Archive

LLANELLY ST ELLI’S CHURCH RESTORATION OF ANON. ORGAN

The organ is unusual, perhaps because it is provincial and largely anonymous.  It looks as if it is based round a very small late Georgian chamber organ, of which the wind chest, keyboard and many of the pipes survive.   They do not really fit together.  The keys may originally have been GG C AA – e³, a compass used between about 1740 and 1790 (perhaps secondhand).  The wind chest looks as if it was made by a good craftsman who was not trained to make organs.  Its original compass was C D to e³.  There is a large number of 18^th century pipes, all of one date, which look older than the chest and keys, well-made, perhaps also secondhand, from the middle of the 18^th century.  The much-altered support structure dates from the same period as the wind chest.

The organ came to the church from Ty Mawr, a large house in the village in 1910.  It is possible that the rebuilding of the organ dates from this time, though it looks earlier (including the pipe front).  From this time date the Open Diapason and the Stop Diapason bass and treble (a rather roughly-made wooden stop).  Also the bellows and stop action.

The Pedal wind chest, pipes, keys and action are later, perhaps from 1942, since they have a trade quality and standard which the rest lacks.  There is an inscription on the pallet thumper rail: Ingram & Co/ Hereford/ Dec 1942.  The wind chest may have been restored at this date, the case given a black-japanned finish (similar to pianos of the period) and the woodwork round the keyboard stripped.

The stoplist is as follows:

The manual compass is C – e³, the pedal compass is C – c¹.

The organ was dismantled by Derrick Carrington to allow treatment to the floor beneath the organ, in 2018.  It was restored by Abigail and Rob Balfour Rowley, Chris Davies and Dominic Gwynn during 2021 and 2022.  The restorers only saw the organ in pieces, rather haphazardly stored, so piecing the parts together provided a challenge.  It was also challenging to restore an organ which was originally not consistently and professionally made.  Nonetheless, restoration has repaid the faith put in the organ by the incumbent, the Revd. Jeremy Bevan.  It is an organ which may well have been made in the area, perhaps by a talented musical instrument maker or amateur craftsman.

The pictures show an evensong  held to celebrate the reconstruction of the instrument, with the organ featuring in the background.

BARBER INSTITUTE BIRMINGHAM UNIVERSITY RESTORATION OF 1756 SNETZLER CHAMBER ORGAN

The organ was made by John Snetzler in 1755-6 (according to his usual paper label in the back of the pallet box).  The ‘1756’ started as ‘1755’, but the gap in the 5 was closed to make a 6.  There is no indication of the original owner.  In the 1880s the organ was restored and sent by T.R.Willis, organ builder in the Minories, London to Robert Shearing, a chemist in Chester (according to a parcel label now framed inside the organ).  In 1909 it was “reconditioned” by the organ builder Henry Poyser for himself according to an inscription under the keys, having been bought by his father.  In 1958 Noel Mander bought it from Henry Poyser, restored it and sold it to the Barber Institute, on the initiative of Professor Ivor Keys.

The case, layout, windchest, keys and key action are all in the style of Snetzler’s earlier chamber organs, from before ca1760 (see Barnes and Renshaw’s book on Snetzler).  The pipe front has the characteristic V-shaped toeboards and pipe shades, with the larger pipes at the sides and the smallest in the middle.  The front pipes are gilded metal dummies, and there are glass doors.  The wind chest projects from the front of the case, with the keys lying on it, enclosed in a mahogany box.

There are six stops: St Diapason, Dulciama (TC), Principal, Flute, Fifteenth and Sesquialtra/Cornett.  The Sesquialtra/Cornett is II rank, divided c¹/c#¹, GG 12.17, aº 17.19, c#¹ 19.22.  Apart from seven cº – f#º pipes the Dulciama was replaced by larger scale pipes in the 1880s.

The key compass is GG – f³ 58 notes.  There is a shifting movement pedal, reducing to Stop Diapason, Dulciana and Flute.  There is a blowing pedal in the centre, there was another pedal at the treble side, and an electric blower introduced in 1958.

Apart from the 1880s pipes, there was also a new keyboard made from late 19^th century keys by Henry Poyser, with new woodwork around it and the projecting wind chest.  The keys were on a new frame, so that the stickers resting on the pallets had to be lengthened.  The keys must always have had a tendency to stick.  Modifications were introduced in 1958, but without improvements, so a new keyboard was made in Snetzler’s original style, copied from the keys in the Bristol New Room, a Snetzler organ of 1761 in the same early style.  The keys are hinged with parchment just behind the overlays, ebony naturals and ebonised fruitwood sharps with ivory tops, laid on brass stickers resting on the pallets.  The windchest must have suffered from the dry summers of the 1970s, or from the central heating, and was restored by Harold Newman of Manders in 1978, well done.

The 2021-2 restoration was carried out by Chris Davies and Dominic Gwynn, with voicing and tuning by Rob Balfour Rowley.  Apart from the new keys, the wind system was made wind tight.  The organ could not be blown by foot without destroying the floorboards, so a new frame was made, which also provided the support for new rollers and an extension to the (1880s?) pine plinth.  The alterations to the casework were left undisturbed, though the finish and the red silk backing to the pipe shades are 1958.

CLOFORD ST MARY TRANSFER AND REPAIR OF T.C.BATES ORGAN

In 2022 we moved a most attractive T.C Bates organ from St Paul Whatley near Frome Somerset three miles south to St Mary Cloford.  Its history was dug out by Paul Tindall, to whom many thanks.  It was made for John Sinkins of Wallbridge House Frome (1805-69), according to a list of Bates organs.  He was a draper and J.P., who founded the Frome Literary and Scientific Institution, now the Museum.  He was already resident at Wallbridge House in 1841, and presumably bought the organ shortly afterwards.  A watercolour of the staircase hall shows the organ towards the end of the 19^th century (Frome Museum collection).  His widow Eliza was still there in 1881 and died in 1891, which is presumably when their son Colonel Sinkins sold up and disposed of the organ to Whatley.  In 2022 the congregation at Whatley decided to turn their church into a community hub, and the organ was moved to Cloford on the initiative of churchwarden Richard Mawer.

The stoplist is as follows: Open Diapason TC, Stopt Diapason bass, Clarabella TC, Dulciana TC, Principal, Wald Flute (octave Clarabella), Fifteenth, Pedal Bourdon (C – cº).  There are two couplers: Manual to Pedals, Manual Octave.  There is a Hitch-down swell pedal.  The key compass is C – f³ 54, and C – fº 18.  The pitch is 435Hz at 13ºC (tuning slides have been fitted but the original pitch was probably similar).  The wind pressure is 68mm.

There were alterations, evidently made by the Bates workshop at the purchaser’s request.  The whole organ was enclosed to make a swell box, with some difficulty.  A rank of upperwork had to be sacrificed as a result.  A Double Diapason was exchanged for a Dulciana, the lowest octave on rather complicated pneumatics.  A Double Diapason would have made sense of a pedalboard with 18 notes, when the Pedal Bourdon only had 13 notes.

The organ was evidently moved to Whatley by H.J.Prosser of Frome.  In the last 20 or 30 years the roof over the organ leaked and the windchest was restored, not very well, but adequately.  The pulldowns for the key action at the back of the wind chest and the octave coupler at the front were replaced without care and attention, which proved a problem when re-connecting and adjusting in 2022.  During installation in 2022 the Pedal wind chest was brought 125mm closer to the organ, to fit the space, with a new square beam for the angled squares.  The blower hung from above, but the cast mountings had broken.  New ones were made by Joe Marsden.  The front walls of the Clarabella had fallen off in the damp, and were replaced.  The bellows inlet valve hinges were nailed but the nails were corroded and the valves had come adrift; they were glued and the hinge strips screwed.  The console was made to be dismantled for access, but had been altered so that it was loose but inaccessible.  The stop jambs are now fixed in place, and it is possible to remove the music desk.

Otherwise the organ was cleaned and adjusted during re-assembly, by Chris Davies and Dominic Gwynn, and by former colleague Joseph Marsden, and Pete Thomasson.  The casework is being restored by Bill Hewitt.  A number of the composition crockets and panel mouldings have fallen off, and will be put back or replaced.  The surface paintwork and gilding will be cleaned and touched in.

LILLINGTON DORSET BATES AND SON FINGER AND BARREL ORGAN

The organ was built by “BATES & SON, Organ Builders, 6 Ludgate Hill, LONDON” according to a painted label above the keys.  According to the online DBOB this name was used by the firm between 1859 and 1864, when T.C Bates died.  The organ was purchased in 1996 from a private collector and restored by John Budgen.  It is an unusual organ, with a dumb organist behind the keyboard panel, which can be removed and the barrel brought forward over the keys.  The second barrel is now missing.  A description and recordings of each tune are available online by Maggie Kilbey & Marcel Glover on the excellent website https://barrel-organs.co.uk/lillington.htm

There are three stops: Stop Diapason Bass 8ft, Open Diapason TC 8ft, Clarabella TC 8ft, Principal 4ft.  The key compass is C to f³ 54 keys.  There are 13 pedal keys.  There is an electric blower, a composition pedal, and a hitch-down swell pedal.

The organ was partly restored, in response to ciphers.  It was dismantled and the wind chest removed.  The ciphers were the result of the 1996 pallet springs being corroded in contact with the American yellow pine, which can be highly corrosive.  The lower 24 pallets had been restored with thick red felt and leather, whose thickness meant the pallets could hardly open.  It was replaced with a double layer of leather, and all 54 pallet springs with new stainless steel springs.  It would have been prudent to restore the wind chest completely, as clods of chalk whiting came loose during transport and caused more ciphers, but the organ works well now.  The repair was initiated by Charles Watson at Lillington, near Sherborne in Dorset, and carried out by Dominic Gwynn in December 2021.

Horniman museum musical instrument collection: Anonymous late georgian chamber organ

The organ is anonymous and there are few obvious identifying characteristics. We have no idea for whom it was made. Such organs were made in large quantities at the end of the 18th and in the early 19th centuries, for the increasingly wealthy and culturally aware commercial classes. A number of organs survive with almost the same design and layout, almost the same style of organ front, and almost the same manufacturing characteristics. This chamber organ at the Horniman Museum has no label and is unsigned, but it has a clue which suggests it may have been made by Joseph Beloudy.

The inside of the wind chest was revealed during restoration. The pallet box is lined with paper covered with writing exercises, from the same period as the organ. The exercises repeat the same proverbs, such as “reason is given to rule our lawless passions”, and individual letters. In the Summer issue of The Music Box (the journal of the Musical Box Society of Great Britain), Arthur Ord-Hume writes about Joseph Beloudy – An unsung genius of the 18th century (The Music Box vol28 no6, summer 2018). The practice of lining bellows and pallet box with similar writing exercises is illustrated in his article, but including the name of the writer, “M Ann Beloudy July 30th 1791”, the daughter of the musical clock and mechanical organ builder. They lived at 2, Collier Street, Pentonville, near Holloway on the northern edge of 18th century London. Ord-Hume gives other examples of his work, notably a spectacular musical clock illustrated on the cover of the autumn issue of the Music Box, and a barrel organ at Calke Abbey, made in 1793 and restored in 1988, which could be examined for similarities with this organ.

Beloudy appears in the fire insurance records of the period, along with other unfamiliar names, insuring his premises and stock for small amounts. This organ is well-made, though not of the highest quality available at the time. I would not associate its maker with the superb quality associated with the spectacular musical clocks of the same period, but nonetheless, I think it is safe to attribute this organ to Joseph Beloudy, and probably in the first half of the 17990s, when Mary Ann was being schooled.

The organ was bought by the Horniman Museum at the sale of Richard Burnett’s collection of keyboard instruments at Finchcocks, near Goudhurst Kent May 11th 2016 (accession no. 2018.3). Richard Burnett bought it from Martin Renshaw in 1976. Martin carried out a certain amount of restoration work carried out before and after. Martin Renshaw bought it from Mr R E Diggles at Stansmore House, New Road, Alton, Stoke-on-Trent in mid-August 1975.

The organ was restored by Christopher Davies, with assistance from Ben Marks (keyboard) and Nick Hagen (casework). The main problem was a loss of wind, which proved to be in the wind chest, which was dismantled and restored, revealing the writing exercises in the pallet box. The key depth was too shallow, the keyboard frame was insecure and the stops had ineffective notches for the shifting movement. The back of the keyboard frame now rises on wedges, bringing the cheeks under the stops, and increasing the key depth. There were numerous defects in the pipework which made voicing and tuning difficult. The restoration report is available on this website.

SPECIFICATION

A shifting movement removes the Principal and Fifteenth, the sliders being held in the ‘on’ position on notches with springs.

Key compass GG C AA D – f³.
Pitch a¹=438Hz. The tuning is a modified 1/6 comma meantone.

Restoration of Robert Gray/Father Smith Chamber Organ

This chamber organ was restored after water damage. The owners have asked to remain unidentified. It dates from two periods. It was originally made around 1680, and the pipes from this organ were used in a new organ by Robert Gray in 1775. The pipes are all made of wood, and are typical of 17th century chamber organs. These organs are often ascribed to Father Smith, the Kings Organmaker, and the pre-eminent organ builder of his day. It is a tradition that started early in the 18th century, though the style was already in existence when the German Smith came to England, and it seems more likely that his workshop took over their manufacture to such an extent that later generations thought of them as his.

Robert Gray decorated his case with this inscription: “This organ was originally built by that celebrated artist commonly called Father Smith and erected in its present form by Robert Gray of London 1775”. As well as the case and the mechanism, he provided an 18th century mixture, about two thirds of which consists of the smallest pipes of the 17th century organ, and divided it into bass and treble halves, so that one can use the treble as a solo Cornet, a stop whose mixture of fifths and thirds gives a reedy sound, exploited by Georgian composers.

The organ’s appearance is entirely Robert Gray’s, with a mahogany case, gilded dummy front pipes, and fretwork shades backed with red silk above the pipes. The keyboard is unusually decorated, with ivory naturals and ebony sharps, arcaded fronts to the naturals, veneered key cheeks and a moulding round the bottom edge of the cheeks and key rail. The bellows, wind chest, stop and key action are all Robert Gray’s. He probably also provided the lead tuning flaps to the open wood pipes, which would originally have been cut to length and fine-tuned with a knife. He therefore altered the pitch and the tuning.

The stops are

Open Diapason 8ft
Stop Diapason 8ft
Principal 4ft
Twelfth 2⅔ft
Fifteenth 2ft
Sesquialtera Bass III
Sesquialtera Treble III

The key compass is GG AA C D – e³, the mixture dividing at c¹/c#¹. The pitch is a¹=440Hz, and the tuning system used is the late Alexander Mackenzie’s reconstruction of a Georgian tuning system, named by him ‘the common tuning’.

Graham Barber repairs to Grant Degens and Bradbeer practice organ in 2018

The organ was designed and made by Edward Bennett for Kenneth Rothwell in 1974 when Edward was working for Grant Degens and Bradbeer in Northampton. It now belongs to Graham Barber https://grahambarber.org.uk/. It was cleaned and repaired by Edward and Chris Davies in December and January. The organ has worn remarkably well, the only deterioration in the ‘ball and socket’ stop-rod links, which had perished and were replaced with traditional mechanical links.

It is an organ of its time, using a steel frame and plywood chests, an economical layout, low wind pressure (47mm) and open-toe voicing. The organ sounds delightful, and has proved its usefulness as a practice organ.

STOPLIST

Edinburgh University Musical Instrument Museum, Restoration of the St Cecilia’s Hall Chamber Organ

According to the 1968 catalogue, this organ was “built for the Earl of Normanton, at Ditchley, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Bought and restored by Noel Mander in 1967. Bought for the St Cecilia Hall by the University with the aid of a Government grant. Noel Mander thought the organ was built by John Snetzler in about 1750.

The organ does not resemble other Snetzler organs, but the metal pipe marks are very similar to those in the 1777 Snetzler organ at Rotherham parish church. It is possible that these marks are those of Snetzler’s partner towards the end of his career, James Jones. Jones accompanied and erected the organ provided by Snetzler for the Edinburgh Musical Society (on the site of the present St Cecilia’s Hall) in 1775 [see John Kitchen The Organs of St Cecilia’s Hall, University of Edinburgh BIOSJ 24 (2000)]. He was executor to Snetzler’s will in 1785 [Alan Barnes and Martin Renshaw The Life and Works of John Snetzler p314-5 (Ashgate 1994)]. So this may not be a Snetzler organ, but it may be close to the organ bought for the Edinburgh Musical Society (though that was larger). Registration instructions in the organ relate it to James Bartleman, who was a famous bass singer in late Georgian London. In the sale of his effects (Morning Chronicle Monday June 25th 1821) is included “a Finger Organ, by Snetzler and Jones, of fine quality”. So there is some connection with James Jones.

The general style of the case, with its naturalistic carving, would date from about 1775. The way in which the organ is laid out, supported on the solid panels of the casework, rather than an independent support structure, is unusual, unlike other English chamber organs of the time. The entablature and pediment were evidently made in the 1930s, in imitation of the overdoors at Ditchley Park, when the organ was supplied for Nancy Lancaster, presumably by Sybil Colefax and John Fowler, when Nancy and her husband Ronald Tree were re-decorating the house.

The organ was bought by Noel Mander at some point before 1967 when his workmen restored the organ. They removed the feeders of the bellows, and cut down the pipes and provided tuning slides, raising the pitch to A432Hz @ 15ºC and presumably introducing equal temperament. Otherwise the organ does not show any obvious re-building. Unfortunately the organ was dried out in St Cecilia’s Hall almost immediately after it was delivered, the top and middle leaves of the bellows were split and the wind chest spoilt with ciphers and runnings.

In 2015-6 the organ was stored by Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn Ltd in their workshop at Welbeck, Notts, during the re-development project, and was restored by Guillaume Zellner and Willie Hendry. Willie restored the wind chest, sealing the channels with cotton tape, re-leathering the pallets and making new leather pull-down purses. Guillaume restored the bellows, dismantling the reservoir and filling the splits in the leaves, making a new feeder bellows, re-leathering. The organ was re-assembled, adjusted and tuned by Edward Bennett, Dominic Gwynn and Willie Hendry in St Cecilia’s Hall on March 28th-30th 2017, when the organ was heard for the first time for 50 years.

The stop names are engraved on bone labels; the knobs are ebony. The stoplist, in the order on the jambs, is:
Twelfth
Stop Diapason , Fifteeth
Open Diapason , Principal

A shifting movement reduces to the Stop Diapason. The key compass is GG C AA D to e³.

Handel House Museum restoration of Snetzler Bureau Organ

The organ was built by John Snetzler in 1752 (information provided by Snetzler’s usual label at the back of the pallet box of the wind chest). The organ may originally have belonged to a W. Macpherson, a member of the Aberdeen Musical Society, who bought it for £46. It was given to the Handel House, https://handelhendrix.org/, by Elinor Warburg, who bought it from Noel Mander in 1957. Mander bought it from the estate of Canon Wallis of Lichfield, who may have bought it from the music critic and scholar J. Fuller Maitland (and ‘Early Music’ pioneer).

It seems not to have been altered, except in ways designed to keep the organ usable. Some of the pipes are horizontal and conveyed in ways which look like an afterthought, or perhaps a later alteration to make the organ easier to tune. The 1754 bureau organ at the Horniman Museum is more logical in its layout. The case has been extended at the back. This looks like an early alteration to allow the front fall to lie flat when open. The panel above the keys, with its red fabric, is modern. The case is little altered apart from the extension, and the fabric in the panels in the frame above the keys. How this panel was organised, and the music supported, does not survive in its original form in any of the few surviving bureau organs.

In 1957 Manders restored the organ, providing an electric blower and tuning slides. In September and October 2016 the organ was restored by Edward Bennett with assistance from Nick Hagen (casework) and Joe Marsden (metal pipes). The organ was restored as found, apart from removing the electric blower, which will in future only be used for tuning, and the keyboard, which had been restored in 1957. The main faults with the organ arose, as so often, from dehydration. Edward restored the wind chest, its first ever restoration, since its bottom board was still glued in position. The bellows valves were renewed, but the main bellows leather (which was replaced in 1957) was retained.

The organ has Stop Diapason 8ft (stopped wood), Flute 4ft (stopped wood), Fifteenth 2ft (open metal), Sesquialtera bass II and Cornet II treble. There is a shifting movement pedal to take off the mixture. The key compass is C D to e³ (52 notes).

Erddig House near Wrexham Wales, restoration of the Bevington Organ for the National Trust

The organ was bought for the Music Room at Erddig in 1865, for Philip Yorke II, then aged 15. It was made by Henry Bevington & Sons of 48 Greek Street Soho, and cost , for £227.2s.4d. There is a Bevington printed label in the wind chest, with the date 1864 and the job number 654, written on the pallets. A history of the Bevington family is provided in Bevington & Sons told by Tony Bevington, Jill Bevington and Romana Bevington (Preston House Publishing 2013). With the organ is a dumb organist, with six tunes. In 1973 the Yorkes gave the house to the National Trust, who restored it and opened it to the public in 1977, https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/erddig

The only noticeable alterations were to the pumping mechanism and to the swell box. A pumping handle was provided on the treble side, using one of the two feeder bellows, no doubt because use of the pumping pedal is restricted by the pedal keys. The pedal keys were originally retractable but the damage to the key action means that it is now fixed. There is no electric blower. The swell box was covered with thin boarding presumably by Whiteleys of Chester in the late 1940s (indicated by a note in blue crayon on the slats), which was removed in 2016 during the first complete restoration in the organ’s history. The work was carried out by Dominic Gwynn, Nick Hagen, Joseph Marsden and Stuart Dobbs, between November 2015 and May 2016.

Bevingtons were known for making small model organs. They were fairly conservative in their voicing style, though the stop list, mechanism and appearance were up-to-date. It is designed as a miniature church organ rather than a Georgian chamber organ. As a result access for adjustment and maintenance is very restricted, and dismantling and re-assembly was challenging.

Key compass: Manuals C – f³ 54 notes (Swell C – B permanently coupled to the Great, the Great C-B playing the Open Diapason on its own, but the same pipes as the Stopt Diapason available only through the Swell), Pedals C – gº 20 notes
Swell coupler on stop knob
Pitch and tuning: A435Hz @ about 16ºC, Equal Temperament

Blowing pedal and blowing handle (on treble side)
Swell pedal
Composition pedals: I all Great Stops; II Open Diapason, Dulciana, Stopt Diapason, Bourdon;
III Dulciana, Bourdon

Sarsden House, Oxfordshire, restoration of the ca1830 J C Bishop Organ in St James Chapel

The organ was built by J.C.Bishop and dates from about 1830. Bishop made at least two organs at Sarsden, though this one is not mentioned in the archive (Laurence Elvin Bishop and Son Organ Builders (Lincoln 1984), see pp112-3). Bishop first supplied a second-hand organ in 1819, then a barrel organ for the church in 1824 (one of his largest models costing £200 – a lot for a barrel organ) and this organ. Although this organ is not documented, it is undoubtedly by Bishop, and must date from 1830 or shortly thereafter. It was moved from the house in 1896, when the church was restored, presumably because the tunes on the barrel organ were by then old-fashioned, and an organist was reliably available.

Bishop was an innovator in his early career (see Nicholas Thistlethwaite The early career of J.C.Bishop organ builder 1807-29 Journal of the British Institute of Organ Studies vol25 pp6-29, including a reproduction of a portrait of JCB painted in 1831). He invented the concussion bellows, an early example of which is to be found in this organ. He also started to re-introduce open wood stops, called Claribella in this case. He helped to develop the swell box, in this case using louvres for swell shutters instead of a sliding front. There are characteristics of Bishop’s organ building practice in the organ: the stop knob discs have his characteristic font and ornamental lines above and below the stop names. Both the manual keys and the pedal keys can be slid into the case. The stops are in a row above the keys, and activate the sliders in the middle of the chest, through the upperboards.

The organ is in almost completely original condition, which is unusual for chamber organs subsequently moved into churches. Unfortunately the two reed stops have been removed though there are plans to replace them with new ones in Bishop’s style. The metal pipes have been cut down and are now tuned with tuning slides. The organ has suffered recently from an over-heated and de-humidified atmosphere. The exceptionally long keys had twisted so that they were jammed tight, the wind system and the wind chest had sprung leaks so that it was impossible to produce noises. The organ now speaks beautifully into the generous acoustic of this little estate church. It was restored through the generosity of the current owner, Tony Gallagher.

SPECIFICATION

Lever swell pedal, general swell front
Pedalboard draws out to playing position
Key compass: manual GG AA – f³, pedal GG – F# (GG# plays G#)

Gerard Verloop restoration of the 1851 Pilcher Organ at the Koogerkerk, Zuidscharwoude, Holland

In 2014-15 we restored an organ belonging to the Collectie Gerard Verloop. It must be one of the last organs to have been made in the classic 18th century style, but expanded to include some of the features of the latest contemporary church organs. To see details of a more up-to-date chamber organ, our restoration of a 1864 Bevington organ will be posted in April. William Pilcher was not a full-time organ builder, dealing in other instruments as well as organs, and in this instrument it looks as he had exceeded his abilities, or at least, his ambition with this complex instrument was not matched by his craft skills. It is evident that Pilcher used elements from other organs. The two keyboards follow piano-making practice. They slide into the case. The keys are weighted so that the tails drop onto a rail, and they can be slid into the case under the stickers. The couplers (including Great to Pedal and Pedal to Great) offer further complexity.

It is nonetheless a very attractive musical instrument. Amongst its attractions is the completeness of its history, which Gerard Verloop has covered very fully in an issue of the magazine which he published, de Mixtuur no67 (December 1990). The organ was made by William Pilcher in 1850-1 for Miss Eleanora Grant Macdowall, for her home in Baker Street London, later moved to Hanover Lodge, a large villa near Kensington Gardens. In 1946 the organ was given to Westfield College London, one of the first university colleges to admit women. In 1980 the organ was sold to Gerard Verloop, made playable and moved to Noord Holland. It now stands in the Koogerkerk in Zuidscharwoude (see picture), where it is used for concerts and the monthly Bach cantata services http://www.koogerkerk.nl/index.htm.

The organ has been altered slightly over the years. The original Swell Celestina was replaced by a Vox Angelica using the same pipes but sharpened to turn it into a stop beating with the Dulciana (perhaps by August Gern in 1898). It has now been replaced with a Victorian Clarinet, though the original pipes (which are in store) can be put back if desired. In 1946 a 30 note pedalboard was added and the pedal stop completed with a toeboard and treble pipes. A new pedalboard has now been provided to the original form and compass. There is a general swell front which does not completely enclose the organ and makes some of it impossible to tune; it has been removed and is stored in the church. The wind chest with its two manuals and shared bass has been restored. The sliding double keyboard, and the key and coupler actions, have been restored. Sense has been made of the complex composition pedals. New parts have been made for the casework where they were missing, and the front pipes re-gilded. The metal pipes had been cut down and tuning slides added; they were extended and tuned to Thomas Young’s temperament at a¹=440Hz, which must have been close to the original pitch.

COUPLERS
Swell to Great
Pedals to Great Organ

Key compass: Great and Swell C – c4 (61 notes), Pedals C – fº (18 notes)
Pitch: a¹=440Hz
General swell
5 combination pedals, 3 Great 2 Swell