The Organ

The pipe organ in the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & HolyApostles St. Peter & St. Paul, located in a rear (choir?) gallery, is opus number 1052[1], built by the Positive Organ Co.(1922) Ltd., then situated at Walmer Rd, Kensington, London NW, in the period 1922 to when the company ceased to operate in 1941.  The date of manufacture has usually been assumed to be 1922, but this date (which appears on the builder’s nameplate) is actually part of the registered name of the company.  Some internal matters caused the Positive Organ Company to change its name and address in 1922, hence the new name became The Positive Organ Co. (1922) Ltd., London W10[2].  The actual date of construction may need to be determined during the restoration unless other documentary evidence can prove it otherwise.  The actual building of the Mullewa church did not complete until 1927[3], so the organ was probably not built till about or after that date.

 According to John Taylor, the heritage architect associated with the church and the main Catholic Church in Geraldton, the organ was donated by the church's Architect-Priest John Hawes, in memory of his mother, who passed away in 1927[4].

 The organ is of one manual, with three speaking stops and two melodic stops.  The organ utilises both tracker (for the 3 speaking stops) and tubular pneumatic action.  There are no pedals[5].

The stoplist is:

 The pipework of the organ is damaged (both the visible squashed display pipes and a number of other pipes laying on the floor behind the organ) and the blower system is both non-functional and antiquated.  The main trunking from the blower to the organ is through terracotta pipes some 25 metres away, and many of the pipes are broken.  A new blower located at the organ would be essential.  I have not inspected the interior of the organ, nor do I know what condition the mechanical and winding systems are in, but I expect the ravages of vandalism, neglect and climate would be significant[6].

The stop action appears to be ok, and the keys on the keyboard are in good order.  The wiring to the blower is disconnected, but is still there, according to the local electrician. One of the things any renovation would have to start with is to obtain an organ blower to be linked to the tin/lead air pipe still present in the gallery. The present organ blower housing (outside) could then be demolished and the old organ blower removed.  I doubt if this separate white painted housing behind the church has any heritage value by itself[7].

One thing that makes this organ a bit special - it is the most northerly pipe organ in Western Australia.  The two nearest organs at Geraldton are geographically west south west of the Our Lady of Mt Carmel church. 

Positive Organ Company

Thomas Casson’s Positive Organ Company turned out a range of very small organs, sometimes with nice cases, around the turn of the twentieth century.  He pioneered many aspects of organ-building and design, including the melodic bass system used on the Mullewa organ, and he had a considerable influence on organ-building in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  His views on using manual doubles on the pedal, careful use of extension, mixture compositions and a complete chorus build-up were a major influence on Colonel Dixon and Harrison's ideals in the early years of the 20th century. His ideas about pedal enclosure had effect too (Willis III at Liverpool) and his use of mutations was reflected in Compton's work.  Thomas Casson resigned from the Positive Organ Co. in 1907[8]. 

In 1903 Thomas Casson took out a patent for the melodic bass system used by Positive Organ Company, London, in their one-manual organs[9].  It was a pneumatic system so you would get the impression of playing the pedals as well as the manual stops, even though no pedals existed.  Their specifications were normally around Open 8, Flute Bass 8, Flute Treble 8, Viol 8, Dulcet Bass & Treble 4.  They normally included Melodic Diapason 8 or Viol 8 which were pneumatic, the rest of the manual action was mechanical[10].

Many Positive Organ Company organs survive in country parishes in England, India and Australia.  The Australian organs are located[11]:

§   one in Queensland in private ownership, opus 172, formerly at Catholic Apostolic Church, South Brisbane, and then at St. Joseph’s RC Church, Kangaroo Point.

§   one at a school in NSW, opus 852, formerly at St Barnabas', Anglican Church, Mill Hill Road, Waverley, Sydney.  Restored by John Parker in 2006 and installed at Macarthur Anglican School, Cobbity.

§   two in Victoria

o        Opus 168 installed in 1917 at St James's Anglican Church, Thornbury; installed 1969 to The Organ Centre, Caulfield; installed 1975 at the residence of John Maidment, Canterbury; installed in the present location in 1982 at St Luke’s Anglican Church, Yea.  This organ may well have been originally installed in Princess Theatre, Spring Street, Melbourne c1903.

o        Opus 289 formerly at Levuka, Fiji.  Installed 1963 at St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Aberfeldie.

§   one in Western Australia, opus 1052, at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & HolyApostles St. Peter & St. Paul, Mullewa.

Other organs in Australia by Positive Organ Company were actually built by the former company, not The Positive Organ Co. (1922) Ltd. 

Mullewa

Located 450 km north of Perth, 99 km east of Geraldton and 282 m above sea level, Mullewa is a typical northern wheatbelt town whose primary raison d'etre focuses on the railhead and the bulk loading facilities[12].

This small settlement, with its solid council offices and Town Hall in the centre of town, its large Aboriginal population (it was the centre of some much publicised racial tension in 1985) and its ageing hotel and shopping centre is the home of some of Monsignor Hawes' finest religious buildings.

The area around Mullewa was first settled in the 1850s and the shire was declared in 1861. Named, so the story goes, after the local Aboriginal word for 'swan' (there is a suggestion that the Aborigines named a local spring Mullewa, sometimes spelt Mullawah - alternative meanings also include 'rain', 'a land of plenty', and 'a place of fog'), the town reached its nadir in the 1890s when it became an important stopover point between Geraldton and the Murchison goldfields. The railway arrived in 1894 and for a brief time Mullewa was the transportation node for the whole of the Central West.

Mullewa, along with Geraldton, Northampton, Yalgoo, Tardun, Morawa, Perenjori and Nanson, can boast a number of religious buildings by the famous Western Australian architect-priest Monsignor John Hawes. Between 1915-1939 Hawes designed and helped to build a large number of churches and church buildings in the Central West.

Although some of Hawes' buildings are larger and more imposing Mullewa has the greatest number of Hawes' buildings of any town in the Central West. There is the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul, the Priest House (now known as the Monsignor Hawes Priest house Museum) which stands nearby, the Mass Rock on the outskirts of town, and the headstone for Selby John Arnold in the town's Pioneer Cemetery.

The Church of our Lady of Mt Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul

The building which was mostly built by Hawes - he was architect, foreman and labourer - is an attempt to recreate a Romanesque church typical of the village churches in Italy and Spain. It is a low church designed to keep the sun out and to blend into the harsh semi-desert environment. Hawes, who saw each of his churches as expressing some aspect of his faith, saw the church and its buildings as symbolising the antiquity of Christianity.

The church has been internally altered in recent times but there is still plenty of detail for the visitor to enjoy. It is claimed that one of the gargoyles is a caricature of the Bishop of Geraldton with whom Hawes was engaged in a bitter dispute at the time of construction. The bell tower has seven bells the largest of which was cast in Oregon as a railway bell and the pipe organ was given to the church by Hawes' mother.

The Priest House

Next to the church is The Priest House which is open to the public from 10.00-11.45 and 1.30-3.00 Monday to Friday. It was completed in 1927 and is now a museum. It is a truly unusual and charming building with an ingle–nook fireplace, half-panelled walls, latticed bow windows with box seats and lots of Hawes' memorabilia including a plaster bust he made as an arts student and a cup he won at the races in Yalgoo.

Hawes was Mullewa's first resident parish priest. He arrived in the town in late 1920 and started building the church three years later. It was to be his most personal and most original church and, as he wrote at the time, his devotion to the task was complete. 'I am building into these stones at Mullewa, poor little feeble church that it is, my convictions, aspirations and ideals as to what a church should be.'

Outside Mullewa on the Mount Magnet road is an area known as the old Show Ground. It was here that Monsignor Hawes carved a simple altar in the rock and held mass for the local Aborigines. This was not racism but a recognition that the Aborigines were unlikely to attend mass in the formal and very European surroundings of the church.

Heritage Listing

Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & HolyApostles St. Peter & St. Paul[13]

Location:

Cnr Bowes & Doney Sts Mullewa
LGA:       Mullewa
Region:    Midwest
Place Coordinates:
Zone: 50
Northing: 6842048
Easting: 354841
Latitude: 28° 32' 24.6"
Longitude: 115° 30' 58.6"

Description

The Church demonstrates technical sophistication in the construction of the domes over the sanctuary and baptistery. They were constructed with an innovative revolving template designed to enable successive courses of brickwork to be laid and is highly valued by the community of Mullewa and surrounding districts as a place in which to celebrate religious observance and as an unusual and eclectic piece of architecture.

Construction date:

1915 to 1927

Architectural Styles:

Inter-War Spanish Mission

J C Hawes  Architect

Construction Materials

Roof: METAL Corrugated Iron

Wall: STONE Local Stone

Roof: TILE Terracotta Tile

Register of Heritage Places – Amended Entry. 10 June 2005

Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel & the Holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul

Including Priest House & Presentation Convent (fmr)

1. DATA BASE No. 1656.

2. NAME Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Apostles St.Peter and St. Paul, Priesthouse and former Presentation Convent (1923, 1927).

3. LOCATION Corner of Bowes and Doney Streets, Mullewa.

4. DESCRIPTION OF PLACE

Lots 11 to 15 inclusive on Plan 886, being the whole of the land contained in Certificate of Title Volume 1850 Folio 658.

5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA Shire Of Mullewa

6. OWNER The Roman Catholic Bishop of Geraldton

7. HERITAGE LISTINGS •

·   Register of Heritage Places: Interim Entry 25/11/1994
Permanent Entry 10/10/1995
Amended Entry 10/06/2005

·   National Trust Classification: 11/06/1974

·   Shire of Mullewa Town Planning Scheme 6/07/1994

·   Register of the National Estate: 21/03/1978

8. CONSERVATION ORDER

9. HERITAGE AGREEMENT

10. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and the Priest house has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:

§   the place has a close association with prominent ecclesiastical architect Monsignor John Hawes.

§   The place is an outstanding example of Hawes' eclectic architectural style and is recognised as being one of Hawes' major works in Western Australia.

§   The place has special significance because Hawes was both the architect and the parish priest of Mullewa at the time of construction and Priesthouse was his residence;

§   the place has a strong spiritual significance for the Roman Catholic community in the town of Mullewa and in the Mid-West;

§   the place is an unusual and sophisticated building of interesting design which is a landmark in Mullewa; and,

§   the place is highly valued as a significant tourist attraction associated with Hawes life and work, as well as a working church, and it contributes to the Mullewa community's sense of place.

Register of the National Estate

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Peter & St Paul Catholic Church[14]

List:                     Register of the National Estate 

Class:                  Historic 

Legal Status:        Registered (21/03/1978) 

Place ID:             9681 

Place File No:      5/03/143/0001 

Statement of Significance: 

The most significant Church designed by Monsignor J C Hawes.

(The Commission is in the process of developing and/or upgrading official statements for places listed prior to 1991. The above data was mainly provided by the nominator and has not yet been revised by the Commission.) 

Official Values:    Not Available 

Description: 

This entry crosses over shire/region or state boundaries. The most significant parish church designed by Father Hawes and largely built with his own hands when he was parish priest at Mullewa. Stone building of markedly ecclesiastical style. 

History:                Not Available 

Condition and Integrity: Not Available 

Location:              Doney Street, Mullewa. 

Bibliography: 

·   Taylor, J. 1995. "Report on methods of window protection for Mullewa`s The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul; and the Priest House". Report for the Mullewa Parish Council and the Heritage Council of WA. NEGP Report.

·   Taylor, John. 1996. Report on (further) window protection for Mullewa`s the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul; and The Priest House. NEGP Report. 

Award-winning Work Resurrects Old Church

A WA architect has earned a national award for his painstaking seven-year restoration project which has breathed new life into a historic 1920s church[15].

Architect John Taylor has won a prestigious national design award for restoration work on Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church in the agricultural town of Mullewa, east of Geraldton. John was awarded the Royal Australian Institute of Architecture (RAIA) Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage 2003 for his meticulous restoration of the character of the Catholic church, formally known as the Church of Our Lady of Mount 
Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul.

The landmark church and priest house are permanently listed in the State Register of Heritage Places.

The place has a close association with prominent ecclesiastical architect Monsignor John Hawes, who was the architect for the church and also parish priest of Mullewa at the time. It is regarded as an outstanding example of Hawes’ eclectic architectural style and is recognised as being one of Hawes’ major works in Western Australia. It is also highly valued as a tourist attraction associated with Hawes’ life and work, in addition to being a working church.

 John Taylor’s work on the church and priest house included the restoration and reconstruction of significant fabric. The RAIA described his work as having an attention to detail with the depth of courage required to bring the project to fruition. The church underwent conservation works that involved the replacement of floors, removal of internal and external render, and the restoration of the brick arches and stonework. The works were completed on a low budget over a seven-year period. The project was thoroughly researched and implemented practical conservation measures.

The RAIA Architecture Awards are the most prestigious in the design and construction industry and have had a significant influence on trends in architectural design. Judging criteria included the overall quality of the work, how well the project met its original intentions, environmental performance and use of energy, client satisfaction, and contribution to the advancement of architecture.

The Lachlan Macquarie Award for Heritage can be applied to any built project or conservation planning project which involves conservation applied in accordance with the Australian ICOMOS Burra Charter, or adaptive re-use of a heritage structure. The RAIA awards jury said Mr Taylor had restored and reconstructed significant fabric in accordance with Burra Charter principles. It commended his dedication to research and documenting Hawes’ imaginative output, which resulted in the book Between Devotion and Design.

The award for the Mullewa Church project was the only winner from Western Australia in the national awards. Conservation work is ongoing at Mullewa in response to an assessment of the place and Conservation Plan, all prepared by Mr Taylor.

Heritage Grants Program funding for three Mid-West projects  

Three Mid-West heritage projects totalling more than $76,000, funded by the State Government through the Heritage Grants Program, have been completed[16].

Heritage Minister Graham Kierath presented a cheque to the National Trust for conservation works it had undertaken to Cliff Grange and the Dominican Convent in Greenough.

The National Trust, which received $41,000 from the Heritage Council of Western Australia for the $47,000 project, made repairs to masonry as well as gutters, downpipes and the roof of both buildings.

A cheque was also presented to representatives from the Mullewa Catholic Church, also for completed conservation works.  The Mullewa Catholic Church had received $35,200 from the Heritage Council to enable the removal of old Portland dado and the reconstruction of masonry to take place.

Mr Kierath said all three buildings were exceptionally important to Western Australia’s heritage and had been entered in the Register of Heritage Places.

“The Dominican Convent is a simple stone residential building which housed the Dominican sisters who arrived in the district from New Zealand in 1899 to open a convent and a school,” Mr Kierath said.

“Nearby is Cliff Grange Farmhouse, a large house from the 1870s.

“This property is architecturally important and also demonstrates the social way of life of an established family in the Greenough district.”

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul in Mullewa was built by Monsignor Hawes, who was a legendary figure in the Mid-West as a religious leader, author and designer of some of the region's best-known church buildings.

Completed in 1927, the church was used as a residence by Hawes and is now a museum of Hawes’ work and a significant tourist attraction.

The funding provided for the conservation plan was part of the State Government’s four-year, $4 million Heritage Grants Program which encourages local governments, community groups and property owners to conserve heritage places.  The third round of the program closed last week. The Heritage Council received more than 200 applications for the $1 million available.  Last year, 17 projects in the Mid-West received $225,000 in funding from the program.

 

Reference notes