest of Penrith, who was probably responsible for the naming of the church. The church was blessed and opened in August 1912 for dual purpose as a school and it was named St. Finbar. The Sisters of St. Joseph taught school during the week and resided in a cottage lent by a parishioner. The present church was consecrated on 7 May, 1995 and the organ was opened in September 1995.[PdL]
© PdL 2006
Hele & Co. 1880 (2/22 mechanical)
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Great Open Diapason Stopd Diapason Dulciana Gamba Principal Wald Flote Twelfth Fifteenth Mixture Swell Bourdon Open Diapason Stopd Diapason Salicional Principal Piccolo Mixture Cornopean Oboe Pedal Open Diapason Bourdon Principal Couplers Swell to Great Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal |
8 8 8 8 4 4 2 2/3 2 II 16 8 8 8 4 2 II 8 8 16 16 8 |
Compass 56/30
Mechanical action
Lever Swell pedal
3 combination pedals to Great
3 combination pedals to Swell
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