Restoration of Two Gray and Davison Organs

In 1998 and 1999 Mander Organs worked on two organs which were largely the product of the firm of Gray & Davison. Their construction was separated by 14 years, and it was remarkable how much the organ building techniques changed in that short time. Both projects received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

THE DANISH CHURCH

St Katherine's Regents Park, London, was originally a Samuel Green organ built in 1778, which was thoroughly rebuilt in 1886 by Gray & Davison, retaining only the case and most of the pipework. At that time the internal frame, mechanism and console were all new and in addition new reeds replaced all of the Green reeds. There were also some new flue stops and the mixtures were re-arranged. Since then it has remained largely untouched, until in the period 1950-72, an extended Bourdon rank was added and various other alterations took place.

By 1998 the organ was in a very poor condition. Mander Organs undertook a thorough renovation, removing the unsympathetic alterations of the 1950s to 70s, and where necessary replacing them with new components in the style of Gray & Davison. Considerable research was undertaken to ensure that such work was authentic. The extended Pedal Bourdon was removed, making access to the lower parts of the organ easier. A new parallel and concave pedal board was constructed based on that at the organ at St Anne's, Limehouse, which was originally built for the Great Exhibition of 1851. The lever that operated the feeders to the main reservoirs had been removed and a replacement has now been installed. Fortunately, the feeder bellows remained in place and only required to be releathered. A new hitch down swell mechanism was constructed, evidence for which was found within the organ. Further details for this were established from a small, two manual organ, at Stapleford Abbots which still has its original hitch down mechanism. Some of the Green front pipes required repairs before they could all be re-gilded and thus the appearance of the case could be enhanced. All of the work done to the organ was of a conservative nature, seeking only to correct the defects which usually afflict organs of this age, but it will enable this fine organ to continue to serve the congregation for another century.

In line with the desires in the latter half of the nineteenth century for more aids to registration, a new set of composition pedals was included in the 1886 rebuild. The combination of stops affected by the pedals is adjustable (with the aid of a screwdriver!). Throughout the organ metal squares set in mahogany brackets are used. These were clearly a consequence of the industrialisation of the organbuilding workshop. The pedal action is pneumatic as was usual at this time but with one interesting variation. Below the Pedal Open Diapason 16' soundboard is what has aptly been described as a "pneumatic rollerboard". The tubes run in an orderly group, from the console, to the back of the organ, where they are connected to a long and shallow box which is shaped like a rollerboard, inside which are the lead tubes.

In other respects the organ building techniques used were not very different from those of the Eighteenth Century. Iron rollers had replaced wood but the rollerboards were still framed up. The soundboards were laid out diatonically with basses on the outside ends thus necessitating having a roller for every note.

View the Specification of the Two Gray and Davison Organs (completed 1999)