This fine Georgian church stands beside the River Thames near London. The new Harrison organ occupies an unusual position, facing west along the south gallery. The opening in the east wall is quite narrow, so we have adopted a vertical layout, with the Swell near the floor and the Great above it. The Pedal Organ stands behind, and solid back casework helps to project the sound forward over the Great. The console is detached, in order to leave a clear space in front of the organ; unusually for a Harrison console, it has terraced drawstops so as to reduce the height.
The organ case, installed in 1966, was based on the 1756 Snetzler case in Sculthorpe Parish Church, Norfolk. This scaled-up version, with its heavy 8ft front pipes, suffered from weaknesses of proportion and detail, but the concept was right. We have remade it, with major alterations to the pipe fields and panelling. The new front pipes are of tin and the carvings are by Derek Riley.
For all its sumptuous eighteenth-century appearance, this is a thoroughly modern organ. It has a substantial job to do, especially in accompanying large congregations. We aimed for rich, balanced choruses on Swell and Great, with plenty of colour and energy to fill the church. The key actions are tracker, and the console actions electric; the wind system uses double-rise reservoirs.
The organ was designed by Alan Howarth and voiced by Peter Hopps. The
consultant was John Norman; Adrian Mumford is the organist of the church.
