The recent survey by Pipe Up on church organs in British churches is a reminder that many of our churches have an instrument with a distinct and interesting history. The church of St Margaret of Antioch, Binsey, has a small portable organ at the back of the church, and a handwritten note explaining that it is ‘an Estey from Vermont’, dating from the 1880s. The Estey Organ Company from Vermont sold organs all over the world; it would be intriguing to know how this one got to Binsey!
The organ in the Georgian church of St John the Baptist, Kingston Bagpuize, has also travelled, though for a rather shorter distance: apparently it came originally from St Lawrence, Tubney, at a time when that church was threatened with closure. This may have been in the 1950s, when Tubney church needed significant restoration which was achieved after a campaign in which the poet and enthusiast for all things Victorian John Betjeman played a part, it would be interesting to know exactly when it happened.
Church organ cases may also have attractive design features, as witness the vine motif on the case of the modern (Kenneth Tickell) instrument installed in 2009 in St Andrew’s, Old Headington.
What history or special features does your church organ have?
Elizabeth Knowles
All photographs © Elizabeth Knowles.