The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded a grant of £50,000 to allow the restoration of the historic pipe organ at St Frideswide’s church, Oxford. Click more to read on.

The parish church of St Frideswide in West Oxford – famously seen surrounded by water on national television news during last year’s flooding – houses a Victorian pipe organ of considerable significance to the nation’s musical heritage. Very unusually for an instrument of its age, the organ has not been significantly altered during its entire 130-year history, and so preserves its original design and character. Over the years, however, the organ has deteriorated badly. The instrument was in danger of becoming completely unusable, but the cost of a complete restoration was beyond the means of the parish church council. The award of £50,000 will allow the restoration work to go ahead, and will ensure that this historic organ is preserved for future generations.

The organ will be dismantled later this year, the components repaired and restored by skilled craftspeople, and the instrument re-assembled. Alongside the restoration project, St Frideswide’s church will produce a booklet detailing the history of the organ. Local schools will be invited to visit the church to learn about historic pipe organs and the importance of heritage and conservation. When the restoration work is complete, there will be a series of organ recitals allowing the entire local community to hear the fully-restored organ at its best. The newly-restored organ will also be available to members of the local community for practice and tuition, and Sunday mornings will hear and enjoy the organ once again, fulfilling the original designer’s intention.

The St Frideswide’s organ was originally designed and built by Alfred Hunter, the finest craftsman of the Hunter family. Peter Collins has been selected as the organ builder who will carry out the restoration: he is very experienced in restoration work, and was the parish’s first choice to perform the work.

Commenting on the award, parish priest Father Russell Dewhurst said, “This pipe organ is a fantastic gift to the community from the nineteenth-century residents of West Oxford. It was in danger of being lost, but thanks to the generosity of the Heritage Lottery Fund and other donors, we now know that we will be able to hand it on to future generations in excellent condition.”

Posted on April 27th, 2008 by Russell Dewhurst
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