Chapel-by-the-Sea Uniting (Methodist) Church
Roscoe Street, Bondi
B. 1927 Whitehouse Bros., Brisbane. Enl. 1952
2m., 13 sp.st., 8c., tub.pn. Gt: 8.8.8.4.8. Sw: 8.8.8.8.4.8. Ped: 16.8.
Reb., reduced in size and inst. present location 1971 S.T. Noad & Son
from former Methodist Church, Wellington Street, Bondi
2m., 9 sp.st., 6c., el.pn. Gt: 8.4.8. Sw: 8.8.8.4. Ped: 16.8.

Dr Kelvin Hastie writes in OHTA News April 2008 (p.15):


A typical 11-stop Whitehouse Bros. organ was supplied to the Methodist Churches in Bondi and Hurstville in 1927 and 1929 respectively, with the specification below. Both organs were enlarged by Whitehouse Bros. with a prepared-for Great Clarinet 8' and Swell Celeste 8': the additions at Bondi date from 1952 and Hurstville from 1963. [1]

Great Open Diapason Stop Diapason Dulciana Harmonic Flute Clarinet Swell Horn Diapason Lieblich Gedact Echo Gamba Vox Celeste (sic) Geigan Principal (sic) Oboe Tremulant Pedal Bourdon Bass Flute Couplers Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Swell Sub-Octave to Great Swell Octave to Great Swell Octave Swell Sub-Octave Great Octave

8 8 8 4 8 8 8 8 8 4 8 16 8

+ + A A

Tubular-pneumatic action

Compass 61/30

Balanced Swell pedal

Four pistons for Great; three for Swell

+ Additions prepared for by Whitehouse Bros. and later installed



Perhaps the most bizarre organ transfer involved the reduction in size of the 1927 Bondi instrument, after its removal by ST Noad & Son to the nearby "Chapel-by-the-Sea" in 1971. In order to save space and provide an instrument more in keeping with a more intimate acoustic, the Great Open Diapason 8' and Dulciana 8' were removed, as were the Swell Echo Gamba 8' and Oboe 8'. The action was electrified and the console reduced in size. The result is an instrument whose scaling is too large for the room and one with an irrational specification, the Great reduced to two large-scaled flutes and a Clarinet. [2]

[1] NSW Gazetteer and Rushworth.
[2] Details noted by the author during an inspection on 17 July, 1978