Stopped Diapason Bass..........8’ wood.........12 pipes
Open Diapason.......................8’ metal..........42 pipes
Dulciana.................................8’ metal..........42 pipes
Principal.................................4’ metal..........54 pipes
Fifteenth.................................2’ metal..........54 pipes
Compass: CCC - f The organ, from St. Barnabas’ Church, Weston-super-Mare, was constructed for that church by Percy Daniels of Clevedon in the early sixties, using parts from several older instruments. The twelve pipes of the Stopped Diapason are by Bevington, a famous mid nineteenth century organ builder, originally for the Congregational Chapel in Princes Street, Gravesend. Some of the pipes have their original paper label still stuck on them, with Bevington's signature and stamp. The remaining metal pipes are of late nineteenth or early twentieth century origins. The Diapason is from a Cone Gamba rank cut down, and the Principal was in its former life a Salicional. The Fifteenth is actually a Gemshorn, which gives a distinctive brightness to the whole ensemble, and fits well with the slight stringiness of the Diapason tone. Only the Dulciana, in many ways the most attractive stop, is an original rank, apparently as it left the voicer’s hands.
It was difficult to find an instrument small enough to fit in a building the size of Lufton, and even this miniature example has had to be pruned of some inessential parts, and the blower sited outside the casework. There is just room to add one more rank to the specification and this will probably be a wooden flute 4ft. to complete the ensemble. It is hoped to add this in the next year or so. A suitable rank of pipes has been found but it requires considerable repair and refurbishment. The only other addition might be a pedal board, but there is certainly no room for an independent rank of pedal pipes, and so this seems slightly superfluous, given the wealth of organ music from all periods written for manuals only.
Music has always been regarded as an important asset in our worship, and we are fortunate that Trinity Opera, a local chamber choir of semi-professional and experienced singers, use the church for rehearsals. They sing for special services for us on occasion, and have made CD recordings for us, which are sold in aid of church funds. More details can be found on the page titled Recordings.
