Special Choral Evensong to dedicate restored organ
On Thursday 23rd November, we held a special service of Choral Evensong in the school chapel to dedicate the newly restored organ. We also welcomed eight probationary choristers as full members of the Chapel Choir by giving them their surplices.
The history below was provided as an insert to the order of service to highlight the importance of this historic instrument to our school community and the significance of the work done to preserve this legacy.
The chapel organ was originally built by Wilkinson & Sons, an organ building firm from Kendal. It is commonly dated from the opening of the chapel in 1888, but it is more likely to date from the 1890s. In 1988, the organ was altered tonally and mechanically but the style and execution of this work was of a different standard to the original. In the decades following, various aspects of the instrument had deteriorated significantly, making it unreliable and very difficult to play.
Following a generous grant of c. £200,000 from the Ripley Educational Trust—the fortune left by Julia Ripley for educational purposes, as well as the upkeep of the school chapel—the organ has now been refurbished, restored and renewed by David Wells Organ Builders of Liverpool.
This work, undertaken between April and November 2023, has included: individually cleaning and restoring over a thousand individual pipes, overhauling and repairing the existing soundboards, replacing the blower and cabinet, releathering the reservoirs, adding electric solenoids to operate the drawstop sliders, and reconstructing the console with new manual keys and pedalboard for electric action. A solid-state microprocessor system has been installed and pistons have been added to aid registral changes.
Now that this fantastic resource is back to its former glory, we look towards preserving this legacy by nurturing and training the next generation of organists. To ensure that finances are not a barrier to learning the organ, we aim do this through establishing fifteen fully funded organ scholarships per year.
Thus far, we have applied for grant funding from three bodies and one of these has already come back positively, securing the first three of these for three years. We have plans to send two more applications in the coming months and would be pleased to hear from anyone who wishes to support us in this endeavour. In addition to individual lessons, the chapel organ is used to accompany acts of worship, including our fortnightly services of choral evensong which are open to the public.
