Historical and Technical Documentation by Kelvin Hastie © OHTA April 2017
The organ in St Martin's was built in 1968 by Roger H. Pogson. It was one of seven unit organs he built between 1964 and 1970. The first three, all with electro-pneumatic action and built for St Stephen's Normanhurst, Wentworth Memorial Anglican Church Vaucluse and Miranda Methodist Church, contained metal pipework made by George Fincham & Sons of Melbourne. The later four, including the Blakehurst organ and instruments for the Anglican Churches in Dee Why, Moorebank and Miranda, used electro-magnetic action and pipework imported from Europe. They are conceived more strongly in an Orgelbewegung style than the earlier three, with Pogson providing separate properly tempered mutations (or a Mixture in the case of St Luke's Miranda) instead of a greater variety of unison registers.
The Blakehurst organ is fully enclosed, apart from the Diapason pipes contained in the façade. As was sometimes his practice with unit organs, the lowest octave of the Subbass is built in segmented blocks, rather than as individual pipes.
In recent years the organ has received little use.
The specification is:
| GREAT Open Diapason Spitz Flute Stopped Flute Prestant Rohr Flute Nazard Octave Tierce SWELL Gedackt Spitz Flute Chimney Flute Gemshorn Tierce Quinte Octavin Tremulant PEDAL Sub Bass Bass Flute Rohr Gedackt Nazat Super Octave Tierce |
8 8 8 4 4 2-2/3 2 1-3/5 8 4 4 2 1-3/5 1-1/3 1 16 8 4 2-2/3 2 1-3/5 |
A B C A C D A E C B C B E D B F C C D A E |
(1-12 from F) (1-12 from C) (Top 7 notes repeat from the octave below) |
Compass 56/30
No Couplers or pistons
Electro-magnetic action
Photos: Kelvin Hastie