New Organ: 2010 Fundraiser

A little over three years after the completion of the parish church of All Saints, its organ was dedicated by William Thomson, Archbishop of York, on 7th October 1881.

The work of the highly regarded Hull firm of organ makers, Foster and Andrews, it was a modest two manual instrument with great and swell organ though the ultimate intention was for it to become a three manual instrument with the addition of a choir organ and with a total of 2,086 pipes. Archbishop Thomson asked the congregation 'not to stint their contributions', since their expected final cost was £1,100, of which less than half had already been raised.

In fact, priorities for expenditure were considered to lie elsewhere during the following half century and the organ remained unaltered until 1931. By that time, the vicar was Father Percy Hill, a priest with a strong desire to enhance the quality and range of music at All Saints. The tender of Summers and Barnes of York was accepted for restoration and reconstruction, at a cost of £1,500.

This involved re-locating the instrument from the north tansept, where the original newel staircase and entrance to the organ loft can still be seen, to a oak gallery at the west end of the church, a third manual with choir organ, 662 new pipes (though most of the original pipes were re-used) and introduction of electrical action for the organ mechanism. A Rockingham electric motor replaced the human organ blower, the man who, throughout the time it was in use, pumped wind into the organ without which, of course, it could not sound at all. Since this had been a paid occupation it is unlikely that the redundant organ blower was left a happy man.

The organ today remains very much what it became in 1931 and is, in consequence, very badly in need of major restoration.

Despite the high quality of the original Foster and Andrews pipework and the continuing capacity of the organ to produce an impressive quality and volume of sound, the fact is that maintenance operations are unable to keep pace with the deterioration of the instrument. Thick deposits of dirt hamper its effectiveness, some pipes do not sound at all and the electrical action of 1931 is in a fragile condition. Only the expertise of the organist, Mr. Tony Simpson, keep it functioning at its present level.

All Saints is commited to restoration but this will not come cheaply. The cost will undoubtledly be in excess of £90,000. Much of this, it is hoped, will be raised through grants from societies concerned with organ restoration, but individual generosity is also essential.