Paul Walton

The Bourdon would be something I would like to have on the Swell, except the bottom 12 pipes would have to be installed outside the Swell box as there would not be enough height unless they were mitred over. The Violin Diapason would have stopped basses from P1 to about P5. JA I have heard of an organ (Bath Abbey, I think) where the lowest pipes of the Swell Bourdon 16 are outside the box, but with the mouths fed into the back of the box so they are still under expression. Paul Walton

Could anyone point me in the direction of a reliable source / copy of this congregational / responsorial mass setting? Many thanks, Paul Walton Assistant Organist, Bristol Cathedral

Also Bristol Cathedral, where the Harris organ of 1685 had all the Choir stops borrowed from the Great. Paul Walton Assistant Organist, Bristol Cathedral

Somewhere in our files there is a proposed specification from Walkers, with annotations by Hubert Hunt (organist at the time), which indicate certain stops 'not to be revoiced'. I'll have a look for it when I've got more time, but I'm sure it includes the Great Small Open and Small Principal, and possibly the Swell Open and Principal as well. There is also an article that Hunt wrote for a local paper which mentions the old stops remaining as before, saying something like 'neither improved nor ruined according to your point of view'. There's no evidence that Walkers did what Willis did at Wells, so I assume the basic chorus ranks sound pretty much as they did pre-Walker (except for the removal of the tierce in the Great Mixture). However, contrary to some old specifications which have either the Swell or Great Clarion (they disagree) as being old pipework, when I did the pipework analysis that's on the website, Cawstons were adamant that all the reeds are entirely Walker. Paul Walton Assistant Organist, Bristol Cathedral