ORGAN OF THE MONTH 25: July 2004
St
John's Church, Hagley |
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To celebrate the 25th "Organ of the Month", we feature the instrument played by our Hon Sec, Paul Evans, in the church of St John the Baptist that stands in a beautiful setting immediately adjacent to Hagley Hall.
The first clear reference to an organ in the church dates back to 1852. This was probably a single-manual instrument situated in a gallery. In 1891, a second manual (and probably a pedal division) was added by Nicholson & Lord of Walsall. An electric blower was installed in 1938.
By the late 1940s, this organ had fallen into a very poor state of repair with a number of pipes destroyed by woodworm! The present instrument, using some of the surviving pipework from the original instrument, was built by Nicholson & Co of Worcester. The original two-manual specification was expanded to the present three by the organist at the time, Leonard Round, whose donation was in memory of his brother, missing in action in August 1940. The organ was dedicated on 22nd April 1951 and the opening recital was given by Sir David Willcocks, then organist of Worcester Cathedral.
In 1987, Trevor Tipple carried out a number of tonal additions & modifications, and provided a new solid state action, Dr Roy Massey acting as consultant