The Oxford organ asleep in a Dartmoor barn

A large white van arose suspicion recently when it drove through the grand arch of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford and straight across the hallowed velvet grass. A man got out, strode inside, and started dismantling the organ in the chancel, only to be interrogated by an official with a clipboard who demanded to know what he was doing. “I’m stealing the organ,” replied the man with a van. “Don’t tell anyone. If you keep quiet, I can give you a pipe!”

Thus begins the next chapter of the heartening tale of the new organ for St Pancras Church in Widecombe-in-the-Moor. A fund-raising campaign is steaming ahead to finance the installation of the instrument from Oxford, a 1910 two-manual Nelson organ. Musician Michael Brown, who helms the campaign, says: “We want an organ which allows us to play a larger repertoire, and is big enough to lead the congregation in services. The current organ is limited. It was moved from nearby Leusdon Church in 1870, but has only eight stops, little variety, and just one manual. We are very excited about the Nelson organ.”

The white van containing the dismantled organ edged its way through the narrow lanes of Dartmoor, finally arriving in Widecombe on Saturday 27th April. A team of volunteers helped unload it, and it now rests peacefully in a local barn awaiting its new future.

It’s a terrific project, stemming the tide of nationwide organ destruction. Sadly, every single week, an estimated four pipe organs are sent to landfill. Many others simply moulder away unused and unloved. And yet these traditional pipe organs hold a fundamental place in our musical and cultural history. Their sound is distinctive and irreplaceable, their parade of pipes conjuring sounds ranging from delicate flute effects to boisterous bass notes. Furthermore, the high level of expertise involved in building an organ necessitates the use of traditional craftsmanship techniques passed down through generations. Such treasures are worth fighting for.

The origins of the pipe organ date back to the 3rd century BC with the water organs of Ancient Greece. The wind for these obsolete instruments was ingeniously created by the weight of displaced water in an airtight container! By the 6th or 7th century AD, huge bellows supplied the wind for the organs of Byzantium. In the year 757, the Byzantine emperor Constantine V sent a pipe organ with ‘great leaden pipes’ as a gift to the King of the Franks, thus  sparking the organ's supremacy in European church music. The first English organ for which a detailed record exists dates from the 10th century. This humungous instrument was built in Winchester Cathedral; it had four hundred pipes, needed two men to play it, and seventy men were required to blow it! Its thunderous sound could be heard throughout the city.

The organ for St Pancras in Widecombe will not quite match the legendary organ of Winchester, but it will most certainly be an instrument worthy of the size and importance of the parish church known as the ‘Cathedral of the Moor’. Michael Brown is keeping his fingers crossed for the relevant permissions: “We are still waiting on approval for our faculty application to the Diocese of Exeter, so it's not, I guess, officially a totally done deal.”

All being well, this venerable old instrument will provide a link to the past, and inspire increased music-making in Widecombe’s future, both secular and religious, reminding us of the enduring power and beauty of acoustic instruments in a technological age. No digital gizmo can ever replicate the richness and sonority of a pipe organ. These traditional hand-crafted instruments are truly part of the ‘intangible heritage’ of Britain.