The drawstops are mounted on flat jambs which slope backwards from bottom to top. There is an 8ft. piperack above the console, and the bulk of the organ is built into the vestry to the north of the chancel, resulting in a rather buried sound. There is more sweetness and dignity than vitality here.ORGANS IN & AROUND CHESTERFIELD
ST. LAWRENCE, NORTH WINGFIELD The tall, soot-black tower of North Wingfield Church is a familiar landmark to travellers on the Midland Railway between Derby and Chesterfield. The church of St. Lawrence contains Norman work with Perpendicular and Victorian additions; a harmonious ensemble.The organ was installed by C. Lloyd & Co. (Nottingham) in 1892. In 1959 it was inspected by Henry Willis & Sons Ltd., who recommended a plethora of tonal alterations, including a new reed chorus on Swell and new Pedal upperwork; the church was informed that "the instrument would gain very greatly by completely revoicing throughout on Willis lines". In the event just one stop was added (an 8ft. Pedal flute) in 1960; the trigger pedal was replaced by a balanced mechanism, the Pedal action was converted to pneumatic and the organ was cleaned.
The organ was overhauled once more in the early 1980s by Midland Organ Builders (Derby); here is the stoplist as I found it in 1985:
GREAT 8 Open Diapason 8 Lieblich Gedact metal 8 German Flute open wood from middle c 8 Dulciana 4 Principal 4 Flauto Traverso 1-12 wood, rest harmonic metal 2 Harmonic Piccolo 8 Clarionet tc SWELL 16 Lieblich Bourdon 1-12 unenclosed 8 Open Diapason 8 Stop'd Diapason wood 8 Keraulophon 8 Voix Celeste 4 Gemshorn 2 Fifteenth II Mixture 19.22 8 Horn 8 Oboe PEDAL 16 Open Diapason 16 Sub Bass 8 Stopped Flute Tremulant (affecting the whole organ). Couplers: 3 unison; Swell 8ve & sub8ve. Composition pedals. Compass: 56/30. Mechanical action to manuals and stops, pneumatic to pedal.
As a student at music college in the mid-1980s, I returned during vacations to practise on
this organ. The slow, meandering bus passed through a string of small mining communities: the
familiar silhouette of the pit-wheel and the dark heaps of slag from the underground workings.
Buildings were stained grey; the surrounding fields seemed to lie under a pall. It was all
rather atmospheric in its way. The louring, grim church tower, the misty soot-smudged fields
and the faint tang of industrial smoke in the air seemed to match the plaintive Hindemith
Sonatas I was learning.
The instrument was restored by Henry Willis & Sons Ltd. in 1956; the stoplist is recorded in the Willis archive as follows:
Flute bass
Flute treble
Dulciana bass
Dulciana treble
Open Diapason bass
Open Diapason treble
Bourdon 16ft.
It was replaced by an electronic in 1974; the organ went to Repton School, and was sold once
more about 1982. Its current location is unknown.