ST JAMES’ ANGLICAN CHURCH, MORPETH

 

 

 

 

 

 

St James’ Anglican Church, Morpeth

 (drawing by Graeme Rushworth)

 

 

 

 

 

The first church, consisting of a nave and the present tower, was built by Edward Charles Close in 1837-1840 with the chancel and vestry added by Edmund Blacket in 1862.  The nave was destroyed by fire in 1874 and a new nave designed by Horbury Hunt was erected in 1875; therefore only the tower remains of the 1837 structure. [1]

 

The interior is of note for the lightweight hammerbeam truss roof of the nave, the elaborate traceried Decorated-Gothic east window of five lights and the stone pulpit, corbelled out from the wall, and entered through the chancel wall. This was derived from a medieval exemplar at Beaulieu Abbey, Hampshire and might have been constructed on the recommendation of Bishop William Tyrrell, who had been Rector of Beaulieu Parish before his emigration.  The stained glass windows include examples by C.E. Kempe, London, and the Sydney firms of Lyon, Cottier & Co. and Ashwin. [2]

 

The pipe organ, built by William Davidson in 1877 at a cost of £200, was originally located on the north side of the nave, near the chancel arch. Like virtually all other Davidson organs, the builder manufactured all the metal pipes in his own workshop, together with the chests, action, wooden pipes, casework and bellows. Extensive use was made of Australian red cedar.

 

The Morpeth organ was moved to the west end of the church in the 1950s, when electric blowing was fitted.  At some time during the early 20th century the spotted metal front pipes were stencilled in a basic manner and new key coverings provided.  Other alterations included altering and converting the bellows to single-rise, the painting of the building frames and bellows, and the fitting of tuning slides to open metal fluework. [3]

 

Apart from these changes, the organ survives in substantially original condition to this day and staged restoration work was completed by Peter D.G. Jewkes Pty Ltd. in 2004,  with generous funding from the NSW Heritage Office supervised by the consultant, Kelvin Hastie.  Included in the work was the repair of heavily-worn console and action components, the replacement of missing stop domes (relettered in a style matching the remainder), the restoration of the bellows to double-rise operation, the provision of a new blower and the repair of the pipework.  New adjustable canisters were made for the top thirty notes of the Stop Diapason, as previous adjustment at the ears only had proven unsatisfactory, with damage a constant problem. [4]   In 2005 it was decided to remove the Davidson façade to storage in a rack beside the organ because the thinness of the original pipes was inhibiting stable speech characteristics: a new set, facsimiles of the old, was fitted by the Jewkes firm.

 

 

 
© PdL 2005

 

 

William Davidson 1877 (1/8 mechanical)

 

MANUAL
Bourdon	16 ft.	tone	TC
Open Diapason	8 Ft.		+
Stop Diapason	8 Ft.	tone
Keraulophon	8 Ft.		TC
Principal	4 Ft.
Flute	4 Ft.		TC
Fifteenth	2 Ft.
PEDAL
Bourdon	16 Ft.	tone

 

 

COUPLER

Manual to Pedal

 

 

Mechanical action

 

Compass 56/30

 

3 composition pedals

 

Hitch-down swell lever

 

Organ fully enclosed, except Open Diapason

 

No. of pipes = 386

 

Pitch a¹ = 440 Hz

 

Wind pressure (in 2004) = 52 mm (2”)

 

 

+ Bottom 19 pipes in façade, replaced 2005.

Original façade pipes mounted in rack on wall beside organ

 

 

© PdL 2005

 

William Davidson, Sydney, 1877

St James’ Anglican Church, Morpeth

 (drawing by Graeme Rushworth)