Broseley Organ
The organ at All Saints Church, Broseley, was built by J W Walker & Sons of London, a highly reputable builder. It is a two manual and pedal organ with 23 stops. It has mechanical action throughout with drawstops. The firm that built our organ is still in existence, although it relocated to Wiltshire in the 1970s.
The organ was installed in its current position in 1845, the year the church was consecrated. In 1890 the gallery became too small and the organ was moved adjacent to the chancel in the North Aisle and new choir stalls were added.
In 1979 the organ was again moved and rebuilt (badly) in the West Gallery. It was rededicated on Sunday 29th September 1985 by the Dean of Hereford.
The majority of the pipework is from the original organ of 1845 and it also has a rather fine case of the same date. However it is now in a poor state of repair and needs refurbishing to bring it back to its former glory.
For a fascinating in-depth history of the organ, see the report from Paul Hales, Organ Consultant, which was commissioned as part of the exploratory stages of the project.
As a result of the Bells project the organ will have to be moved to allow the bells to be taken out for tuning, and it has been proposed that instead of removing and replacing the organ "as is", it could be moved, fully restored, and rebuilt once more in the North aisle of the church. This would then leave the Organ loft free for the Broseley Heritage Centre project to use.
We have now had a number of quotes, and subject to successful fundraising, we will be engaging J W Walkers & Sons, Organ Builders, the company who originally built the organ, to restore the organ to its form in 1890, after the move to the North Aisle.. The cost will be in the order of £180,000-£200,000, and whilst there are numerous organisations who can be approached for funding, we still have a fundraising challenge.
To help support this project you can donate by electronic transfer to the Broseley Group of Churches, Sort Code 39-91-19, Account No. 00531928, including "Broseley organ" in the reference, or on our Give-a-Little page: https://givealittle.co/campaigns/358826a6-6395-4079-a0b8-124124d511a6