Belchamp Walter, St. Mary's Organ
The organ in St. Mary the Virgin, Belchamp Walter was first played on the 2nd July 1868.
The organ is possibly a Henry Jones & of South Kensington model of around 1865. There is a similar organ in
Borley Church, a nearby village.
The organ pipes are prettily painted.
Top
The keyboard
From the information sheet in the Church:
The Organ manufactured by Henry Jones (formally of Fulham), was installed in
or about 1867 it is an excellent example of a small instrument, much in the tradition of
the English Chamber Organs of the 18th Century.
An electric blower was fitted in 1957 from a bequest from former organist Mrs E.R. Bouffler, and a major
restoration was
carried out in 1967 when the swell shutters were removed and the range of pedals increased from
1 ½ to 2 ½ octaves.
The Stop list is:
Open Diapason (from Tenor C)
Stopped Diapason,Principal Twelfth, Fifteenth
Unfortunately there is no room in the case for any pedal stops; this deficiency being particularly
supplied by the bottom
octave of 16 foot pipes on the Manual. The tone is transparent and bright, eminently suitable for early
organ music as
well as for accompanying congregational singing.
Suffolk and Essex Free Press. - June 1868
A NEW ORGAN WILL BX OPENED In the Church of this parish THURSDAY - , THE 2nd JULY NEXT, When Special
Choral Services will be held.
In the Afternoon will be preached THE LORD BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE IN AID or THE ORGAN FUND. SUFFOLK ...
Henry Jones
The organ is definitely a Henry Jones & Sons model. Examples of these have been found in other
Churches in the area.
A history of the Henry Jones organ company on the All Saints Church South Wimbledon website.
"
There were 306 organs in his catalogue for 1881 – 106 in London, 184 in the provinces and 17 abroad.
Much of the business
was taken over by his son in the 1880’s, but he continued to work on individual instruments. In 1885 he built a tracker organ
for the ‘Inventions Exhibition’ in Kensington and in 1886 was invited to build an organ in his home town of Folkestone for
the National Art Treasures Exhibition which proved to be one of his finest. The last organ that he personally worked on was at
the Benchers Chapel, GraysInn in 1894 (destroyed in the Blitz).
"
The organ in St. Mary's was installed in 1867, at a similar time to the demolition of the West Gallery. This was soon after
the "renovations"of 1859. The gallery had a "a fine-toned organ" according to Thomas Wright in 1831/36.
There is also an example of a Henry Jones pipe organ in the concourse of London Bridge station.
