Pipe Organs in WA
 
 
 
 
 

Trinity College, Perth
The pipe organs of Western Australia




Perth Trinity College

Perth Trinity College

Perth Trinity College

Perth Trinity College

Perth Trinity College Photo: Patrick Elms


Property
Name of institution   Trinity College
Type of institution0   School
Street Address   Riverside Drive
City   Perth
State   Western Australia
Postcode   6000
Country   Australia
Name of building   Trinity College Chapel
Name of room   Chapel
Dates of the building   1962
Register of Heritage Places  
Heritage Place number  
Architect   Jim Henderson
Builder  

Special architectural features and fittings   Brother J.A.Kelly, headmaster of CBC Perth, and architect Jim Henderson fast tracked construction of Trinity College from 1960 to ensure the college opened in time for the 1962 school year. Even with the pressing deadline, Brother Kelly was instrumental in building the imaginative round chapel at Trinity, and he commissioned Ted Gowers to design the stained glass windows set in concrete. At the time, this was the largest work of art undertaken in the post-war years of Western Australia. Brother Kelly also commissioned artist Margaret Priest to design and make abstract statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Crucifix, and the fourteen Stations of the Cross.

Other location information   Trinity College has its origins in Christian Brothers College, St George's Terrace Perth, founded by Bishop Mathew Gibney and Brother Ambrose Treacy in 1894.

In 1961, the buildings and land were purchased by the Perth City Council as the site was considered ideal for the construction of a major hotel to be ready for the Empire games. The College was transferred to its present location in 1962 and renamed Trinity College.

The school was established in 1962 when students from the city schools CBC Perth and St Patrick's Boys School moved to the new Trinity College campus.

When Perth won the right to host the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, the City of Perth negotiated with the Christian Brothers from 1958 to 1960 to purchase CBC Perth for £267,000, in order to widen St Georges Terrace and to construct a new hotel. The Chevron-Hilton Hotel Group which had committed to the development, ran into difficulties, and the school buildings remained until demolition in the mid-1960s. The site was vacant until the Australian Taxation Office building was built there several years later. The building is now the Duxton Hotel. The council provided a 5.7-hectare (14-acre) site for the new college on reclaimed land in East Perth on the banks of the Swan River, next to the WACA Ground, Gloucester Park, and The Causeway.

Name of contact  
Mailing Address  
Telephone  
Email  
Other contact information  

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Previous organ(s)
Date of previous organ   None
Detail of previous organ  
Dates when key work has been undertaken  
Dates of any moves that have taken place  
Variations from original design of organ  
Information on previous organ  
Information about comparable instruments to previous organ  
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Present organ
Type of installation   Freestanding

Case description   Classic case with three towers and two flats.

Placement in room   Central elevated platform

Builder's name   Lynn Owen Kirkham, 1944-2020

Opus number  

Date of completion/installation   1984

Construction materials  

Number of manuals   Two (2)

Key compasses   CC-ccc

Number of keys   61

Key material  

Pedal compass   CC-g

Number of pedals   32

Pedalboard type   Concave radiating

Pedalboard material  

Type of chests   Slider

Type of key action   Pre-tensioned stranded wire mechanical

Type of stop action   Mechanical

Couplers   Oberwerk-Hauptwerk
Oberwerk-Pedal
Hauptwerk-Pedal

Tremulants   Oberwerk

Accessories   

Console type   Integrated drawstop

Stop label material   Turned wood

Placement   Flat jambs

General design  

Playing aids   Combination action, which comprises 7 toe levers with the following functions: 3 toe levers providing “general” combinations; 3 toe levers operating each of the couplers; 1 toe lever providing “general cancel”.

Divisions   Oberwerk, Hauptwerk, Pedal
Wind pressures   Hauptwerk 70mm
Oberwerk 75mm
Pedal 80mm

Stop list  
HAUPTWERK
Praestant 8'
Rohrflöte 8'
Octav 4'
Nachthorn 4'
Nasat 2 2/3'
Octav 2'
Hohlflöte 2'
Terz 1-3/5'
Mixtur V-VI
Trompete 8'
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OBERWERK Schweller
Gedackt 8'
Viola da Gamba 8'
Prinzipal 4'
Rohrflöte 4'
Gemshorn 2'
Nasat 1-1/3'
Scharff IV
Krummhorn 8'
Tremulant
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PEDAL
Subbass 16'
Octav Bass 8'
Pommer 8'
Octav 4'
Stillposaune 16'
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Total number of stops   23

Total number of ranks   31
Pre-voiced pipework from Jacques Stinkens, Holland.

Total number of pipes   about 1,700

Dates when key work has been undertaken on current organ   When Covid struck in 2020 the organ was to be reassembled after dismantling it so that the jarrah casework could be repolished after sustaining damage during the chapel's renovations. While the school was closed the opportunity to complete this work was taken, completing it in 2021.

The combination system has also been installed and two Tremulant units have been fitted to complete this magnificent organ to its 1984 concept. The tremulants were designed and made and all the preceding work completed by Patrick Elms & Co.

Dates of any moves that have taken place to current organ   None

Information on current organ   This important organ, of outstandingly high tonal, mechanical and visual quality, was built in 1984 by Lynn Kirkham . The Principal chorus work is modelled after the Northern German/Dutch ideal of warmth and a vocal-like character. The flutes are wide scaled and blending after the French Classical school and the reeds fall between the two styles: the manual Trompete and Krummhorn have wide, open French shallots and the pedal Posaune is more in keeping with the Germanic Principal chorus. The manual chorus mixtures are modelled after the famous Schnitger organ at St Martini and Nicolai, Steinkircken.
Comparable instruments to current organ  

Assessment of organ and current status   In excellent condition and regular use

Other organs by this builder   Among the organs by Lynn Kirkham are:
- Built the organ for Annette Goerke, City Beach.
- Built the organ for Trinity College Chapel.
- Remedial work on the 1972 FJ Larner organ in the chapel at Guildford Grammar School.
- Design for the blower house and blower inlet system at St Thomas, Claremont.
- Designed and built the new pneumatic drawstop machines at St Matthew’s, Guildford.
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Document control Original entries J R Elms, OAM, Gazetteer of Western Australian Pipe Organs, 1971, 1999, 2003 and 2004.
This entry D B Duncan 18 January 2009.
Details of the church and organ from OHTA Conference Book 2004.
Photographs of organ from OHTA and from Bruce Duncan.
Historical detail of the college from Trinity College archives.
October 2017 In The Pipeline article
An Appreciation of Lynn Owen Kirkham, May 2020 In The Pipeline article
Information on works by Patrick Elms 29 April 2022.
Information on the building of the college and chapel from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.