ORGANS IN & AROUND CHESTERFIELD

UNITARIAN, ELDER YARD

 

Built in 1694, this was the first non-conformist chapel in Chesterfield. It was originally used by groups of Presbyterians and Independents. The cottage-like exterior visible from Elder Way gives little indication of the graceful and handsome interior.

Singing was led by a bass viol until an organ was installed in 1821 at a cost of £115, the gift of Isaac Wilkinson of Tapton House. It was placed on a gallery, and later moved to the front of the church where it stood at floor level. The first organist, John Dutton, received an annual salary of £20 but left his post after eleven years "owing chiefly to the unfortunate irritability and unaccountable disposition of the said Organist".

The instrument received attention from Wadsworth (Manchester) in 1862; in 1896 it was enlarged, moved to a new chamber on the left of the sanctuary area and given a new case. In 1920 it was overhauled, and in 1952 it was renovated by Jardine (Manchester). In 1991 Wood (Huddersfield) carried out further work, replacing the Fifteenth and Oboe with similar ranks of better tonal quality. The stoplist is now as follows:

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Small Open Diapason
     8       Clarabella                1-20 stopped
     8       Dulciana
     4       Principal
     4       Harmonic Flute   
     2       Fifteenth
 
SWELL
     8       Violin Diapason
     8       Gedact
     8       Viol di Gamba             grooved
     8       Voix Celestes             tc
     4       Principal    
     8       Oboe
             Tremulant
 
PEDAL
    16       Bourdon
     8       Bass Flute
 
Couplers: 3 unison.
3 composition pedals.
Balanced pedal to Swell.
Compass: 54/30.
Tracker action.

 

 

The dates of the various registers are not known, but it is likely that at least some 1821 work survives. The instrument is pleasant if unremarkable, but the Italianate case is a particularly happy surprise in a town of utilitarian pipe-racks.

(The above history of the instrument has been drawn from publications in the reference section of Chesterfield Library. In 'Historic Organs in Derbyshire' (Cromford, 1998) Rodney Tomkins states that a two-manual organ was supplied by Edwin Lowe (Sheffield) in 1871, and that the case dates from 1896.)

 

THE RAGGED SCHOOL, MARKHAM ROAD

The Ragged School Union was founded in 1844 by Lord Shaftesbury, with the aim of establishing "schools expressly for (the) destitute and depraved class, in the very localities, courts, and alleys where they abound." The more ambitious Schools developed into general educational and welfare institutions.

In the 1870s the Chesterfield Ragged School was housed in a building which had previously been used as a mill and a public house. As well as schoolrooms there was a non-denominational chapel; the latter is still in use today.

An organ was built at an unknown date by Porritt (Leicester), rebuilt by J. Housley Adkins (Derby) around the 1920s/30s, and overhauled by J.W. Walker in 1959.

GREAT
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Stop Diapason
     8       Dulciana               1-12 grooved
     4       Principal
     4       Harmonic Flute
     2       Fifteenth
 
SWELL
     8       Open Diapason
     8       Gedact
     8       Viol di Gamba          grooved
     8       Vox Celeste            tc
     8       Oboe
 
PEDAL
    16       Bourdon
 
3 unison couplers (Great to Pedal duplicated on each jamb).
2 composition pedals to Great.
Trigger pedal to Swell.
Compass: 58/30.
Tracker action to manuals, charge-pneumatic to pedals.

 

 

The organ stands at the front left of the room; the display pipes have silvered bodies and gilded mouths. The console is attached, with the drawstops on flat jambs; the Great to Pedal coupler is duplicated on each side.

On my visit in 1992 I found the instrument in good playing order. The stopped flutes are attractively woody, the Gedact nearly as beaky in tone as the Oboe. The Swell Open is a gentle, attractively breathy sound in contrast to the cleaner Great Open. This is a musically competent little instrument.

PICTURE CREDITS
Unitarian Chapel exterior: engraving, c.1825
Unitarian Chapel organ: Nigel Tilley, 1991
Ragged School organ: Julian Rhodes, 1992

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