The Hill Organ

The organ was built by William Hill and Sons in 1889, with the choir organ completing the scheme in 1892, and has remained unaltered. The action to the manuals and stops is mechanical with the Great assisted by Barker pneumatic levers, the action to the pedals is tubular pneumatic. The organ is free standing in a chamber on the south side of the choir, in a case designed by the Cutts brothers, architects of the church, and with decoration possibly by the school of William Morris. Tuner's visits ceased in 1984 because of the danger of cone tuning pipes which had not been cleaned since 1925. The organ received grade one listing in 2004.

St. Mary's is truly fortunate to possess an organ by Hill, who is generally regarded as one of the two great English organ builders of the 19th century. His organs successfully mix some of the bright clear sound of the English 18th Century organ and earlier continental instruments, with romantic elements, making them a favoured template for modern organ builders. St. Mary's organ is a particularly good example of the work of Hill; despite its small size, it has a very complete stop list, and the individual voices are very beautiful. A large part of the organ's significance lies in the fact that it has not been altered.

We now have the opportunity to enrich worship, stage a wider variety of events in church, and uncover the beauty with which the church was endowed by its founders. From the outset our organ was designed as an instrument par-excellence for accompanying singing. The restored pipe organ will encourage the congregation in its singing, and allow us to adapt our music to the changing needs of congregation and liturgy. The Hill organ, with its many beautiful colours, would allow the organist to conjure all the rich imagery of the hymns to enthuse the congregation. A restoration of the organ would include expert attention to the case with burnished front pipes, gold leaf and revivification of the wonderful floral decoration, reputedly by William Morris.

A working pipe organ facilitates musical activities both liturgical and non-liturgical, which can be an important part of the outreach of the church, and of the life of the community. For example, when we look to attract people to join us we organise a "Songs of Praise" service. We can also enrich the life of the community by organising musical performances; and these events, set in a Christian context, would draw people into the church. Successful events could even pay for the future upkeep of the instrument. In addition the restored organ would allow us to increase the range of liturgical music making at special services with instrumentalists and singers. A renowned instrument, which this pipe organ is already becoming, would attract organists of a high calibre to become resident at the St. Mary's, and make it less likely for the church to be without a permanent organist for any sustained period.

Although we hope to fund a large part of the work from grants, it is probable that private donors and the church will have to give substantial sums towards the restoration of its organ. We feel that this is a good and necessary aim for our church. The Hill organ is historically important to St. Mary's as part of the original furniture and sound world of the church, as well as in a wider musical context. However the organ is not a period piece, it is the instrument best suited to support and develop the musical life of our parish, and an important musical resource for London.

Jonathan Dodds