organ221
Organs
organ 221
November 2020
3 manuals
29 speaking stops
Click here for full spec
St Augustine
of Canterbury,
Rugeley
Builders
Nicholson 1899
Hawkins 1985
Hawkins 1985
Weblinks:
Pass your mouse over a photo
for a brief description
Click on the photo to obtain
a full-size image
Click here for
Organ of the Month archive
(contains over 200 organs)
St Augustine's is part of a team ministry that serves six churches in Armitage, Brereton and Rugeley in Staffordshire. Part of the church (now known as the "Old Chancel") dates from the 12th century, but the current building was consecreated in 1823.
The organ dates from 1899 and was originally installed at a cost of £439 (equivalent to £57,000 today) on a west-end gallery. In 1908 it was moved to its present position following the creation of a new south chancel chamber. The console is in an elevated position above the choir stalls.
Originally a two-manual instrument, the "prepared for" Choir Organ was added at a cost of £42 (equivalent to over £5000 today) after its move to the south chancel chamber.
Significant changes were made by Hawkins in 1985 when the Swell Lieblich Bourdon and Open Diapason pipes were moved to the Pedal division to create, respectively, flute stops at 16ft, 8ft, 5 1/3ft and 4ft and principal stops at 8ft, 4ft and 2ft. They were replaced in the Swell Organ by two new stops: a Piccolo 2ft and Mixture III. Tracker action is still used for the manuals with electric action for the Pedal division.