STJOHNSANGLICAN

ST JOHN’S ANGLICAN CHURCH, COOKS HILL

© PdL 2005

This cruciform building was opened in 1859 and designed in the Early English Gothic style by architect Edmund Blacket. It is constructed of rendered brick with stone dressings and includes a nave, with paired lancet windows, and transepts. The interior includes stained glass windows and a hammerbeam roof. [1]

The splendid pipe organ by J.W. Walker, of London, housed in an attractive Gothic case, was built in 1866 as job number 832. Costing £305/15/-, it was originally erected at the west end of the nave. In 1966 the instrument was restored by Arthur Jones of Sydney, who acted as agent for J.W. Walker & Sons, then at Ruislip, Middlesex. A new pedalboard was added at this time and the casework and display pipes were repainted. The hand-blowing mechanism was also removed at some stage.

In spite of the changes, the instrument survives in a remarkably pure state of preservation, with cone tuning retained, its sprightly tone being characteristic of Walker organs of the period. The double-rise bellows and weights survive, as well as the stopknobs, engraved stop domes, keyboards, keycheeks, composition pedals, swell shutter control, builder’s nameplate and telltale. [2] Two vacant sliders are still available to complete the tonal scheme: a Great Flute 4 and Swell Oboe 8 were envisaged by the Walker firm.

J.W. Walker 1866 (2/11 mechanical)

GREAT
Open Diapason	8 Ft.
Horn Diapason	8 Ft.
Clarabella Flute Treb.	8 Ft.	tone
Stop’d Diapason Bass	8 Ft.	tone
Principal	4 Ft.
Fifteenth	2 Ft.
Mixture	2 ranks
Spare slide for Flute


SWELL
Sw. Open Diapason	8 Ft.
Sw. Stop’d Diapason	8 Ft.	tone
Sw. Principal	4 Ft.
Sw. Cornopean	8 Ft.
Spare slide for Oboe


PEDALS
Grand Bourdon	16 Ft.	tone +

COUPLERS
Swell to Great
Great to Pedals