The old organ
The old organ from the gallery
The old organ partly dismantled
The components of the old organ will be used by an organ builder for spares/repair
After removal of old organ and centre part of gallery, we are now ready for the new instrument...
The new organ arrives! The container lorry is far too large for Church Lane, but The Dyasrt Arms kindly allowed use of their car park for unloading.
Everything must be transferred into the white van....
...which just fits into the lane!
After several hours of unloading, the Church.....
...is now full!
Boxes of organ pipes are stored in the gallery
After only a couple of days, progress seems rapid
..and soon the organ case is complete.
Inside the organ, an electric blower provides pressurised wind......
...which is stored in these reservoirs.
Mechanical linkages connect the keyboards to the organ
.....and allow the player to operate valves.....
.... which let wind into the pipes.
An enormous amount of work goes into the internal mechanism of the organ - every component was made by hand in Switzerland, and must now be installed in the organ
The Rossignol aka Nightingale. This is an rare feature in Church organs, but its raison d’être is a local connection. William Wordsworth described nightingales on Richmond Hill in his sonnet “June 1820”. Whether or not nightingales can still be heard in the area is a moot point; at least they can now be heard within St Peter’s Church!
The organ case now has all the wooden pipes installed, and the internal mechanism is now complete. Guillaume, Gérald and Cédric may now return to Switzerland while Kevin takes charge of painting the organ case.
The organ is masked to allow the case to be painted to match the historic interior of St Peter's
After the painting, the organ construction can now resume. The front pipes, of polished tin, are next installed
Pipe shades have been designed by local artist Suszie Vignoles, and carved from Lime wood by Keith German of Norfolk. The outer shades include oak leaves and acorns inspired by Richmond Park....
..while the inner ones feature fish in the river Thames.
After careful treating with Danish oil by Stuart Turnbull, the pipe shades are installed into the case
Now the painstaking work of "voicing" can begin - there are around 1000 pipes inside the organ, each of which must be regulated to give the right tone and pitch for our building
Many tools are needed....
...and the south west gallery becomes a workshop for Alain and Jacques-André.
Jacques-André adjusts a pipe inside the organ.
Pipes are installed onto soundboards like this.
Gradually the pipes are installed, adjusted and tuned......
....until finally, everything is complete!
Organbuilders Alain and Jacques-André can relax now - they will get home for Christmas!
View from North Gallery
View from beneath North Gallery
View from West Gallery - the pews removed from below have found a new life up here.
Outer pipe shades
Inner pipe shades
Right half of case
Console
View in South Transept
