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£300 for a 2-manual Hill

Started by diapason, February 18, 2013, 02:33:40 PM

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diapason

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300863766701&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

Just appeared on Ebay - sounds like they plan to replace a wonderful Hill with a toaster and have already valued the pipes as scrap metal  :'(

Hope someone can save it.

N

Posaune

#1
Readers might like to know this organ has been found a new home in St Andrew's Church, Owslebury.

It was restored and moved by Griffiths and Co and completed in late September 2014. During restoration a date of February 1864 was found on the bottom of the bellows, which fits well with the period style of the organ. Apart from the addition of a fan blower in the 1950s, it is effectively unaltered.

The restoration covered releathering the bellows (including the feeder bellows, which can still be hand operated), new felts and buttons on the action, repolishing the case in button polish (it had received a darkening wash at some point, rather inexpertly applied) and rounding out the front pipes. A section of the most heavily discoloured Great keys were recovered in reclaimed ivory. A panel on the back of the swell box had been replaced with chipboard at some point; this was replaced with a more suitable panel as part of the restoration, finished in brown paper internally and colour-matched paint externally. The Oboe was re-regulated by David Frostick. I found a brass picture light for the music desk.

The organ is a charming and virtually untouched example of Hill's work - "wonderful" is a good word to describe it! The 8 and 4 ft Diapasons ring forth boldly for a wind pressure of 2 3/4 inches and give a good lead for congregational singing. The flutes are very characteristic of Hill of the period, as is the fine Dulciana. The Oboe suffers a little from being in a "Clarinet box" style swell box, where egress of sound is hampered. The whole organ - Great organ, Swell organ and Pedal Bourdon - is hosted on one soundboard, with pallets at both ends. The Swell Organ is only down to Tenor C; the single octave of Bourdon Pedal Pipes uses the note channels left unused by the Swell Division. The Great Open Diapason goes down to 5 1/3 G in the frontage; the bass pipes are open wooden pipes situated internally. The voicing is such that the break between the two styles of pipes is almost imperceptible.

All in all, a perfect organ for this charming country parish church. The church has struggled for many years to find an appropriate organ. There isn't quite space for a full 8ft organ frontage, while a Casson positive style organ would be too small. So when this organ appeared just 30 miles away, it was almost like it had dropped from the sky into our laps. The original and somewhat archaic pedalboard has proven to be less of a hindrance in practice than may be imagined - most of the organists who play on a Sunday morning rarely use the pedals.


Completed Hill organ 13 September 2014

More Photos available at https://flic.kr/s/aHsjRBjxC3

Specification (I'm still waiting for NPOR to update their records...)

Great Organ C to f, 54 notes
Open Diapason 8ft
Stopped Diapason Bass (bottom octave)
Stopped Diapason 8ft (from Tenor C)
Principal 4ft
Flute 4ft (Stopped wooden pipes)

Swell Organ
Dulciana  8ft (from Tenor C)
Oboe (from Tenor C)
The bottom octave of keys on the swell organ couple through the Great keys

Pedal Organ CC - g, 20 notes
Bourdon 16ft (bottom 12 notes only)

Swell to Great
Great to Pedal
Trigger Swell Pedal

Mechanical Key, Stop and Pedal action
Electric fan and Hand blowing
Pitch A 440, Equal Temperament (original, as far as we can tell)

It was a lovely project to be involved with. Long may this beautiful organ stand in Owslebury!