Roseville Uniting Church (formerly Methodist)
Lord Street, Roseville

British Pianoforte Co. 1917, rebuilt S.T. Noad & Son 1961,
Peter D.G. Jewkes 1981 and 2000 (2/16 electro-pneumatic)



Photo: Alan Caradus (June 2012)


From SOJ Autumn 2002:

The first Roseville Methodist Church was build on Lot 10 of the Clanville estate after land was purchased in 1907. In July 1935 the foundation stone of a new church building was laid, the original being retained for use as a hall.

The organ was built in 1916-17 by the British Pianoforte co. of Sydney, who built it speculatively and advertised it for sale. Obtained by the Roseville Trustees in June 1917, the instrument was purchased for £ 375. The opening recital was performed on 8 August by William Pogson, organist of the Newtown Methodist Church. Although information in Historic Organs Of NSW suggests the organ had about 10 stops and tubular-pneumatic action, subsequent research has shown it to have had only 8 stops and mechanical action, making it identical in design and specification to the British Pianofone Co. organ of 1914 in St Mary's Catholic Church, Grafton, which survives intact to this day.

In July 1959 a committee comprising "Messrs. Ball, Scotter, Smith and the church organist, Robert Goode'' was elected to investigate what improvements could be made to the organ. S. T. Noad & Son was subsequendy engaged to rebuild the organ, but was apparently slow to make progress, as the church later sought legal advice and an opinion from another organ builder, Ronald Sharp. Finally completed in May 1961, the rebuilt organ featured sliderless ventil chests, electro-pneumatic action, a detached console and tonal additions in the form of a Twelfth and Fifteenth to the Great, a Celeste and Oboe to the Swell, extensions to the Pedal Bourdon and the borrowing of the Great Open Diapason for use on the Pedal. A rather unusual and unsatisfactory aspect of this work was the lack of a 4' Principal on the Great: the original Harmonic Flute was left to fill the gap in the chorus between 8' and the new upperwork. The rebuilt organ was rededicated on 30 June 1961, the opening recital being perfonned by Robert Goode.

In December 1979 , Kelvin Hastie, together with Graeme Rushworth, inspected the organ and made several recommendations designed to maintain it in good order. In 1981 Peter D.G. Jewkes was engaged to provide new purses for the action and a new silent blower. The 1961 the Dolce was removed and the pipes of the Celeste took its place on the Great. A Mixture II was added to the Swell and a Fagott 16' to the pedal, while the upperwork on the Great was modified to provide a more satisfactory chorus.

In 2000 the Jewkes firm was again engaged to carry out work on the organ. This comprised the refurbishment of the action and console component, the 1961 relays being replaced with a solid-state system, providing a simple capture action. A new Principal 4' (scaled on the existing Open Diapason) was installed to supplant the flute.



Photo: Alan Caradus (June 2012)


The present specification of the organ is:

Great
Open Diapason
Stopped Diapason
Dolce
Principal
Nazard
Fifteenth

Swell
Salicional
Lieblich Gedact
Gemshorn
Mixture
Oboe
Tremulant

Pedal
Bourdon
Principal
Bass Flute
Octave Flute
Fagott

Couplers
Great to Pedal
Swell to Pedal
Swell to Great
Swell Octave to Great
Swell Sub to Great
Swell Octave
Swell Octave

8
8
8
4
2-2/3
2


8
8
4
II
8



16
8
8
4
16










B
B
B former Swell Celeste tuned pure
J 2000
N
N


B
B
B
J
N



B
B/N
B/N
B/N
J











Compass 61/30

Electro-pneumatic action

B = British Pianoforte Co. 1917
N = S.T. Noad & Son 1961
J = Peter D.G. Jewkes 1981 (or 2000 as shown)








Photos: Alan Caradus (December 2018)