Rebuilt underaction for a Windsor parish church soundboard

It may have come as a surprise to many when the late Laurence Elvin’s third book about organ builders was published in 1984. Following a comprehensive history of Harrison & Harrison, and two more slender books about Forster & Andrews, his largest volume concerned Bishop & Son, at the time not a firm with which all organists were familiar, but one with an enormously rich history including several periods of glory.

Although there is a branch in Ipswich, Bishop & Son is the last major organ builder still to be based in London. Its work today is concerned mainly with restorations, there being such a small market for new organs. In addition, it regularly undertakes major sub-contract work for other firms. Currently, the firm is involved in as wide a range of projects as ever, small and large. They do not come any larger than the Willis / H&H / Mander organ in the Royal Albert Hall, where Bishop & Son won the maintenance contract on the retirement of Michael Broadway, who for many years had kept both the RAH and St Paul’s Cathedral organs in better tune than they have probably ever been.

 A restored internal action for Windsor parish church

Recently completed has been a thorough restoration of the large three-manual 1906 A Hunter & Son organ in Windsor parish church. Alfred Hunter was an early apprentice of J C Bishop, one of many fine organ builders trained by the firm over more than 100 years. Windsor was one of the many organs gifted by Andrew Carnegie, with 12 stops left ‘prepared-for’. Between 1921 and 1926 the Hunter firm added the missing ranks. In 1936 Rushworth & Dreaper renovated the tubular-pneumatic action, moved a few ranks around and carried out some revoicing to the chorus reeds, which gained harmonic trebles, in addition to enclosing the Choir Organ. The 2023 work by Bishop & Son has been extensive: the tubular-pneumatic action was converted to electro-pneumatic, with new electrical systems allowing for a more comprehensive provision of pistons. A transfer ‘Great Reeds on Choir’ (there are 16.8.4 Great reeds) was added and the whole organ cleaned and overhauled. The reed trebles were revoiced to bring them closer to a Hunter tonality. Daniel Spencer (principal of the firm) says:

'Originally a tubular pneumatic action, Rushworth & Dreaper made some alterations to those mechanisms in the 1930s which were well done but didn’t help the ageing process. That was further aggravated by the attempts of some well-meaning individual who took it upon themselves to put in a lot of poor quality plastic tubing sometime before we took on its maintenance in the 1970s. The DAC felt that to keep its pneumatic action in a well heated building would have been risky as well as more costly than the budget allowed. It was also felt that, owing to all the alterations to what was already a bulky, complex and inaccessible action, it wasn’t really original and not a good candidate for retention. We supported those views. Our conversion has kept all the original Hunter under-actions, so essentially it is all working as Hunter intended and only the link between the console and organ has changed. All the parts are kept in store there, so the original pneumatic primary movements could be put back on the under-actions too, should anyone in the future decide to do that.

The Hunter at Windsor is a beautiful organ and makes an exciting sound when played as a tutti. Sadly, it is in a church with an unhelpful acoustic but nonetheless it copes remarkably well, which is a testament to the concept and execution. It is also well provided-for with beautiful effects – some delicious flutes and two sets of lovely contrasting strings – on the Swell and Choir respectively. The original quality is exactly what we have come to expect of Alfred Hunter’s firm and I feel it could stand alongside the work of any of the larger builders.'

A heavy-pressure reed shallot and tongue once restored

Plymouth suffered particularly heavy bombardment during the Second World War. In 1941 the large organ in St Andrew’s Church (now the Minster) – Hele of Plymouth’s showpiece instrument – had just been reconstructed and enlarged to four manuals and 59 speaking stops, when, only a few days after the organ builders had left, it was totally destroyed. It took ten years after the war ended for St Andrew’s to be rebuilt and a new four-manual organ installed; this time it was by Rushworth & Dreaper of Liverpool, a firm which had come into its ‘finest period’ during the 1930s and was able to pick up the pieces rapidly after the war. The instrument is enormous – it now has 80 speaking stops including two 32fts, five 16ft reeds and all the famous R&D specialities (French Horn, Flûte Bouchée Harmonique etc), with superbly voiced reeds. In 1993 Deane Organ Builders (Taunton) modernised the console electrics and placed it on a wheeled platform, undertaking modest tonal changes to Choir and Great. Daniel Spencer writes:

'The Plymouth organ is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. Maurice Eglington, former managing director of Hele & Co (Plymouth), described it as ‘R&D at their zenith’. It’s a very Romantic organ but it does that as well as any instrument I have seen. Really well-built, with excellent voicing and the warmest sound one could ask for, it still has enough colour and excitement for clean part-playing. The reed voicing is masterful: the Solo high-pressure reeds are exceptional, as are the Great Trombas.

Our approach has been to conserve and restore its character; we felt so strongly that it was an important example of its type and done so well that it deserved that respect. While we have moved one or two things around, mainly to overcome some balance issues between the north and south organ cases, this has been done with the preservation of the organ in mind; great care has been taken so that, I hope, the organ doesn’t feel altered when played.'

Once the Plymouth project is complete, the firm will return to the work of Alfred Hunter’s company, whose masterpiece instrument is in St James’s, Spanish Place (London). Dating from 1922, this organ was built with three manuals and 48 speaking stops, fitted with tubular-pneumatic action, situated in the spacious triforium on the south side of the church towards the east end. In the excellent acoustics of St James’s it has always sounded wonderful, its 32ft Sub Bass being generally considered the most effective stoppered 32ft to be heard anywhere. In 1982 Bishop & Son converted the actions to electro-pneumatic, moved the console one bay closer to the south transept (to be nearer the church choir), added a second (quint) mixture to the Great and a bright Trompette 8ft/4ft rank to the Choir. The organ is more than 100 years old and, last cleaned 43 years ago, it is overdue for cleaning and some releathering.

Bishop & Son is particularly fond of this organ, as is evidenced in these words by Daniel Spencer:

'The Spanish Place organ, built in the latter days of the Hunter firm, is generally considered to be their magnum opus. We have been associated with most of their big jobs over the years and this one is a shining light. Good quality is synonymous with the Hunter name and this one really stands out. While it still serves well, the church wants to give it a thorough going-over now before it starts to show its age: a refreshingly novel approach in these times.

Really, it’s the specification one would expect to find in a four-manual organ, condensed into three. There is nothing on it which isn’t excellent, and the tonal resources allow you to do anything with it. There have been a couple of additions by us over the years, but these have just been to complement what was already good, rather than to make up for anything lacking. The most notable are the set of Trompettes which were added to give a splash of colour to the full organ, the Hunter reeds being very 1920s. These were additions rather than substitutions because there really isn’t a single stop which wouldn’t be missed. We also added a quint mixture a number of years ago. This was on account of all the mixtures containing a 17th rank, which, while excellent, is very audible. The quint mixture, being fairly restrained, allows a bit more scope to play with colours and create a ‘clean’ chorus. There was one further change in 1982: the addition of an extended 4ft flute on the Pedal, as was fashionable then.'

How welcome it is that Bishop & Son has survived since 1895. We have lost so many of the ‘famous’ firms over the past three decades. Let us rejoice that this one, at least, is clearly thriving.

Paul Hale has written extensively about organs while also working as a cathedral organist, teacher and organ consultant

This feature originally appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of Choir & Organ – Subscribe today