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Four Mannual Father Willis Destroyed - Brighton Sussex

Started by Mike Manners, April 14, 2024, 10:19:19 AM

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Mike Manners

Whenever a church is made redundant, I am uneasy. Whenever one hears about a CHURCH PLANT, one becomes anxious.

St Peters York Place Brighton East Sussex is one such church plant.

Charismatic evangelicals have little to no use of pipe organs, even when their church organ is a fine four-manual Henry Willis instrument, at St Peters York Place Brighton.

My fears that the Church Plant would neglect the instrument at York Place proved correct. The Willis is no more. It has been broken up.

The interior of this beautiful Regency-era neo-perpendicular gothic building has been transformed into a boutique pop music gig stage, where happy clappers meet to do their thing.

R.I.P 1889 WILLIS

UPDATE to this post:

Contrary to my post above, it appears that Harrison Organs of Durham, have rescued this 1889 Willis instrument in its entirety, and is to be incorporated into a new 67-stop instrument Harrisons are building for the chapel of St John's College Cambridge University. The new organ is to replace the current Mander organ.

This is a happy outcome for a lovely Willis instrument that I loved to play each week in the 1960s.

Further information may be seen at Harrison's here:

https://www.harrisonorgans.com/gallery/cambridge-st-johns-college/