St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – the exterior
[photograph by Ian Gibbs (12 January 2015)]
St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – the exterior
[photograph by Ian Gibbs (12 January 2015)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA (last updated January 2015)
The foundation stone of St Mary's Church was laid in 1839 and the building opened in 1844.1 Constructed in sandstone in the Gothic style, it may be attributed to architect James Blackburn.2
Bishop & Starr organ at St George's Anglican Church, Battery Point before case alteration
[copy of photograph from the collection of W.G.S. Smith (undated)]
The organ was built by the noted London firm of Bishop & Starr for St George's Anglican Church, Battery Point, Hobart.
The estimate book of the organbuilding firm of Bishop & Son 1860-1869, records the following:
Page 153
Ordered Jan 7, 67
Mr Fenwick, Abchurch Lane E.C/
Last estimate
2 manuals CC to F
Great
Open 'thro in metal
Clarabella
Stop'd bass
Dulciana (present from Mr Fenwick)
Principal
Fifteenth
Swell from C, lower 8ve to act of Bourdon
Open
Double
Principal
Hautboy
Pedale CC to E
Grand Bourdon
Couplers
54
54
42
54
54
42
42
42
42
29
3 composition pedals
Packed in tinned cases and delivered at docks £240.003
The organ was opened at Battery Point on Thursday 13 February 1868 by organist Mr Packer. It had been erected by Jesse Biggs.
Bishop & Starr organ at St George's Anglican Church, Battery Point after case alteration
[photograph by John Maidment (1970)]
Various alterations to the organ took place while it was at Battery Point. The organ case was widened through the additional of two flats of four pipes on either side of the original case, the facade pipes were covered in gold paint, and the Hautboy was removed and replaced with a Gedackt in 1955 and a balanced swell pedal installed.
The specification recorded in 1970 was:
| GREAT Open Diapason Stop Diapason Bass Clarabella Dulciana Principal Fifteenth Swell to Great SWELL Double Diapason Stop Diapason Bass Open Diapason Principal Hautboy PEDAL Bourdon Great to Pedal |
[8] [8] [8] [8] [4] [2] [16] [8] [8] [4] [8] 16ft |
CC-BB TC TC CC-BB TC TC replaced by Stopped Flute 8 |
Compass: 54/30
4 composition pedals
Balanced swell pedal
Mechanical key and stop action
A new organ was installed at Battery Point in 1981, sited at the other end of the building. The Bishop & Starr instrument was moved to the Chapel of Christ's College at the University of Tasmania by Long, Langlois & Johnstone. Various alterations took place such as the lowering of the Swell windchest, removal and destruction of the swell box, removal of the added lateral casework and repositioning of the façade pipes.
St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – the restored organ
[photograph by Dorothy Evans (10 November 2014)]
The organ was acquired by St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton. An extensive restoration was carried out by Gibbs & Thomson, of Hobart and completed in 2014. The work included:
The instrument now looks and sounds to advantage in St Mary's Church which has a reverberation period of 2.5 seconds.
St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – casework
[photograph by Dorothy Evans (10 November 2014)]
St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – console
[photograph by Dorothy Evans (10 November 2014)]
St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – console detail
[photograph by Ian Gibbs (12 January 2015)]
St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – internal pipework
[photograph by Ian Gibbs (12 January 2015)]
St Mary's Anglican Church, Kempton – action detail
[photograph by Ian Gibbs (12 January 2015)]
1 Geoffrey Stephens, The Anglican Church in Tasmania (Hobart: Trustees of the Diocese, 1991), p.34
2 http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1215 accessed December 2014
3 Details noted 1971 by John Maidment from the Bishop & Son records housed at Beethoven Street, London
4 Further information from Ian Gibbs and Rod Thomson "Historic Organ Restored for Tasmanian Village Church", Organ Australia (Summer 2014-2015), pp.14-17