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.
