The organ at St Mary’s is a beautiful 3-manual JC Bishop/Bishop & Sons, dating originally from 1831, when it was a gift from King William IV; the 21-year old S. S. Wesley was briefly our first organist. Its tonal picture is largely as it was when expanded in the late 1890s/early 1900s. With 32 speaking stops, it provides great versatility to support our worship of God Sunday by Sunday as well as being a beautiful instrument for playing right across the organ repertoire.
In 2017, we undertook major repairs, principally to all the leather work, some of which was 120 years old including the main wind reservoir or ‘bellows’ and the pneumatic stop motors.
This video tells the story of the latest repairs and thanks all those who gave so generously to enable us to continue to use this instrument in God’s praises.
The full specification can be viewed below.