The first thing to say about our church organ is that note – sorry about that – should be taken that the organ is in a pit. The reason for that? The organ builders gave the architect the wrong dimensions! Therefore, a pit had to be dug to accommodate the instrument when it was transferred from the Lord Street church and rebuilt at Agnew Road by Ainscough’s of Preston. It does mean that the organist sits below ground level and has to view proceedings through a mirror!
The organ is said to have come from a small parish church in the late-1800s, but see below. The instrument has two manuals – great and swell – and pedals. However, the control of the swell box is by a notched, levered ‘stick’. This means the swell is either open or closed. (You can vary the shutters by using a leg & foot to ‘work’ the ‘stick’. That does mean though that that leg & foot can’t be used on the pedals!) The keys and pedals have a mechanical, tracker action which recently has had some added assistance from electricity. The pipes ‘speak’ with delightful tones and, when required, unbelievable quietness or power. The Revd Fred G EWEN made the casing of the organ loft. Mr Ewen was minister of the church from 1946-57.
In 2001 a decision had to be made about the organ which was being held together with (but not literally!) chewing gum, elastic bands and string; and, needed much effort for it to be kept in tune and play. Though it was not openly stated, the lack of spend on the church organ was related to falling congregational numbers and rising expenditure being met by a smaller number of people. The thinking was, ‘Why spend when ‘tomorrow’ there will be no church.’ However, as indicated elsewhere in the history of the church, the life of the church was being turned round.
In regard to the decision making process the consideration was to rebuild or replace. Redundant pipe instruments or modern electric organs and even recorded music were considered. They were all discounted: the pipe organs did not have the tone quality of the existing organ; modern electric organs did not impress; and, the congregation was not ready for recorded music. Pendleburys of Fleetwood was commissioned to rebuild the instrument at a cost of £15000. The spend included changing some stops and moving stops – there were ‘strange’ stops and even stranger positioning on the great and swell. (A sad ‘footnote’: Shortly after the rebuild there was a bereavement in the much respected Pendlebury business and it closed.)
An attempt is made at regular intervals to have an ‘organ day’ when guests are invited to ‘entertain’. The organists have had nothing but praise for the rebuild. Organists who want to be added to the ‘organ day’ guest list or wanting to visit would be most welcome. (See the OFFICERS page for contact details.)
Removing the ‘strange’ stops and repositioning others gave the rebuilt instrument a configuration of :
SWELL:
4′ Octave
8′ Oboe
8′ Voix Celeste
8′ Gedacht
8′ Sancional
8′ Open Diapason
16′ Lieblich Bourdon
Swell Octave
Tremulant
GREAT:
2′ Fifteenth
2.3/4′ Twelfth
4′ Flute
4′ Principal
8′ Trumpet
8′ Clarinet
8′ Stop Diapason Treble
8′ Stop Diapason Bass
8′ Dulciana
8′ Small Open Diapason
8′ Large Open Diapason
PEDAL:
16′ Open Diapason
(There was once a 32′ stop. However, it was never installed at the ‘old’ church and was in fact chopped up and fed into the boiler! (It was riddled with woodworm. Or, more probably, the caretaker at the time was fed up of a 32′ column of wood lying around and took the suggestion ‘must get rid of this sometime’ as an instruction!)
COUPLERS:
Swell to Great
Swell to Pedal
Great to Pedal
A MYSTERY SOLVED?
It has always been a mystery as to from where our church organ was acquired. We always knew our pipe organ was ‘second-hand and that it probably came from a small parish church’. And, the story was:
- The organ replaced an harmonium which in turn had replaced a fiddle for accompanying congregational singing. (The condition placed on the use of the fiddle, which was purchased for fifteen shillings, was that it could only be used for accompanying Sabbath worship!) It must be remembered that Independents and Presbyterians resisted instrumental accompaniment believing that the God given voice needed no (instrumental) aids to sing God given words; and,
- The story teller was adamant that the organ was delivered from the railway station to the Lord Street church on a wheelbarrow.
There is now a very strong suggestion that we obtained the organ from Rossall School. (The school is on the outskirts of the town.) Investigation of the filmed copies of the Fleetwood Chronicle held in the library records that in May 1863, the Revd Henry Lings announced, “An offer had been made to him to supply them an organ for £120 … The organ was at Rossall and was to be taken away in order to make room for a larger one.” The Chronicle for September 4th 1863 recorded, “A splendid new organ, by Willis and Co, the eminent firm who built the organ at St George’s Hall, Liverpool, has just been completed and erected in the handsome new chapel at Rossall.” The two reports do seem to reinforce the probable source of our instrument. Where else at Rossall, other than at the school, could there have been a redundant pipe organ? The May 1863 meeting was concerned over raising the £120. Mr Lings told the meeting that he had managed to negotiate a discount and the instrument could now be had for £70. It was also hoped that the harmonium the organ was replacing could be sold. It was expected to realise £20. Mystery solved? So it is thought unless you know different!
Does this suggest that Fleetwood has a famed ‘Willis’ organ rebuilt by Ainscough’s of Preston. More investigation is needed.
A GUIDE:It is difficult to make comparisons but £120 in today’s values is around £20,000; £70 = £6,000; and £20 = £1,700. You can understand why there were eyebrows raised and worries over raising the sums. Today there would be eyebrows and worrying.