On June 27 the North Belconnen Uniting Church will be celebrating the inaugural concert for the dedication of the pipe organ built for the Singleton Methodist Church, June 27, 1920.
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The concert will be a re-enactment of the original concert held in June 1920 at the Singleton Methodist Church - marking the 101st anniversary of the event.
One of the people involved in this event and the relocation of the pipe organ from Singleton to the ACT is Trevor Bunning.
And he would love to hear from anyone locally who has any information and photos of the organ in its original home.
"As part of our centenary celebration display, I'm keen to know if anyone has any archival material on the former Singleton Methodist Church - ie early photos of the building's exterior and interior especially images showing the organ before it was altered in 1940, " he said. "Any early photos showing Singleton's main street would also be of interest as part of our display memorabilia."
Mr Bunning said the organ was relocated to the ACT in 1988 where he had been engaged to design a new multi-purpose worship centre for the Uniting Church in the rapidly developing area of North Belconnen ACT. "It was also clear that we had obtained a rare survivor of the work of the prominent early 20th century Australian organ builder Charles Leggo," he said..
"Checking through the listing of Leggo's organ output in Graeme Rushworth in his "Historic Organs of New South Wales" it appears that most of his instruments are now either broken up or significantly changed. Indeed, apart from the organ built for Singleton Methodist Church, only one other, a similar instrument built for St John's Church Campsie NSW has survived in near original condition.
"Of perhaps even greater significance, the 1920 Singleton organ was the first instrument Leggo produced after starting his own business. He subsequently used this as a successful model for attracting prospective clients.
"It may be is of interest here to note the locations of other organs originally built by Leggo which have been subsequently broken up. They include Rockdale Anglican (1923), Summer Hill Methodist (1925), Dulwich Hill Methodist (1926), Haberfield Methodist (1927), Strathfield Presbyterian (1928), Hurlstone Park Anglican (1931), Lochinvar Convent (1933)."
In restoring the Singleton organ Mr Bunning said our volunteer team was well aware of these difficulties but keen nonetheless to preserve as much of the original fabric as possible and minimize the amount of new work we were also prepared to meet head on the challenges posed by a very tired and poorly maintained pneumatic action. However, the organ had been affected by its moving of the organ to a side position in the Singleton Church during the 1940's so as to reveal the central window, he said.
To solve these issues a new mechanical action was installed. According to Mr Bunning the organ has a sweet yet powerful tone.