St Helen's Northwich gifted rare grade I-listed organ

The cost of refurbishing and installing the instrument at St Helen's Northwich will be around £118,000, but as a new one would cost up to £750,000, vicar Reverend Andrew Ridley says his congregation are 'overjoyed'.

The team at St Helen's has been on the lookout for a new organ for worship and concerts for some time. 

Their old Charles Smethurst instrument, installed in 1962 on a tight budget, is now ‘beyond repair’, despite best efforts, and has always been ‘disappointing’ according to Rev Ridley. 

The new organ will be installed inside St Helen's original case, so it won't change the interior of the building (Image: Ken Moth)

The new organ is by renowned maker John Compton, who built the famous instrument still played in the Odeon Cinema, Leicester Square.

Its previous home was Antiochian Orthodox church in Poole, Dorset, but as it hasn’t been used for 20 years, the congregation were happy to give it to St Helen's for free.

Rev Ridley said: “We've been on the lookout for a new organ a while. We were overjoyed when this one turned up. It's really first-rate. 

“We’re the only grade I-listed building in Northwich, and we’ll soon have a grade I-listed organ. That's not happened here before. 

“It hasn’t cost us anything at all, but it will cost to dismantle it and clean it up. It’s covered in about 20 years of dust.

“Our current organ has never been brilliant. It was installed on a tight budget back in the 1960s, and Mr Smethurst, who made it, had to take bits and pieces from all over the place.

“After 50 years, it’s clapped out. Certain bits still work, but it’s very limited.

“When you’re an organist, you want to ‘pull out all the stops’ on occasion, but at the moment we can’t.

“Music is very important to our congregation. We enjoy singing hymns, and we’re used to our organist playing music from Bach, right up to the present day.

"It can be a full sensory experience, not just noise. An organ can make a whole building shake.”

The church had set aside £87,000 to replace its old organ, but they still have to find another £31,000.

Rev Ridley says his team are hopeful they’ll be able to raise the extra money in time, and are accepting donations, either in person at the church or via their JustGiving page.

“We’ve applied to some charitable trusts and we’ve already received a substantial grant of nearly £5,000”, he added.

“In time, we hope to hold recitals, so people who love organ music won’t have to go to places like Chester Cathedral.

“It could really help put to Northwich on the musical map.”