The Organ in St. Barnabas Church,

Heaton

The organ in this church was built by Rushworth and Dreaper Ltd., of Liverpool and was completed on 26th March, 1966. George L. Baggaley, Esq., of York, dedicated it at Evensong on Palm Sunday, April 3rd and it opened in a Recital on April 27th, 1966. It is in fact the ninth organ (or rebuilt organ) to stand in the church during its lifetime of 101 years and the pedigree of the organ can be traced back to an instrument built new by Robert Hope-Jones in 1897. Prior to that date, various organs had been installed, including an earlier Hope-Jones electrification of an existing, much rebuilt organ and earlier still, in 1872, a two manual and pedal organ by Forster and Andrews, of Hull.

So far as can be ascertained, the specification of the 1897 Hope-Jones organ was as follows: -

Great Organ

1. Open Diapason 8

2. Tibia Plena 8

3. Dulciana 8

4. Octave 4

5. Tuba 8

Swell Organ

6. Tibia Clausa 8

7. Echo Gamba 8

8. Vox Angelica 8

9. Cornopean 8

10. Oboe 8

Choir Organ

11. Viol d’Orchestre 8
12. Lieblich Gadeckt 8
13. Dolce 8
14. Quintadena 8
15. Stopped Flute 4

16. Clarinet 8

Pedal Organ

17. Acoustic Bass 32
18. Open Diapason 16
19. Bourdon 16
20. Flute 8
21. Trombone 16

This instrument was enlarged and rebuilt in 1923 by Win. Hill and Son and Norman and Beard, Ltd., and in 1951 the same firm again rebuilt the organ, reducing it to two manual size. The latest rebuild by Rushworth and Dreaper Ltd., became necessary, as did most of the earlier rebuilds, because of serious heat damage caused partly by heating pipes running beneath the organ chamber floor, mainly by the existence of the boiler flue in the east wall of the organ chamber and, in more recent years, by the generally higher level of heat and very dry atmosphere in the church following the introduction of an oil-tired central heating system.

During the rebuild, the opportunity was taken thoroughly to lag the east wall of the organ chamber and the under floor pipes, and a humidifying plant has been installed by Watkins and Watson Ltd., to counteract any tendency to dry out in the continuing warn and dry atmospheric conditions. In addition, the layout of the organ has been completely replanned to give better air circulation and to bring more of the organ tone out into the main body of the church. The organ chamber, which previously housed all the organ except for the

Pedal pipes and Great tromba, now contains only the Swell organ and the bottom twelve notes of the Great Bourdon unit. The Great organ and Pedal organ have been brought out entirely into the nave case, which has been extended into the main body of the church a distance of some 18 inches to accommodate the revised layout.

The completely new, all electric draw-stop console has been placed on a new platform in the North Aisle, giving the organist a clear view of half of the Choir and enabling him to hear organ and Choir to the best advantage. (This he could not do when the console was in the chancel.) This removal also facilitates the placing of the Stall for the Assistant Curate in the Chancel and anticipates the possible future removal of the Choir into the eastern part of the nave.

The new specification has been planned on Classical lines by the organ sub-committee appointed by the Church Council, in discussion with the organ builders and with advice from Dr. Francis Jackson, Organ Consultant to the Bradford Diocesan Advisory Committee. The voicing, on low wind pressures, closely follows Dr. Jackson’s suggestions and the wishes of the Church Committee. Of the original Hope-Jones organ, the only stops now remaining are part of No.8 (now the Swell Salicional), No.9 (now the Great Trumpet), No.11 (now the Swell Echo Viol) and No.19 (now forming part of the Pedal Sub Bass unit). Of the remaining stops, some date from the 1923 rebuild, some from 1951 and some are new.

Specification at completion in March 1966

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