All Saints' Anglican Church Waitara
cnr. Burdett St & Palmerston Road, Waitara
B. unknown (late 19th Century English)
Inst. from Emmanuel Church, Cheltenham, England 1965 A. Gee (church organist)
Some later tonal alterations 2 manuals, 11 speaking stops, 2 couplers, tracker action
The organ came from the Church of Emmanuel, Cheltenham, UK and was dedicated on 26 September 1965. No builder's plate. It probably dates from the 1870s or 80s.
Roy Williamson, researching the history of the church from where the organ came, writes (January 2008):
"The photo above clearly shows that the organ had to be shoe-horned into its chamber. Originally there were four Diapason basses each in the outer "towers".
The builder was almost certainly A J Price of Cheltenham who functioned with his sons succeeding him from 1878 to about 1950. His largest organ, 3 man GT 9, SW 12, CH 6, PD 5 but now 8, was built in 1896 for Trinity church, Cheltenham. It was electrified in 1954 by Nicholson - but it's still a nice instrument and highly significant to the town."
Organ Specification
| Division | Stop | Pitch | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| GREAT | Open Diapason | 8' | |
| Claribel | 8' | ||
| Dulciana | 8' | grooved bass | |
| Principal | 4' | ||
| Lieblich Flute | 4' | [Swell Fifteenth in this slide] | |
| Swell to Great | |||
| SWELL | Lieblich Bourdon | 16' | [not inserted] # |
| Violin Diapason | 8' | grooved bass | |
| Lieblich Gedact | 8' | ||
| Harmonic Flute | 4' | ||
| Fifteenth | 2' | [Great Lieblich Flute at 2 in this slide] | |
| Cornopean | 8' | TC | |
| PEDAL | Bourdon | 16' | |
| Great to Pedal |
Additional Information
- Compass: 56/30
- Trigger swell lever
- 2 composition pedals to Great [removed]
- Black metal pipework
- Mechanical action to keys and stops
- # possibly removed before the organ left the UK
Details noted by John Maidment August 1977
Historical Details
Details below noted by G Lloyd, 1st February 2008. Please note that further information is yet to be gathered.
Excerpts from "All Saints Anglican Church Waitara, Golden Jubilee History" November 2000.
- A reed organ was used in the cottage church (first service 1950, dedicated 1951) until installed in the new church hall in 1959.
- An electronic instrument was arranged in 1961. This became unreliable after some years of use.
- A parishioner, Jack Reeks, born in Gloucestershire, England, returned there in 1964 to visit relatives. Whilst there, he purchased a "very fine pipe organ" from the Church of Emmanuel at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and arranged packing and transportation to its new home at Waitara.
- Arthur Gee, the then organist, installed it into an enclosure for which provision had been made.
There is a photograph on page 34 of the book, captioned "… Arthur Gee with Mr Jack Reeks at the dedication of the organ" on 26th September 1965.
Photos and information supplied Geoff Lloyd (January 2008)