ORGANS IN & AROUND CHESTERFIELD

ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS, BRIMINGTON

 

Brimington lies three miles to the north-east of Chesterfield, on the Staveley road, and was mentioned in the Domesday book. The church of St. Michael and All Angels is a 19th-century gothic building; the tower is the oldest part, dating from the previous church of 1796.

In 1889 Forster & Andrews (Hull) built an organ for St. Ambrose, Westbourne, Bournemouth. In 1922 it was moved to Brimington and rebuilt there by Brindley & Co. (Sheffield). When Henry Willis & Sons Ltd. inspected it in 1938 the stoplist was as follows:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stopped Diapason            wood
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Wald Flute   
     2       Fifteenth
     8       Clarinet tc
 
SWELL
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Hohl Flöte
     8       Salicional
     8       Voix Celestes               tc
     4       Salicet
     2       Piccolo
     8       Cornopean    
     8       Oboe
             Tremulant
 
PEDAL
    16       Contra Bass
    16       Bourdon
     8       Bass Flute
 
Couplers: 3 unison; Swell 8ve & sub8ve.
Composition pedals:  2 Swell, 2 Great.
Lever pedal to Swell.
Tubular-pneumatic action.

By 1960 the church members had decided that they were in need of the floor-space occupied by the organ. They informed Willis of their intention to sell the organ and purchase a small chamber instrument; Willis advised them that their present instrument was worth keeping and that a smaller one would not be adequate for their needs.

The Forster & Andrews/Brindley organ was sold, and an instrument by William Allen replaced it. This little organ dates from 1797; Allen was a prominent maker in his day, and built organs at Lincoln and Peterborough Cathedrals. When I visited the church in 1981 I found the following stoplist:

     8       Open Diapason                middle C
     8       Stopped Diapason bass
     8       Stopped Diapason treble      middle C
     8       Dulciana                     tenor E
     4       Principal
     2       Fifteenth

The organ had a compass of BB to f3, 55 notes, and on the occasion of my visit stood on the south side at the east end of the nave. It was an attractive instrument, both tonally and also visually, with its 'gothick' case.

By 1981 the church members belatedly realised that Willis's advice had been correct. Though musically charming, the Allen chamber organ was inadequate for its role in the parish church; it was therefore sold to Framlingham Church, Suffolk, where it is used as a continuo/chancel organ. A redundant organ by C. Lloyd & Co. (Nottingham) from the United Reformed Church (formerly Congregational), Basford, Nottingham was rebuilt at Brimington by Henry Groves & Son (Nottingham) in the same year. This organ stands on the north side of the chancel with an attached drawstop console, and has the following stoplist:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Clarabella
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal     
 
SWELL
    16       Lieblich Bourdon          prepared for
     8       Violin Diapason
     8       Salicional
     4       Harmonic Flute
     8       Cornopean   
     8       Oboe
             Tremulant
 
PEDAL
    16       Sub Bass
    16       Bourdon
     8       Bass Flute
 
Couplers: 3 unison; Swell 8ve.
Compass: 58/30.
Tubular-pneumatic action; mechanical to drawstops.

 

BETHEL PRIMITIVE METHODIST, BRIMINGTON

 

 

Situated in Ringwood Road and demolished in the 1960s, this chapel contained an organ by Bower & Dunn (Sheffield) installed in 1920.
Here is the stoplist, taken from files formerly in the Organ Club Library, London:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Hohl Flöte
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Harmonic Flute  
 
SWELL
    16       Lieblich Bourdon
     8       Violin Diapason
     8       Gedact
     8       Viol di Gamba
     8       Voix Celestes
     4       Gemshorn
     8       Cornopean   
     8       Oboe
             Tremulant
 
PEDAL
    16       Bourdon
    16       Echo Bourdon
     8       Bass Flute
 
Couplers: 3 unison; Swell 8ve.
Composition pedals: 2 to Great, 2 to Swell.
Tubular-pneumatic action.

 

CONGREGATIONAL, BRIMINGTON

An organ was erected here by Bower & Dunn (Sheffield) in 1914. It was recently (1994) visited by a friend, who described it as a powerful little instrument. Here is the stoplist, taken from files formerly in the Organ Club Library, London:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stopped Diapason
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Harmonic Flute  
 
SWELL    
     8       Violin Diapason
     8       Gedact
     8       Viol d'Orchestre
     8       Voix Celestes
     4       Gemshorn
     8       Cornopean   
             Tremulant
 
PEDAL
    16       Bourdon   
     8       Bass Flute
 
Couplers: 3 unison.
Composition pedals: 2 to Great, 2 to Swell.
Tubular-pneumatic action.

PICTURE CREDITS
St. Michael, Brimington: photograph c.1945
Ringwood Road: postcard c.1910

 

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