help restore & repair our magnificent Willis organ

Will you join us in making a difference? We are raising money to repair and restore our magnificent pipe organ and every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us.

We have a very fine organ built by Henry Willis in 1893. The original specification, and position within the church is all still on record with Henry Willis and Son Organ Builders. It is of the usual high quality that one expects from a Willis. There have been changes made over the years and the organ was rebuilt by the Liverpool firm of Cowin sometime in the late 50s or early 60s.This work included electrification of the key actions, drawstop machines, shutter machine, provision of a detached drawstop console and some tonal alterations. Rushworth & Dreaper carried out a Clean & Overhaul, and rebuilt the organ to its current form in 1985 and re-leathered the internal powermotors of both the Swell and Great. All of the Cowin console including the electro-mechanical switching and drawstop units were reused in the latter scheme without alteration, and all of this Cowin installation is now coming to the end of its useful life and requires total replacement in order to guarantee reliability. In particular there are some very interesting stops on the organ which are not that common in a church of this size. Our Diapason is one the best one of our organists has heard for example.

you can read about the organ on the National Organ Pipe Register here:

https://npor.org.uk/survey/A01148

The organ is still working, and has served the parish well. It is a finely built instrument but becoming ever more a fire risk (we recently came close to a fire and now have to electrically isolate the organ whenever not in use) but we are not far from gradual unreliability as parts cease to work and eventually it will be unplayable.

First and foremost we need to undertake a complex rewiring job, replacing the inner electrical workings of the Console, and any necessary wiring replacement and rearrangement within the organ loft. The work is estimated to cost £45,000 plus vat. Fortunately we hope not to have to pay VAT because of the Church’s listed building status.

With this work it is hoped that the Organ will go on to service the worship in Church for many years to come.

As an active parish church we have huge demands on our resources and focus on mission and ministry in the community. However, the PCC have committed 15K to start our fundraising and now need to reach out to a wider number of people who may share our desire to keep our Father Willis playing.

We are grateful for every donation.

In the event we are fortunate enough to raise more money than is strictly required to carry out the works, we shall hold that money for future maintenance of the organ.

Thank you