Project Description

The restoration of the 1805 or 1809 Thomas Elliot Organ for Mr Gerard Verloop

Author: Joost de Boer
Copyright 2024
WILLIAM DRAKE Ltd
Organ Builder
Chapel Street, Buckfastleigh, Devon TQ11 0AB

Introduction

History of the Elliot organ

The earliest known history of this organ dates from when it was found redundant in St David’s Church, Llanelli by organ builder Peter Hindmarsh of Pentyrch, Cardiff.

Peter assembled it in his workshop with a view to restoration and to find a new home for the instrument thought to be from 1819. Subsequent inspection of the name board and the specification suggest an earlier date of 1809 or possibly 1805.

When a new home did not materialise, the organ was offered to, and bought by William Drake Limited with a view to attempting the same.

In 2015 a contract was signed with Mr Gerard Verloop in Schagen, the Netherlands to have it restored and installed in a Dutch Church with a good music tradition. Unfortunately, its intended destination in Purmerend fell through and several other options proved not to be successful either. The instrument has now been installed in a small Church with beautiful acoustics in Kenardington, Kent.

The restoration of the organ was completed by William Drake Limited in 2020.

It is remarkable that the organ did not suffer significant alterations during the 19th or 20th century. The artistic statement of this instrument is of a higher quality than some of the materials used to achieve this. One can only assume that the cost or availability of materials was a serious issue in the early 19th century.

The intrinsic musical qualities of the instrument shine through however, and one must conclude and be thankful that this instrument was saved by the relative poverty of its subsequent owners.

Specification

Manual Compass GG, AA – f’’’
Stops divided between tenor B and middle C
Pull-down Pedals GG – G 13 notes Bottom GG# plays G# above top G

Pipework lengthened to a pitch of 440Hz Celsius at 20o Celsius.

Bass Jamb Treble Jamb
Sesquia
Princl
Flute
Stopd Diapan
Open Diapan
17-19 (bass)
4
4
8 (bass)
8 GG-FF# grooved
Cornet
Fifteen
Twelfth
Stopd Diapan
Dulcia
12-15 (treble)
2’
22/3’
8’ (treble)
8’ (treble)

A shifting movement acts on stops of 4foot and upwards.

Bass jamb

Treble  jamb

The stop names are much abbreviated and engraved into domed ivory plates let in to the stop knobs.
The case is of a three-tower design and made of sumptuous mahogany. The keyboard is sliding and is situated behind a lockable hinged panel.

The organ as assembled in 2021 in playable condition on our premises.
The original pedalboard and the organ’s subframe or plinth were lost at some stage during the organ’s history. A replacement was reconstructed taking compass and size from evidence within the case and building frame.
The music desk has a beautifully made sliding and ratchet mechanism allowing the music desk to be used at a varied angle.

Case

The finish of the case was in a tired state and had a somewhat treacly appearance. The woodwork of the case itself was in a surprisingly good condition. One could argue that the thick layers of polish had protected the surface.

The organ as found in the workshop of Peter Hindmarsh

The name plate was quite worn making the date illegible. It was decided not to reconstruct the calligraphy, as this would involve speculation as to the date. A date of 1819 is pencilled on the back of the name board over the keys. Further comparison with other name boards shows that this date is unlikely. The embellishments which survive could suggest a date of 1809 or even 1805.

Repairs

The fretted tops to the tower flats were in a bad condition and some parts were missing in the mouldings of the flats. The missing parts were remade in reclaimed mahogany of an appropriate grain. The panel above the sliding keyboard was mounted at an angle creating a wedge-shaped gap from Bass to Treble. This was considered too disturbing to leave and this was corrected without loss of original material.
The case was completely stripped from its finish using denatured alcohol. The bare wood surfaces were originally finished to a high standard. The wood was treated with a layer of oil which was allowed to penetrate into the wood for a substantial period of time.
The refinishing was done with oils, earth pigments and a modicum of filling of the pores in the mahogany followed by the application of a shellac finish. The whole was eventually cut back with a fine abrasive powder and finished with high quality wax finish.

Back Panels

The middle panel had been removed from the top back frame at some stage. The groove was opened up with the router and a new pine panel was inserted. The missing side to complete the groove was glued in the lock the panel permanently in position.

The top back frame with its centre panel restored

The lower back of the organ was missing completely together with the back rail of the frame that forms the plinth of the case.

The plinth with new rail and action mountings. 

The restored back panels of the organ.

Front Pipes

The front pipes are wooden dummies which are gilded onto a layer of gesso were restored and re-gilded by John Brennan in Oxford.

John Brennan is applying the finishing touches to the restored wooden dummies

The completed front pipes are fitted back in the frames for transport

Keyboard

The sliding keyboard had been recovered in an ivory substitute in the earlier 20th century and showed a lot of wear on the balance and front pins.
The wear on the pins was first remedied taking care to maintain an even spacing between the keys. The taking up of excessive play was achieved by glueing in pieces of vellum.

The plastic key covers were removed and the keys were recovered with cow bone.

Action

The Backfall action was in good condition and was dismantled and cleaned. The sides of the backfalls were treated with graphite as they were found to be.
Stickers were cleaned and old repairs were redone using reclaimed stickers left over from another restoration project.

The rollerboard was cleaned, roller arms de-rusted, the pivot wires polished and graphited and the leather bearing strips in the studs renewed.

The stop action was cleaned with metal parts de-rusted. The worst of the wear in the trundle pivot boards was remedied and the slider movement appropriately adjusted to make the closed position correspond with the notched trace rods.

The shifting movement is of a type where the sliders are sprung towards the open position and holding them closed relies on stop traces which are notched / hooked in to keep the stops shut.
This way you can choose registrations of 4ft and above which are closed off by depressing the piano pedal which presses the sliders against their springs without moving the stop knobs. Letting the pedal come up releases the sliders back into their same open position (if the registration hasn’t been altered).

Soundboard

The soundboard was in reasonably poor condition with badly fitting pine upperboards (warped) causing runnings. There were also a number of splits in the oak soundboard table.

The soundboard was stripped and cleaned using gentle methods in order not to loses its patina. The table was glued back to the bars where loose and cracks pieced with reclaimed well-seasoned oak strips.
The fillings-in behind the pallets were repaired where cracked and pieced with old pine.
After the integrity of the grid was restored the insides of the grooves was painted out with hot animal glue to further secure airtightness.
The table was planed and sanded flat after which the bearers (which were originally paperless) were nailed back on.
The sliders were checked for straightness and pinned in place with a thin paper strip underneath so that these had the required tolerance to move freely when the paper was removed. The whole of the surface of bearers and sliders was now planed/sanded flat and straight.
The upperboards were checked for leaks and communication between grooves after which their bottom surface was flattened. The back upperboard containing the Open Diapason, Stop Diapason and Dulciana was the most warped because of its width and overhang. This was straightened over the area of the grid only in order to reduce the risk of opening up grooving from below. (see photo above) Stripped upperboard screw pilot holes were plugged and redrilled.
The pallet surface and pallets were straightened and the pallets re-leathered with two layers of sheepskin. The pallets were glued in again making sure the pull-downs pulled squarely through the bottom board.
The original steel springs were cleaned up and their tension evened out to being a reasonable average.
The pallet guard retained its original leather.
The pull-down wires were renewed due to the poor condition of the originals.
All gaskets were renewed with appropriate thickness sheepskin.
The area behind the wind box was recovered in sheepskin as it was originally.

The rackboards, which are painfully thin and reinforced with parchment were a cause of concern. It was however decided not to replace these but to repair and introduce extra upper stays to support the larger pipes. The racks have been carefully restored and the Rack pillars refitted.

Bellows

The bellows are double-rise with two inward folds. The feeder bellows had been cut off and the whole painted battleship grey.
The bellows were stripped and re-leathered. The feeder was not reinstated and a flat Laukhuff blower was installed underneath the bellows. The grey painted surface was overpainted with a mat brick dust red colour paint.

Pipework

The larger metal pipework had suffered significant foot collapse over the rackboard holes and all metal pipes had been fitted with tuning slides.
The collapse was carefully repaired by Shires Organ Pipe Ltd who also lengthened all pipes to prepare them to be cut to length and cone-tuned once again.

Some loose languids had to be repaired and this was done by cutting away the solder seam to be able to resolder the languid edge to foot and body without taking the pipe apart completely.

The smaller chorus pipes have their mouths cut out very wide. The resulting tone is free and lively. There is substantial regular nicking in the languid and occasionally fine lower lip nicking.

The organ during tonal finishing with all pipes lengthened and the back rows cone-tuned.

The wooden pipes were checked for splits, repaired where necessary and all stoppers re-leathered. Some stoppers of the Flute had to be made new.
As a matter of interest, the caps are all chamfered away to the thickness of the front plank of the pipe.
Also, the pipe feet are plugged with a single glued in plug. A hole in the middle is used to regulate the amount of wind into the pipe by filing out to exact requirement.

Scales

A very brief analyses of the scale pattern, shows that the Open Diapason is about 2 to 3 pipes larger than the Principal. The rest of the chorus is very similar to the scale of the Principal.

The Stop Diapason is a few pipes wider than the Flute throughout.

Open Diapason

Dulciana

Principal

Twelfth

Fifteenth

Sesquialtra

Cornet

Stop Diapason

Flute