The Abbey Church of New Norcia, Western Australia

Tweet

I’ve written a little about New Norcia, Australia's only monastic town. In the beginning, two Spanish Benedictines, a French and an English Benedictine and an Irish catechist were charged with going to the region and ministering to the indigenous people. In the end, only the two Spaniards made it to New Norcia. The Englishman became ill, the Irishman was accidentally shot and this caused the mental state of the Frenchman to decline to such an extent that he was sent back to France! The organ in the church was built to the design of a monk, Dom Moreno, who was a composer of note and an organist. It was built in Munich in 1922 and displayed at the German Trade Exhibition, before being shipped to Australia in 24 zinc-lined cases. It was installed in The Abbey Church of the Holy Trinity in mid-1923 and refurbished in 1978. At the time, the organ was considered very advanced. Its refurbishment included removing candle grease from the mouths of the pipes.