Renovation of historic organ at Barnet parish church will preserve the “beating heart of our town”

Restoring the 140-year-old organ at Barnet parish church is proving a massive task — well over 2,000 organ pipes are having to be individually cleaned and if necessary repaired before they can all be re-assembled.

Organ builder Jonathan Wallace (above, right) with his son Daniel, a trainee organ builder, hopes to have the organ rebuilt ready for playing again by the autumn.

Mr Wallace is no stranger to the task of restoring church organs in and around High Barnet – in 1991 he helped with the organ restoration at Monken Hadley church in 1991 and then at St Peter’s Arkley in 1993.

Restoration of the organ at the parish is likely to cost £165,000, half of which has been met by an £83,000 grant from Barnet Council from its community infra structure levy on new development.

An appeal has been launched for the other half and donations can be made via the parish church website, www.barnetparishchurch.org.uk

Parish administrator Tony Long — seen above at the doorway to the organ loft – said that such is the shortage of specialist church organ restorers that it had been some months before repairers Henry Groves & Son Ltd had been able to take on the work.

Installed in 1884 by the famous 19^th century organ builders William Hill and Son, the organ has not been refurbished for nearly 40 years and numerous pieces need replacing including pipes, resonators, buttons and pistons.

Refurbishment will include replacing the perishable sheepskin used for large bellows and valves. Rebuilding the console with the latest playing aids will make it ideal organ students and organ recitalists.

Once the restoration has been completed St John the Baptist Church hopes to extend its programme of musical education with pupils at local schools and host a wider range of concerts and musical events.

When she launched the organ restoration appeal in May last year, the then Mayor of Barnet, Councillor Nagus Narenthira, said the borough council recognised the importance of preserving the organ for its use by future generations.

Team vicar Father Sam Rossiter-Peters also stressed the importance of renovating the organ, which he said was an important piece of High Barnet’s history — “the beating heart of the parish church and the beating heart of our town.”

“It was 30 years when I first saw the organ here at the parish church.

“Then, two years ago, we were called in to undertake a full rebuild. The first task is to strip out all the pipes – and all told there are 2,100 of them.”