History of St Gabriel's Organ

As St Gabriel’s celebrates its 125th Anniversary, our organ prepares to celebrate its 120th.
The organ was commissioned by St Gabriel’s 120 years ago and built by the Yorkshire firm Abbott and Smith over 1905-6, a product of the heyday of British industry and organ building, and of the enormous optimism and energy created by the founding congregation of St Gabriel’s.

Extraordinarily, the organ was the gift of a single donor, originally anonymous, but later revealed to be Miss Easton, a member of the congregation.

Boxed in a stone vault behind pillars and walls, it’s hard to appreciate the sheer scale and complexity of the instrument. It has 2394 pipes, spread across a two- storey structure the size of a small house. We have this massive labyrinthine machine in our building that uses entirely Edwardian technology – for instance, every single key on the keyboards sends its message to the pipes by means of a pneumatic tube, without any use of electricity.

These pneumatic workings in particular are at present in a dire and worsening state – even with regular maintenance and callouts to fix problems, we are not able to keep the organ anywhere near full working order. This manifests as particular notes not working at all, or working a little too well, and getting stuck on for a few seconds or even for a whole service! If left unchecked, the organ will gradually become unplayable, and eventually will stand silent.

We have recently commissioned reports on the organ from two highly respected firms, Harrison & Harrison Ltd in Durham and Nicholson & Co. Ltd in Malvern, and In September 2024 we set up a committee to consider the immediate and long- term future of the organ, and what we as a congregation can and should do to preserve this extraordinary gift we have inherited so we can pass it on to the generations to come.  We are currently investigating how best to restore and refurbish the organ to preserve its future life. 

If you want to know more, want to help in some way, or would be interested in joining an organ committee, please contact Tim Burke: singingstgabriel@gmail.com