Russell Collection of Early
Keyboard Instruments

OR4-A1765.43: Enharmonic chamber organ, Thomas Parker.
London, c.1765.

The Restoration of the Organ.

The restoration of the organ as opposed to the case may be said to have started after Christmas 1983. In the summer of that year the instrument as moved to the workshop of Christopher Stevens, St Margaret's Cottage, Ruspur Road, Ifield, Crawley. During the period January to July 1984, he carried out a great deal of work on the organ, which may be summarised as under:-

• The pallets were recovered in leather and felt (leakages taken up this way).
• A new bottom to the windchest was made, as the old was rotten owing to the storage and Claydon House, Bucks.
• The frame was in bad order and several new members were made and old joints were reglued.
• The keyboard was completely overhauled and re-bushed for the balance and guide pins holes.
• On the action, one sticker was repaired and one was replaced.
• Roller board was OK. A few replacement trackers were put in.
• The backfall beam was poorly and a piece was cut out of it to allow a new piece to be inserted to take the balance/first member.
• The bellows and reservoir was OK and did not need recovering, but it was raised 4" in the frame owing to the removal of the more recent base of the organ for the pedals.
• New levers for the feeders were made and the old bellows handle refitted.
• Electric blower was also fitted and cut off valve made to enable bellows handle to be operated.
New levers and lever beam provided for Principal and Stopped Diapason as all these, strangely were missing.

Windchest

• New bearers were made for the frame to carry the windchest and locating holes made to allow for proper positioning of the action.
• Chest floored and pallets recovered. Bars recovered. A great deal of work was involved here and much trouble encountered, owing to damp storage at Claydon. Reorganisation of pins for pallet guides followed as the old arrangement was not satisfactory.
• Surface of bars under pallets needed repair too and this was carried out.
• Three tracker wires (missing) were made.
• Ducts for large pipes (in metal) were repaired in some cases remade or made new.
• Leaks in the upper board traced and eradicated.
• Some new pillars added or repairs made to racks. Racks extended to take GG and AA pipes Long missing).

New pipes made for:-

Stopped Diapason	GG (in a terrible state and could not be remade)
	AA (missing, a completely new pipe as above)
	d (missing, a completely new pipe as above)
Principal	GG (to replace old oak one of horrible aspect and performance, not original)
	AA (old AA pipe which had been cut down was lengthened to proper proportions)
Fifteenth	GG
	AA & C new pipes (to organ) from stock of old pipes.

• New upper lip for F Stopped Diapason and C largely remade at mitre end - Stopped Diapason in poor state and many pipes take apart and reglued.
• When organ worked again the act of tuning revealed that pitch was about one quarter tone higher than normal.
• One of the great disappointments was being unable to restore the quarter tone of the quarter tone chest. Two problems basically - absolutely no evidence suggesting how the arrangement worked originally and the odd arrangement to the slides which should have been to cut off the flats from the sharps. But a double slide arrangement would have been necessary to cut off both series from each individual stop and there was no indication anywhere of this - so attempt to recreate was reluctantly abandoned.

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