St
John's Church, Ainsdale
St
John's Church, Ainsdale
Church Tour - The Organ
Stop/Coupler Details
Links to other pipe organ sites
The
present organ at St John's was installed in 1949. The previous organ was 'old
and its action worn out' according to a report the year before by Henry Willis
& Sons. It was recommended to the church that the organ be rebuilt completely,
using as much of the old organ as could be salvaged, at a cost of £2,000. The
church would have been without an organ for many weeks. Canon Anthony Dixon
(vicar at the time), however, had come to hear of an organ for sale in Bristol.
Henry Willis & Sons originally built this organ in 1901 for the Wills family
(of Tobacco fame) in their house in Southfield Road, Cotham, Bristol. Willis
rebuilt it in 1919 at which time tubular pneumatic action was fitted. It was
on the first floor of the building with the blower and bellows on the floor
below. The casing was made of Walnut. Click on the picture to see a larger version
(120k).
The house, still containing the organ, was sold to a Mr W. Maddox who owned it until 1948 when the local authority requisitioned the house (this was because of the post-war housing shortage) in order to convert it into flats. The organ was boarded up until St. John's bought it.
The organ was purchased at a cost of £2,900, £1,550 for the organ itself and the rest to dismantle, transport and reassemble it into an organ chamber that had to be enlarged for it to fit in (we don't have an organ loft, we have an organ cellar!). Pauline Collier's book on St. John's Church (1986) quotes Canon Dixon, as commenting: "I wonder that I had the nerve or faith to bid £1550 when we had barely £100 in the organ Fund".
Henry Willis & Sons were again responsible for rebuilding the organ into St. John's. The action was renewed in 1986 (to Electro-Pneumatic action) by David Wells Organ Builders, Liverpool, a 'swell indicator' was added, the drawstops replaced, some pistons added and some stop changes were made at the request of the then organist. The present stop list is shown below.
Thanks to David Wyld - Managing Director of Henry Willis & Sons Ltd (main contributor), D. Whaley of the Wills Library - Bristol, Pauline Collier of St John's church, Ian Tracey - Liverpool Cathedral Organist and David Wells of David Wells Organ Builders for their help in producing this history of the organ.
| Stop name | Footage/Ranks |
| GEMSHORN | 4 |
| SALICIONAL | 8 |
| OPEN DIAPASON | 8 |
| CORNOPEAN | 8 |
| FIFTEENTH | 2 |
| VOX ANGELICA | 8 |
| LIEBLICH GEDACT | 8 |
| TREMULANT | n/a |
| Stop name | Footage/Ranks |
| MIXTURE | II |
| TRUMPET (not working) | 8 |
| FIFTEENTH | 2 |
| FLUTE HARMONIQUE | 4 |
| PRINCIPLE | 4 |
| VIOLA | 8 |
| CLARIBEL FLUTE | 8 |
| OPEN DIAPASON | 8 |
| Stop name | Footage/Ranks |
| BASS FLUTE | 8 |
| VIOLONE | 16 |
| BOURDON | 16 |
| From | To | Pitch Modifier |
| Swell | Great | - |
| Swell | Great | Octave |
| Swell | Great | Suboctave |
| Swell | Pedal | - |
| Great | Pedal | - |
| - | - | Octave |
| - | - | Suboctave |
| Great & Pedal Combs | - | - |
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Page Last Updated: December 1, 2002
