In 1888 St. Paul's church was rebuilt with a new choir vestry and a purpose built organ chamber at which point
a new organ was built by George Benson & Son of Manchester. In 1956 the organ was substantially rebuilt by
Harrison & Harrison of Durham when the specification was enlarged and the console moved to a plinth along side
the organ chamber. The existing material was essentially remade and re-voiced in Harrison style. The new Harrison
console was controlled electro-pneumatically.
Henry Willis & Sons have cleaned and overhauled this three manual organ and re-leathered all of the internal the actions,
replaced all electromagnets, rebuilt the console and fitted a new canbus Solid State switching and capture system with
999 levels of memory, MIDI capability, stepper, sequencer and transposer. The Great 8' Flute has been replaced;
the Great Mixture has been re-cast; the Tromba has been re-voiced and the remainder of the tonal scheme has been rebalanced.
The consultant for this project has been
Paul Hale.
The Underactions are stripped down
and the motors are re-leathered
The Primary motors
are fixed back
to the rail
The chest is
re-assembled
The Pulldowns
are re-bushed
The Front Pipe note machines being remade
New electro-magnets are fitted
to the Faceboards and wired
A Drawstop Machine is remade
The Drawstop Machine
Ribbed Motors are
re-leathered
Re-leathered motors and remade chests
ready to go back to the church
The Console has suffered over time. The Great key ivory
has been burned in places and
broken Pistons replaced with
ill matched units. The Balance Pedals
are also not central
The Console is dismantled ready for restoration
New Drawstop Jambs are made
retaining the Harrison style panels
New backplates are
made for fitting the
new Drawstop Solenoids
The playing surfaces of the Pedals
are re-pieced with maple
Ebony caps are
applied to the
sharps
The Drawstop Panels and
Shanks are blacked
The Solendoids
fitted and
wired
Drawstop Pulls
and Keyboards
being re-instated
A new kneeboard is
marked out for the
re-positioned Balance Pedals
and Toe Levers
The Solid State system (which
controls the Console and
Capture System) is fitted and
wired
The restored and upgraded Console
on test in the factory
When the organ was remade in 1956
it was partly controlled by
electro-mechanical relays and partly
by pneumatic motors
This large switching cabinet
has been replaced
with compact, modern
self-diagnostic Solid State
The Choir Organ pipework
being removed
Repaired Conveyances
The Swell Box is
cleaned and awaiting
the return of the
pipework
The Swell Contra Fagotto
being repaired in the
metalshop
The Swell Trumpet on
the Voicing Machine
The Tromba in
the metalshop
Trombone Boots
The Great Mixture
laid out for
re-casting
The Great Mixture
after being re-cast
Pipework in trays ready
to be returned to the church