The Organ and the Restoration Appeal
A Brief History Of The Organ
The present organ was built by Henry Dicker in 1850, although there is evidence of a pipe organ in the Church as long ago as 1504, a considerable rarity in those days. The Dicker organ was rebuilt by Hele & Co, in 1899 at a cost of £350. No further significant work was done to the organ until 1966 when a new electronic system was installed. In 1985 the organ was cleaned and in 1998 work was carried to repair water damage.
Why Does It Need To Be Restored?
The organ has done a magnificent job, but its age and configuration now limit its ability to support music-making in the church. Its position and the general lack of accessibility to pipework also mean that general maintenance has been quite limited and parts of the organ have never been cleaned.
A full restoration will help to resolve these issues. It will also enhance the usefulness of the organ by restoring it to concert pitch so that it can be played with other instruments (it is currently a quarter-tone sharp).
The restored instrument will then be able to support orchestral and choral music-making in Church and enable us to invite musicians to make fuller use of this wonderful performance space.
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