UK

The organ in Waltham Abbey has a long history spanning over 200 years, during which time it has been rebuilt and significantly changed.  The organ started of as a ‘Barrel organ’ located in the West gallery, built in 1819 by the London-based company Flight & Robson, who specialised in this type of instrument. 1850 marked…

The original organ of King’s College was thought to be built in around 1854, and was housed in the old chapel; there is very little information existing of this organ, although it seems to have formed the basis of the 1866 instrument which was built in the new chapel designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott,…

One might be forgiven for thinking that the era of chapels being built on private land had long since passed, so one might be surprised to learn that it is by no means such a rare occurrence as one might suppose. Even today, patrons exist who wish to establish new places of worship and some…

We were first called in to look at the former organ in St. Mary’s in May 2011, the instrument was originally built by George Holdich in c1866, a relatively modest tracker organ of 18 stops which was placed in a chamber on the North side of the chancel, speaking through two low arches on the…

Just occasionally, we organ builders will be asked to produce something rather out of the ordinary. In June of 2013, we received a telephone call from a firm called Bompas and Parr asking if we might be able to produce a special organ to promote Johnny Walker Blue Label Whisky. It doesn’t come very much…

In 2012 we decided to make a new continuo organ, which would be available for hire. It was to be of a size that could be could be divided in two, and would fit in to the back of a typical MPV car. The bottom part containing the largest pipes of the Stopped Diapason bass,…

St. Michael’s is a modest sized suburban church built in 1956 to replace the original church which was bombed in 1944. The churchmanship is firmly in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The very uninspiring old organ was in a very bad state by 2011, and the organist, Alan Burtonshaw very generously donated the funds to purchase a…

The Queen’s organ was designed to replace the Johann Snetzler organ in the Henry VII Chapel (the Lady Chapel) at Westminster Abbey. The instrument is a gift from the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee. The organ spent much of 2013 at…

The Walker organ of 1905 forms the core of the new 4 manual organ in Rochester Cathedral. The instrument is placed within the splendid Gilbert Scott cases of 1875. Approximately 50% of the Great, Swell and Pedal pipework dates from 1905, the rest is new. A new Choir case, designed in matching style by Didier…

The organ was originally built for the Wren church of St George’s Botolph Lane near the Monument in the City of London by Abraham Jordan in 1723, for which he was paid £300. Abraham Jordan was not only an organ builder, but also a brewer. The picture (see below, black and white photo) shews the…