Christ Church Anglican Church

cnr Queens Avenue and Raglan Street, St Arnaud

Builder unknown. Installed 1867 St Mary's Anglican Church, Caulfield Lee & Kaye from unknown location
rebuilt and installed present location 1877 George Fincham.
Rebuilt 1950 W.L. Roberts (new case, soundboard and tubular-pneumatic action)
action electrified 1961 Hill, Norman & Beard (Australia) Pty Ltd (order V510).
1 manual, 7 speaking stops, 1 coupler, electro-pneumatic action.

Christ Church Anglican Church, St Arnaud – exterior from east
[Rose postcard P4913 (State Library of Victoria)]


Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA 2025 (last updated February 2025)

The foundation stone of Christ Church was laid on 16 September 1864. It was built in brick with cement dressings in an Early English Gothic style and designed by Frederick Marlborough Moore.¹ The consecration took place on 29 December 1872.² It was enlarged by the addition of porches and a vestry in 1887.³ The chancel and tower were added in 1924.⁴ From 1925 to 1976, the building served as one of Victoria's regional cathedrals. The building is of interest for its sweeping roof punctuated by buttresses and transverse gables at the side.

Christ Church Anglican Church, St Arnaud – organ
[source of image unknown]

The organ was installed second-hand at St Mary's Anglican Church, Caulfield in 1867. Its 54 note key compass hints that it may have been up to 20 years old at the time. George Fincham rebuilt the organ and added the Pedal Bourdon when it was installed at St Arnaud in 1877, after St Mary's acquired a new organ.⁵ It has been subsequently worked upon by W.L. Roberts in 1950 and by Hill, Norman & Beard (Australia) Pty Ltd in 1961. The instrument has been substantially altered from the original and its original builder cannot be identified. The 1950 casework appears to have been constructed from silky oak with façade pipes by Fincham from the 1870s.

*Common bass CC-BB

Compass: 54/25
Electro-pneumatic action
Balanced swell pedal
3 thumb pistons
Attached drawstop console⁶

1 Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser, 19 September 1864, p.3

2 churchesaustralia.org accessed 1 February 2025

3 National Trust of Australia (Victoria) classification

4 The Australasian, 6 September 1944, p.30

5 E.N. Matthews, Colonial Organs and Organbuilders (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p.176

6 Specification noted John Maidment 1966

Christ Church Anglican Church, St Arnaud – interior from west
[Rose postcard P10245 (State Library of Victoria)]




Christ Church Anglican Church, St Arnaud – exterior from south west
[photograph by J.T. Collins (State Library of Victoria)]