St Mark's Anglican Church

High Street, Rangeville, Toowoomba

Walter Emerson, Toowoomba, 1970
1 manual, 3 ranks extended, electric action




St Mark's Anglican Church, Rangeville, Toowoomba
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (November 2011)]

 


Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2011 (last updated November 2011)


The Anglican presence in the Rangeville area first took the form of a Sunday School in the 1920s. A temporary hall served the needs of the local congregation from the late 1950s onwards, and they became known as the Parish of St Mark the Evangelist in 1965. The present church building was opened and dedicated by Bishop Hudson on 27 September 1970.1





Interior of St Mark's Anglican Church, Rangeville
[Photographs by Trevor Bunning (November 2011)]

The organ was built in 1970 by Walter Emerson of Toowoomba,2 assisted by his son, John, and Les Rub, who was the organist at this church until 1978. This was the third organ built by Emerson, following his earlier instruments at St Paul's Anglican Church, Stanthorpe (1964) and at the Baillie Henderson Hospital, Toowoomba (1968).

Like the Stanthorpe organ, this instrument originated as an attempt by Emerson to provide himself with a practice organ. Before it was completed, however, he was approached by the Rector of St Mark's to see whether he was prepared to sell it to the parish. A parishioner had donated a sum of money to be used to provide a memorial to her late husband. A case was designed and built to complement the furnishings of the new church.3

 



The 1970 Emerson organ at St Mark's Anglican Church, Rangeville
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (November 2011)]

Around 2000, the bottom octave of the Sub-Bass 16ft was moved by W.J. Simon Pierce to improve the projection of sound into the building. These pipes had previously stood in front of the swell box.4 This was the smallest of the instruments built by Emerson, comprising just three ranks of pipes extended to provide a specification of ten stops:

 

MANUAL
Open Diapason
Gedact
Dulciana
Principal
Lieblich Flöte
Quinte
Flautina

PEDAL
Sub-Bass
Principal
Dulcet

8
8
8
4
4
2-2/3
2


16
8
4

A
B
C
A
B
B
B


B
A
C

Tremulant
Attached stop-key console
Compass: 61/30
Pedalboard: radiating concave
Direct electric action.5








Console details and the organbuilder's nameplate
[Photographs by Trevor Bunning (November 2011)]

_______________________________________________________________

1 'St Mark's History' at: http://www.stlukestoowoomba.org.au - accessed November 2011.

2 The Courier Mail (28 September 1970); Personal communication to G. Cox from Walter Emerson, February 1974.

3 Personal communication to G. Cox from Leslie W. Rub, June 2003.

4 Personal communication to G. Cox from Leslie W. Rub, June 2003.

5 Specification noted by G. Cox, February 1974.