All Saints' Uniting Church, North Plympton – exterior
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2019)]
All Saints' Uniting Church, North Plympton – exterior
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2019)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by David Shield and John Maidment
© OHTA 2012, 2019 (last updated October 2019)
A small chapel was built on this site in 1847 following a government grant of twenty pounds to the Wesleyan Methodist Church 'towards the building of a chapel and school house at Plympton'. Primitive in construction, it was replaced by a more substantial building (still extant on the corner) in 1856,1 described as 'a neat little chapel, 37 feet 3 inches by 31 feet 3 inches, calculated to accommodate about 250 persons.'2 Bartlett Hall was added in 1940,3 and the present church around 1961 (during the incumbency of Rev. F Everleigh Tregilgas (1957-1961).4
All Saints' Uniting Church, North Plympton – organ
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2019)]
The organ was built by Rushworth & Dreaper, of Liverpool, for Huyton College Chapel, Lancashire, England, but was for many years cared for by Henry Willis & Sons.5 Founded in 1894 as an independent day and boarding school for girls, Huyten College merged with Liverpool College in July 1993, and the chapel has since been converted to private residential housing.6
Huyton College Chapel, Lancashire
[Postcard picclick.co.uk - accessed 16 October 2019]
The organ was acquired in 1952 from Henry Willis & Sons, who reconditioned it before shipping it to the Madge Memorial Methodist Church, Halifax Street, Adelaide. It was installed at Madge Memorial Church in 1953 at a cost of £1,750.7
All Saints' Uniting Church, North Plympton – Willis nameplate
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2019)]
Dedicated as the 'Hedley Thomas Memorial Pipe Organ,' the instrument was opened by Alan Tregaskis on Friday 27 March 1953 with a recital recorded by the ABC for broadcast.8 The purchase of the organ had been arranged by Rev. J.H. Allen during a trip to England. It was described as having two manuals with 14 speaking stops, three couplers and a tremulant.9
Madge Memorial Methodist Church, c.1946
[Photograph from State Library of South Australia - PRG 287/1/13/53]
Upon the closure of the Madge Memorial Church, the organ was moved by J.E. Dodd Gunstar Organ Works to Plympton, where it was dedicated in 1961.10
The specification at Plympton around 1970 was recorded as follows:
| GREAT Open Diapason Stop Diapason Dulciana Gamba Principal Flute Swell to Great SWELL Open Diapason Stop Diapason Salicional Voix Celestes Principal Cornopean Oboe PEDAL Bourdon Swell to Pedals Great to Pedals |
8 8 8 8 4 4 8 8 8 8 4 8 8 16 |
gvd TC TC (open) gvd gvd TC gvd bass with Oboe |
Compass: 56/29
Black metal and wood pipes
Tracker action
Slider soundboards
2 toe pedals to Great Organ
Balanced swell pedal
Attached drawstop console.11
Tonal alterations were carried out by J.E. Dodd Gunstar Organ Works in 1975-1980, resulting in a specification of 15 speaking stops.12 In this process, various stops appear to have been re-named, and stop labels to have been replaced with alien substitutes. The original Great Dulciana 8' was removed, and its pipework sas presumably redeployed in the two stops added to the Great at this time: Fifteenth 2' and Mixture II.
All Saints' Uniting Church, North Plympton – console
[Photograph by Simon Colvin (October 2019)]
The current specification is:
| GREAT Open Diapason Clarabella Gamba Principal Blockflöte Fifteenth Mixture 19.22 Swell to Great SWELL Open Diapason Stop Diapason Salicional Voix Celestes Principal Cornopean Oboe Tremulant PEDAL Bourdon Great to Pedals Swell to Pedals |
8 8 8 4 4 2 II 8 8 8 8 4 8 8 16 |
labelled Stop Diapason 8 in 1970 TC TC, labelled Flute 4 in 1970 Gunstar Organ Works addition Gunstar Organ Works addition gvd.bass gvd.bass TC |
Compass: 56/29
Mechanical key and stop action
Attached drawstop console
Balanced swell pedal.13
All Saints' Uniting Church, North Plympton – left-hand stop jamb
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2019)]
All Saints' Uniting Church, North Plympton – right-hand stop jamb
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2019)]
________________________
1 http://allsaints.unitingchurch.org.au/our-church/church-history/ - accessed October 2019.
2 The Observer (14 June 1859), p. 4.
3 'New Hall at Plympton,' Australian Christian Commonwealth (8 March 1940), p. 11.
4 Personal communication from Mrs June Heath (parishioner) to David Shield, 16 October 2019.
5 Letter from H.R. Beanland to David Merchant, c.1957, cited in Bruce Allan Naylor, Organ Building in South Australia (MMus thesis, University of Adelaide, 1971), vol. 2, p. 704.
6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huyton_College – accessed October 2019.
7 Madge Memorial Methodist Church, Adelaide, 'Opening and Dedication of the Matthew Hedley Thomas Memorial Organ,' (1953), cited in Naylor, op. cit., p. 704.
8 'New Pipe Organ,' The Advertiser (20 April 1953), p. 4.
9 'English Organ for Adelaide Church,' The Advertiser (11 March 1953), p. 4.
10 Interview with Mr G.T. Gunn, 26 August 1969, cited in Naylor, op. cit., p. 704.
11 Specification recorded in Naylor, op. cit., p. 704, and in Bruce Naylor, Gazetteer of South Australian Pipe Organs (Melbourne: Society of Organists (Vic) Inc., 1974).
12 Information supplied by Gordon Gunn, in Gazetteer of South Australian Pipe Organs, web edition, revised by Brenton Brockhouse and others, https://ohta.org.au/gaz/sagaz.htm - accessed October 2019.
13 Specification derived from previous details, and from Trevor Bunning's photographs, October 2019.