Listed organ restored as church is modernised
BBCA rare organ has been restored as part of a project to "bring a church into the 21st Century".
The instrument in St John's, in Killingworth, North Tyneside, is the only one in the country to be given a Grade II star status by the British Institute of Organ Studies because of its national importance and significance.
Its restoration is part of a wider programme of improvements at the church including a new kitchen, toilets and meeting facilities.
Church vicar, the Rev Sarah Moon, said: "We want this beautiful building to be used by the community every single day".
"This is part of a modernisation which began six years ago in a church with no water, built to be heated by coal, to bring it into the 21st Century," she said.
The organ was one of 166 built by Richard Postill of York mainly for churches in northern England although one is in the chapel at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
All 10 still in existence were visited in a recent fundraising marathon cycle ride covering 1,490 miles in England and Scotland by St John's organist, Nigel Brown.
"The restorers have done a wonderful job," he said.
"They had to completely dismantle it and they've returned all the woodwork to how it would have looked in Victorian times."
The restored organ was played for the first time in a year on Easter Sunday.
"Seeing people's faces as they sang along to the music was wonderful," Moon said.
"It bought a tear to my eye, it really did."
She also says it will be available for organists to play and for children to learn more about music heritage.
"We have two keyboard groups from local schools coming in the next few weeks just so they can have a go at playing something completely different," she said.
