I am researching the history of the Holdich/Bishop organ from St Clement's which was moved in 1982 to Selworthy in Somerset where I play. I wonder whether there are any forum members from the Ipswich area who remember the organ in St Clement's and have any photographs or memories of it. I have already spoken to Bishop's who have been very helpful and obviouslt have the NPOR entries and a copy of the Faculty to move the organ to Somerset.
I played this when it was in Ipswich. Unfortunately, I didn't date my notes in those days, but it must have been before 1975. Bishop's were just completing an overhaul with tonal revision at the time, and the Great Trumpet wasn't in.
http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=H00679
St. Clement's is a fine big medieval church, and the organ sounded well, although the north-east chapel site wasn't ideal. Bishops' work left it with a slightly odd but versatile scheme.
The church was badly vandalised after closure and in 1996 a fire destroyed the roof. This has since been replaced and the church cleaned up. Although when I last heard there wasn't any specific purpose in mind for it, it has been used for occasional services, concerts, etc. Its old congregation never completely abandoned it, and would open it for special occasions.
Many thanks, David, and sorry for the late response - I have been away for a few days. The organ came to Selworthy around 1982/3. There was again some tonel revision. In particular, the 16' and 4' reeds were lost from the Swell as was the 16' Pedal Open Diapason. The Great Trumpet also went at some point before the move (?). The organ now sounds very well in Selworthy, but the action - particularly on the Great is very uneven and heavy. The organ-builder attributes this to the design of the pallets. The Great is also rather loud as Selworthy church is much smaller than St Clement's. Nevertheless, this is a very fine organ, and it is hoped that the 'missing' stops can be replaced in the future.
N