Pershore Abbey

[OmegaConsort]

Did anyone see this? The prog was quite good I thought and the Abbey looked lovely! The toaster-in-residence was spotted a few times, but of much more interest to me was what looked like a chamber organ lurking somewhere at the back in one of the transepts? It had blue-ish painted pipes - that was all I could tell.

There is nothing on the Abbey website about this and I couldn't see anything on NPOR. Can anyone enlighten?

Richard

[S_L]

Pershore Abbey is spectacular isn't it. The NPO register gives a large 3 manual Walker organ put in storage in 2002 during the considerable restoration and re-ordering of the East end of the Abbey. There is now, as Omega Consort mentioned a resident 'toaster' as the main instrument.

 

Survey date: 2009

Organ destroyed or broken up

 

2009 (Jan) - Pipes, some timber and Direct Electric chests removed to the premises of Jonathan Lane & Associates. Much material was scrapped because it was no longer worth storing after 13 years

 

As far as the other instrument at the back of the Abbey is concerned, I have a photograph of it and, if I knew how, I would download it onto here!!! It looks Victorian and all within a case with twenty three front pipes, a little wider than the keyboard which has a drop down (and locked the day of my visit) shutter which looks as if there is only room for a single manual. The are no pedals but a matching bench and footstool. The picture looks quite sad, the organ looks totally unused, is clearly in a very 'domestic' part of the Abbey with tea urn on a trolley on one side and metal tables stacked up against it on the other. I can't see a hand blower and there looks to be a power point close by on the wall so, I presume, the bellows are electrically powered.

 

Perhaps Jonathan Lane can shed some light on this instrument?

[Christopher Allsop]

I played it a year or so ago - I've a vague memory that it might be a Casson Positive.

[Jonathan Lane]

Pershore Abbey is spectacular isn't it. The NPO register gives a large 3 manual Walker organ put in storage in 2002 during the considerable restoration and re-ordering of the East end of the Abbey. There is now, as Omega Consort mentioned a resident 'toaster' as the main instrument.

 

Survey date: 2009

Organ destroyed or broken up

 

2009 (Jan) - Pipes, some timber and Direct Electric chests removed to the premises of Jonathan Lane & Associates. Much material was scrapped because it was no longer worth storing after 13 years

 

As far as the other instrument at the back of the Abbey is concerned, I have a photograph of it and, if I knew how, I would download it onto here!!! It looks Victorian and all within a case with twenty three front pipes, a little wider than the keyboard which has a drop down (and locked the day of my visit) shutter which looks as if there is only room for a single manual. The are no pedals but a matching bench and footstool. The picture looks quite sad, the organ looks totally unused, is clearly in a very 'domestic' part of the Abbey with tea urn on a trolley on one side and metal tables stacked up against it on the other. I can't see a hand blower and there looks to be a power point close by on the wall so, I presume, the bellows are electrically powered.

 

Perhaps Jonathan Lane can shed some light on this instrument?

 

I don't know much about the chamber organ at all, when we took the Nicholson away, it was stored in the parish centre opposite so we only went in the Abbey once or twice. The Nicholson is in store, although the pipes have suffered in being stored in stacked cardboard boxes and flat for 13 years. When the organ finds a new home, we will restore all the pipework, although it is about to be moved to a new storage location, so we may start work on that when there is slack time in the workshop (I wish!) Incidentally, I have a specification for a new organ for the Abbey, totally speculative, but using cases at triforium level at the east end.

 

Jonathan

[pcnd5584]

I don't know much about the chamber organ at all, when we took the Nicholson away, it was stored in the parish centre opposite so we only went in the Abbey once or twice. The Nicholson is in store, although the pipes have suffered in being stored in stacked cardboard boxes and flat for 13 years. When the organ finds a new home, we will restore all the pipework, although it is about to be moved to a new storage location, so we may start work on that when there is slack time in the workshop (I wish!) Incidentally, I have a specification for a new organ for the Abbey, totally speculative, but using cases at triforium level at the east end.

 

Jonathan

 

 

I am a little confused - which instrument is the Nicholson? The previous instrument (III/P: 50), was by JW Walker; as far as I know, Nicholsons never touched it.

 

However, I am interested to read of the speculative plans for a new organ. Is Jonathan Lane able to shed any light on whether in fact there is any likelihood of a decent pipe organ once again being provided for this church, please?

[Jonathan Lane]

I am a little confused - which instrument is the Nicholson? The previous instrument (III/P: 50), was by JW Walker; as far as I know, Nicholsons never touched it.

 

However, I am interested to read of the speculative plans for a new organ. Is Jonathan Lane able to shed any light on whether in fact there is any likelihood of a decent pipe organ once again being provided for this church, please?

 

In fact the Walker organ of 1940/1971 was only a rebuild of the 1872 Nicholson, see http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N12480 and http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N03721. The latter survey suggests 'Rebuilt incorporating material from the old Nicholson organ of 1872', however, a large amount of the pipework is believed to be Nicholson. The 1971 work is very obvious, partly because it is very recent. When we eventually restore, we will be able to establish how much is Nicholson, however, the evidence so far suggests between 50% and 75%.

 

Sadly, I suspect there may never be a new pipe organ at Pershore because the funds could never be justified. The organ I have designed would be in the c. £600K bracket, and with rising prices for metal and timber this is probably now out of date. However, one can dream!

 

Jonathan

[pcnd5584]

In fact the Walker organ of 1940/1971 was only a rebuild of the 1872 Nicholson, see http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N12480 and http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi...ec_index=N03721. The latter survey suggests 'Rebuilt incorporating material from the old Nicholson organ of 1872', however, a large amount of the pipework is believed to be Nicholson. The 1971 work is very obvious, partly because it is very recent. When we eventually restore, we will be able to establish how much is Nicholson, however, the evidence so far suggests between 50% and 75%.

 

Sadly, I suspect there may never be a new pipe organ at Pershore because the funds could never be justified. The organ I have designed would be in the c. £600K bracket, and with rising prices for metal and timber this is probably now out of date. However, one can dream!

 

Jonathan

 

Thank you for this information, Jonathan.

 

Was the pipe organ removed because it was totally beyond economic repair?

 

Rest by PM.

[andyorgan]

The organ had been removed from the church before 2000 when I first started regularly using the building for concerts. The toaster is passable (well it was for the Crucifixion!) and as a continuo instrument behind an orchestra.

 

There have been several plans doing the rounds during my time there. One was to mount a gallery at the back of the church for an organ, which came to nothing as it obscured some Victorian wall paintings. This might have been the plan that was the hybrid organ with Carol Curley on side and the then vicar and others doing trips to that place in Sweden that has one.

 

I understand that the original faculty for the eke tonic instrument was only granted for 10 years until a more satisfactory long term solution could be found. I wonder what happened to this?

 

For those who are not familiar with the building, it is a marvellous space, but is only the quire from the original abbey, which must have been on a vast scale and is one of my top ten Tardis destinations once we've stopped faffing around with space travel!