ORGANS IN & AROUND CHESTERFIELD

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, DRONFIELD

This fine fourteenth-century church sits in a commanding position above the valley through which run road, railway and river between Chesterfield and Sheffield. The church of St. John the Baptist dates from the 14th-century, and the large, airy chancel has an organ-loft on the north wall, above the long choirstalls.

In 1830 Alexander Buckingham visited the church and found an organ of one manual and four stops. It contained work by G. Parsons, and B. Sims (Birmingham); all the woodwork was American pine.

At the end of the 19th-century there was a small hand-blown organ in the church. The present instrument began life in 1909 and was built by Albert Keates (Sheffield).

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stopped Diapason 
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Flute
     2       Fifteenth
     8       Clarinet
 
SWELL
    16       Double Diapason
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stopped Diapason
     8       Viol de Gamba
     8       Voix Celeste
     4       Principal
    II       Mixture
     8       Cornopean
     8       Oboe
 
PEDAL
    16       Open Diapason             prepared for
    16       Bourdon
     8       Bass Flute   
 
Couplers: 3 unison; Swell 8ve & sub8ve.
Tubular-pneumatic action.

In 1931 Bower & Dunn (Sheffield) substituted an 8ft. Harmonic Horn for the Clarinet, added an Open Diapason Minor 8ft. to Great, and inserted the Pedal Open Diapason. An electric blower was fitted.

In 1971 the organ was rebuilt by Henry Groves & Son (Nottingham) who installed a new electric action. Further tonal alterations were made, and the stoplist was now:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason Major
     8       Open Diapason Minor
     8       Stopped Diapason 
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Flute
     2       Fifteenth
     8       Harmonic Horn
 
SWELL
    16       Double Diapason
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stopped Diapason
     8       Viol de Gamba     
     4       Principal
     4       Fugara                   old Voix Celeste
     2       Harmonic Piccolo
    III      Mixture                  
    16       Contra Fagotto           extension    
     8       Cornopean
     4       Clarion                  extension
 
PEDAL
    32       Acoustic Bass
    16       Open Diapason
    16       Bourdon
     8       Octave
     8       Bass Flute
     4       Super Octave
    16       Contra Fagotto           Swell
     8       Cornopean                Swell
     4       Clarion                  Swell   
 
Couplers: 3 unison; Swell 8ve; Swell 8ve to Great; Great 8ve (1971).

In 1990/1 the organ was rebuilt by the Johnson Organ Co. (Derby). The following stoplist was recorded at the console in 1991:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stopped Diapason 
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Flute
     2       Fifteenth
    II       Mixture 19.22            new
    16       Double Trumpet           new; extension
     8       Trumpet                  old, revoiced     
 
SWELL    
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Gedact                   (Keates 1909)
     8       Viol de Gamba     
     4       Principal
    2 2/3    Nazard                   former 2ft.
     2       Fifteenth                new
    II       Mixture  19.22           new
     8       Cornopean
     8       Oboe                     (Keates 1909)
 
PEDAL   
    16       Open Wood
    16       Bourdon
     8       Octave
     8       Bass Flute
    5 1/3    Quint                    new
     4       Super Octave             new
    16       Double Trumpet           Great
     8       Trumpet                  Great   
 
Couplers: 3 unison; Swell 8ve & sub8ve; Swell 8ve & sub8ve to Great; Great 8ve.
Thumb pistons:  3 Swell, 3 Great.
Balanced pedal to Swell.
Compass: 56/30

A leaflet by Ken Ellis Esq, organist of the church, states that:

The organ chamber has been cleared and the organ rebuilt 'from scratch'. Both Great and Swell soundboards have been resited to improve the projection of the sound into the body of the church. Much of the original pipework on the Swell has now been replaced on the main soundboard, where it was originally placed by Keates. In other words, the original Keates organ has been reinstated and enlarged by the addition of new pipework.

With all respect to Ken Ellis - to whom I am grateful for his historical notes about the Dronfield organ - I would suggest that no matter how good the work undertaken by Johnson in 1990/1, it cannot accurately be stated that a Keates organ has been reclaimed when such important registers as the 1909 Great Clarinet, Swell Double Diapason and Voix Celeste are missing, and in their place sit nazards and quints. The present organ is richer in bold ensemble effects than the Keates could ever have been; but the Swell flue double was an essential ingredient in those soft, rich combinations so popular at the time, while the Clarinet and Celeste gave the instrument a variety of romantic colour it currently lacks. However, it is good that the Oboe - another essential ingredient in the Edwardian organ sound - has been reinstated. The extended Great reed unit now provides an effective 16ft. pedal reed. With the exception of a rather strident Great Mixture and a rather sluggish key-action, the organ is now an effective, bold instrument.

St. John the Baptist, Dronfield:
The case and 1991 console

 

FREE METHODIST (WESLEYAN REFORM), DRONFIELD

This church opened in about 1860. The anonymous, undated organ is clothed in an unexpectedly handsome walnut veneer case; there are three towers and two flats, and the pipes are gilded dummies; the whole is mid-Victorian gothic.

The stoplist is as follows:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Clarabella             
     8       Dulciana
     4       Harmonic Flute
 
SWELL
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Gamba
     8       Lieblich Gedact     
     4       Principal
     8       Oboe             
 
PEDAL
    16       Bourdon
     8       Bass Flute     
 
3 unison couplers.
2 composition pedals.
Trigger pedal to Swell.
Tracker action to manuals, tubular-pneumatic to pedals.

The attached drawstop console suggests a date around the end of the 19th-century; there are flat jambs and drawstops like those on early instruments by Keates. The stoplist also suggests Keates work; could this be the organ from St. John the Baptist which was removed when the 1909 instrument was installed?

The church closed for worship several years ago, but the organ remains inside the building, and is in good condition.

(I am grateful to Michael Bland Esq. (Sheffield) for this information, provided in 1992.)

 

METHODIST, COAL ASTON

The church musick was a harmonium until 1960, when the church at Broadfield Road, Coal Aston, closed and its organ was brought here. It is an undated instrument (c.1914?) by Bower & Dunn (Sheffield).

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stop Diapason             
     8       Dulciana
     4       Harmonic Flute
 
SWELL
     8       Viol de Orchestre
     8       Voix Celestes
     8       Gedact     
     4       Viol d'Amour
     8       Oboe             
 
PEDAL
    16       Bourdon      
 
3 unison couplers.
1 composition pedal.
Compass: 58/30.

(I am grateful to the organist of the church for this information, provided in 1991.)

 

BAPTIST, DRONFIELD

A plaque on the organ tells us that it was "selected, sold and rebuilt" by W. Anderson, 19 Rupert Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield 5. In 1981 the Willis company estimated its date at 1890. The original builder is not known, nor the extent of Anderson's alterations (if any).

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stop Diapason        open from middle C            
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Wald Flute           1-12 stopped, rest open wood
    2 2/3    Twelfth
     2       Fifteenth
 
SWELL
     8       Stopped Diapason                      
     8       Gamba
     8       Voix Celestes
     4       Principal
     8       Cornopean                
 
PEDAL
    16       Bourdon      
 
3 unison couplers.
2 composition pedals to Great.
Trigger pedal to Swell.
Compass: 61/30 (radiating & flat).
Tracker action to manuals, pneumatic to pedals.

In 1952 an electric blower was installed, before which it had been hand-blown.

The organ stands at ground-floor level on a raised dais behind the pulpit.

(Information from the organist of the church, 1991, and the archives of Henry Willis & Son. Ltd.)

 

ECUMENICAL CHURCH, UNSTONE

Before the present church was built in 1920, services were held in St. Mary's School nearby, whence came the organ, believed to date from the 1890s. It was rebuilt by Bower & Dunn (Sheffield) in the early 1950s; pneumatic action was fitted, and the Swell gained a Gamba and a suboctave coupler. In a more recent rebuild (c.1985?) by the Johnson Organ Co. (Derby), the Swell Oboe was replaced by a Fifteenth, and the Pedal was given electric action.

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stopped Diapason
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal    
 
SWELL    
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Lieblich Gedact
     8       Gamba
     8       Voix Celestes
     4       Gemshorn    
     8       Fifteenth
             Tremulant
 
PEDAL   
    16       Bourdon
     8       Bass Flute
 
Couplers: 3 unison, Swell octave & suboctave.
2 composition pedals.
Balanced pedal to Swell.
Compass: 56/30.

The organ stands against the north wall of the chancel.

(I am grateful to the organist of the church for this information, given in 1991.)

PICTURE CREDITS
St. John the Baptist, Dronfield: Nigel Tilley, 1991

 

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