A piece of local organ building history now under threat  

By Jeffrey Williams

 

The organ was installed in Nanstallon Methodist Church in 1923, and was built by the Cornish organ building firm of J Trudgian & Son of St Dennis. Trudgian had set up the Mid-Cornwall Organ Factory back in 1888, and the firm flourished until around 1930. Trudgian Senior died in 1925 and his son, John Junior died in 1932. Occupying a central position in the arch at the front of the building, the organ is well-suited to its surroundings and gives the impression of being designed for the space, though there is understood to have been some remedial work to the fabric in order to accommodate the instrument. The organ sits on a platform about 30 inches above floor-level, and speaking pipes from the Great Open Diapason are mounted in the façade over the console and are painted silver with gold mouths. The whole instrument is very compact and occupies a relatively small footprint.

The tonal scheme of just 8 speaking stops is one of much character and charm. The two principal ranks of the Great are small-scaled and unforced, but speak cleanly and with clarity in the building, while a lovely Dulciana rank has a liquid, flute-like quality to its sound. The Open Diapason on the Swell has a little more edge to its character, not unlike some Horn Diapason stops that were once a fashion, and it blends well with a surprisingly full-toned Lieblich Gedact. Both of these stops share a common, wooden bass, the pipes of which are located outside of the Swell Box. A four-foot Stopt Flute sits nicely on top of the two foundation flues, and the Pedal Bourdon is small-scaled but underpins the whole adequately. Full technical details of the organ are as follows:-

Pedal

Bourdon                      16

 

Great

Open Diapason           8

Dulciana                      8

Principal                      4

 

Swell

Stop Bass                     8

Open Diapason           8

Lieblich Gedact           8

Stopt Flute                   4

 

Couplers

Swell to Great

Swell to Pedal

Great to Pedal

 

Straight and flat pedalboard

Hitch-down swell pedal

Mechanical stop and key actions

 

This little organ has done service to the village for over a century and has been maintained with annual tuning visits. At the time of inspection there were small action issues and other matters that needed to be attended to with the organ having had no attention for 5 years, but there was nothing evident that could not be addressed without huge expenditure as part of a thorough clean and overhaul, and one that would give this lovely and well-engineered organ a new lease of life for future generations. Sadly, the instrument’s future is uncertain as the church has been acquired for community use as a village hall.  John Trudgian did not build many instruments and the majority of those he did build have either been lost because of church closures or have been altered at the hands of others. This is an important survivor in terms of the history of local organ building in Cornwall and one that fully deserves to be restored and preserved.

The Builder’s Nameplate

 

 

Jeffrey Williams at the console of Truro Cathedral organ

 

Jeffrey Williams

Director of Music St Ia’s Church, St Ives

Organs Advisor to the Diocese of Truro

Historic Organs Co-Ordinator for the British Institute of Organ Studies