A survey of this kind is inevitably subject to constant updating as organs change hands or new information comes to light. Whilst it is unlikely that there are any major discoveries of unknown consort organs to be made now, it is probable that various parts, including ranks of pipework, survive in later chamber organs but have yet to be identified. Several of the organs listed in this survey have yet to be examined thoroughly to establish the exact nature of their surviving material and their date and provenance may thus be revised over time. A number of instruments are in private hands and their present whereabouts are not in the public domain: in those cases, the last known locations are given. Otherwise, this survey seeks to present a very brief summary of the known surviving English consort organ material. Some 16 organs survive with most of their casework, pipework and working parts intact. Several cases survive either as empty shells or with newer organs inside, and seven organs have lost their original cases but retain the major part of their pipework and action in later casework. The other survivals are more or less fragmentary in nature.
The dating of consort organs can be difficult without documentation, particularly after the Restoration, due to the general similarity of methods of construction over an extended period of time. The organs are listed here in a rough attempt at a chronological order as best can be ascertained, but it should not be relied on as fact.
The builders represented include two particular ‘circles’ of influence within the native English tradition. The Dallam/Harris circle includes Thomas, Robert, George and Ralph Dallam, as well as Thomas Harris(on) and his son Renatus, and probably several other anonymous makers who trained at the Dallam/Harris workshop. These builders incorporated certain features (especially pipe markings) that reflected their particular practice, and (after the Restoration) a degree of French influence as a result of the Dallams’ time working in France during the Commonwealth. From within this circle, the work of one particular hand (designated ‘builder X’) is discernible in several organs (Nos. 8, 9, 14, 23). The Germanic circle includes Bernard Smith, his nephew Gerard, and also several anonymous hands who either trained with Smith or were themselves German or Dutch immigrants. They too are often identified by features such as their distinctive style of pipe markings. The remaining makers do not display overtly foreign-influenced features: Burward is an example of one of these, as is Christianus Smith. Despite the various differences, it must be stressed that a notable feature of these organs is a remarkable similarity and uniformity in their conception and construction as part of what was a conservative and quintessentially English tradition, which makes identifying the makers all the more difficult.
Specification abbreviations:
OD: Open Diapason SD: Stopped Diapason PR: Principal
OF: Open Flute (8’) FL: Flute (4’) 12: Twelfth
15: Fifteenth 22: Twenty-second T: Tierce
SQ: Sesquialtera CN: Cornet MX: Mixture
CY: Cymbal FN: Furniture R: Regal
b: bass t: treble
NB: specifications reflect the current state of the instrument except where otherwise indicated.
| Location and date | Specification | Surviving pre-C18 material | ||||
| 1 Victoria and Albert Museum, London | ||||||
| 1579 Claviorgan | SDb/t FLb/t 15b/t | Case, one pipe, several Regal boots | ||||
| Lodewyck Theewes | CYb/t Rb/t Coupler b/t | |||||
| Organ section: C-D-c 3 | ||||||
| The instrument was made for Anthony Roper of Farningham Manor, Kent, in 1579 and is a unique surviving example of a claviorgan made in England before 1800. The harpsichord section had two 8ft and one 4ft registers. Theewes’s Flemish origins make it impossible to know if it is typical of English claviorgan design of the period. The organ stop list is more reminiscent of the instruments listed in the Henry VIII inventory of 1549 than the later consort organs. | ||||||
| 2 Knole House, Kent | ||||||
| c.1600 Chest organ | SD PR 12 15 | Case, chest, most pipework, action | ||||
| Anon. | C-d 3 , possibly not original | |||||
| Possibly dating from the late sixteenth century, this is a unique survivor of an English chest organ. It was probably originally a 4ft instrument based on two Principals, one of which was replaced by the SD later in the seventeenth century. It has been in the Sackville family from early in its history and was associated with the extensive musical establishment of the 1 st Earl of Dorset that operated until his death in 1608. | ||||||
| 3 Hatfield House, Hertfordshire | ||||||
| 1609 Cabinet organ | Original specification unknown (current: 1783 by Robert Gray) | Case. The remainder needs to be assessed | ||||
| Anon. | ||||||
| This organ was purchased in 1609 as part of a consignment of luxury goods from the Dutch merchant John Haan. Its maker is unknown, but it is currently thought to be English. It was set up by Thomas Dallam at Hatfield in 1611 when it received its lavish decoration by the artist Rowland Buckett for £26 13s 4d. It was substantially rebuilt by Robert Gray in 1738. The organ needs a detailed examination as it is not certain to what extent original material remains within, but the case is certainly an important survival. | ||||||
| 4 Historic St Luke’s, Smithfield, Virginia, USA | ||||||
| c.1630 Table organ | SDb/t OF PRb/t 15b/t | Nearly all parts except 66 eighteenth-century replacement pipes | ||||
| Anon. | C AA D-c 3 , dividing at b/c | |||||
| This is a particularly complete survival of an early table organ with a painted faux-perspective pipefront. The organ was owned by the L’Estrange family of Hunstanton Hall, Norfolk until the 1940s; in the seventeenth century it was associated with Thomas Brewer, John Jenkins and the extant L’Estrange manuscripts and is thus important as a source of performance practice information. The organ is now preserved in unplayable condition but has been extensively studied. | ||||||
| 5 Canterbury Cathedral Archives Office, Kent (The Dean Bargrave Organ) | ||||||
| 1629 Table organ | Probably: SDb/t PRb/t 12b/t 15b/t | Shell of case, parts of the chest and action | ||||
| John Burward | Probably: C-a 2 , dividing at b/c | |||||
| The organ was made by John Burward and purchased for £22 in 1629 by Dean Isaac Bargrave for use in the deanery at Canterbury Cathedral. The condition of the surviving action parts suggest it had a short working life and its current state may have been a result of vandalism by Parliamentarian troops in 1642. The stop sliders were uniquely mounted horizontally beside the bass and treble ends of the keyboard. | ||||||
| 6 Staunton Harold Church, Northamptonshire | ||||||
| c.1630 Cabinet organ | Originally: SD ODt PR 12 15 | Shell of case, some pipework, chest, action; upper casework and some pipes are later C17. | ||||
| ?Christianus Smith | Originally GG AA C-c 3 | |||||
| The organ was built for Staunton Harold house where it was associated with William Lawes and the Shirley partbooks. Some aspects suggest Christianus Smith as the builder. It was moved to the west gallery of the estate church c.1663 and rebuilt in 1686, possibly by Gerard Smith, with a curious dummy case placed on top and changes to the specification to make it more suitable for church use. Work in the nineteenth century changed the specification further. | ||||||
| 7 Organ in the possession of John Mander, currently dismantled in Northamptonshire | ||||||
| 1643 Table organ | OD PRb/t FLb/t 15b/t 12b 22t | Case, chest, action and some pipework | ||||
| Christianus Smith | ||||||
| The organ is signed and dated by Christianus Smith. Nothing is known of its origins although it was first recorded in East Anglia in the early eighteenth century. It has a faux-perspective painted pipefront: the painted figures of a cornettist and sackbut player are unique and interesting features. The current specification is the result of later alterations. | ||||||
| 8 Canons Ashby House, Northamptonshire | ||||||
| c.1650 Cabinet organ | SD PR 15b/t SQb/t | Most parts except the wind system | ||||
| Dallam workshop, builder X | Originally C-c 3 , now C AA D-c 3 | |||||
| Although the organ is the work of a Dallam workshop craftsman, certain pipe markings suggest it later passed through a Germanic circle workshop at some point. The pipefront is very plain and unornamented. The case pediment is probably a relic of a curious Gothick superstructure that was added in the nineteenth century. The louvred roof panel is modern, but otherwise much original material survives. | ||||||
| 9 The ‘New College Organ’ (John Mander, Germany) | ||||||
| c.1660 Cabinet organ | SD PR 15 (metal) MX (metal) | Most parts and pipework except MX and wind system | ||||
| Dallam workshop, builder X | C AA D-c 3 | |||||
| The organ was donated to New College, Oxford in around 1685. The inscription ‘Cart’ on a pipe is a distinctive feature of the post-Restoration Dallam workshop. It was purchased in the mid-nineteenth century by Sir John Sutton and restored by J.C. Bishop, and then again in 2024-5 by Goetze & Gwynn who installed a new wind system and Mixture. | ||||||
| 10 Truro Cathedral School, Cornwall | ||||||
| 1662 Carved pipe surround | ||||||
| Signed ‘Smydth’ | ||||||
| The pipefront of a consort organ, incongruously affixed to the 1971 modernist organ case in Truro School chapel (an instrument originally made by Mander in 1971 for Jesus College, Cambridge). It was first identified at a sale in 1922. The pipes are modern. The design incorporates side ‘towers’ as in Nos 12, 14 and 23 but the carving is particularly elaborate. ‘Smydth’ may have been the carver rather than the builder of the organ. | ||||||
| 11 Lichfield Cathedral, Staffordshire | ||||||
| Pre-1667 Cabinet organ | Shell of the case, excluding the plinth and cornice | |||||
| Anon. | ||||||
| All that remains of this organ is the shell of the case: the pipe front dates from the eighteenth century and the rest of the organ from 1961. A small organ (possibly this one) was repaired in the cathedral in 1677; it was later used in various houses in the close. It thereafter had a chequered history: the pipes were burnt by troops in 1745 and at one time it was converted into a wardrobe. The original chest was once stored in the cathedral but now appears to be lost. | ||||||
| 12 Worcester Cathedral | ||||||
| 1667 Cabinet organ | SD PR 12b/t 15 SQb/t | Parts of case and chest, pipe façade, PR, 12 | ||||
| Ralph Dallam | GG C AA D-d 3 (not original) | |||||
| Ralph Dallam built this organ for the Oxford University Music School in 1667. It originally had 4 stops. It was substantially rebuilt by Samuel Green in 1774, but the pipefront survives, as do two wooden stops (PR 12) and most of the chest. The pipefront is plainly decorated, which probably reflects the instrument’s use in a place of work rather than as an embellishment to an aristocratic household. | ||||||
| 13 Formerly in the possession of Guy Oldham | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | ODt SD PR 15 MXb/t | Case, chest, action, OD SD PR | ||||
| Germanic circle | GG AA C D-c 3 | |||||
| This is a curious organ with features that suggest a wide variety of dates: it may possibly be a later rebuilding incorporating pre-Restoration elements. The (early?) embossed metal case pipes of the OD are similar to those on No. 20 whilst the (later?) carving and case design is like that of No. 19. The chest appears to be early, as do the SD and PR. The foot pedals that operate most of the stops are a nineteenth century alteration. | ||||||
| 14 Compton Wynyates, Warwickshire | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | Upper Manual: SD FL 15 FN | Most parts except wind system and a few replacement pipes | ||||
| Dallam/Harris workshop | Lower Manual: SD OD PR | |||||
| Builder X | D-d 3 , originally C AA D-c 3 | |||||
| A product of the Dallam/Harris workshop, this is one of the most magnificent extant organs and the similarity of its rich carving to that of No. 22 might suggest a court origin. The unique two-manual specification, with wooden stops on the lower manual and metal on the upper, might suggest use in a chapel rather than a domestic environment. The SD is shared by communication and the manuals can be coupled. Unfortunately, nothing certain is known of its history before the 1840s. | ||||||
| 15 Canterbury Cathedral, the Galpin organ | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | SD PR 12t 15 SQb Tt | Case, chest, most pipework | ||||
| Anon. Germanic circle | C D-f 3 (not original) | |||||
| Nothing is known about the origins of this organ, but the pipe markings suggest it was made by one of the Germanic circle of builders. The keyboard, wind system, stop and key action were replaced in an eighteenth-century rebuild and the keyboard is now much lower in the case than originally. The current arrangement of the 12, SQ and T is not original, and the 15 was originally divided. | ||||||
| 16 St Wilfrid, Thornton, Lincolnshire | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | OD SD PR 15 SQb CNt | Lower part of case, chest, OD SD PR 15 | ||||
| Anon. | GG C-e 3 (not original) | |||||
| At the heart of this organ is a 5-stop consort instrument; it was substantially rebuilt in the eighteenth century, possibly by John Byfield and possibly in 1740 when it was presented to Magdalen College, Oxford for use in the choristers’ rehearsal room and later the college hall. In 1860 the college presented it to Horsington church in Lincolnshire (a college living) and it has subsequently been used in a succession of rural Lincolnshire churches. | ||||||
| 17 Austria, last known in the possession of the family of Nicholas Harnoncourt | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | ODb/t SDb/t CYb/t | Case, chest, OD SD | ||||
| Anon. | C-c 3 , originally C AA D-c 3 | |||||
| Little is known about this organ. It was restored by Ahrend and Brunzema in 1961, who made the CY and discovered evidence for stop knobs mounted on the sides of the case, which they reinstated. Such a feature would suggest a pre-Restoration date, but everything else about the organ’s appearance suggests something much later. The pipe shades and painted pipes are reminiscent of those of No. 28. | ||||||
| 18 Narrangansett Church, Rhode Island, USA | ||||||
| Parts of consort organ | OD SD MX | Chest, parts of OD SD, fragments of case | ||||
| Anon. | D C E-d 3 ,originally C AA D-c 3 | |||||
| This organ is based on a chest and two ranks of seventeenth-century pipes that have been used to make a consort-style organ in a brightly painted pastiche case. They were part of an organ that was rebuilt c.1730 and altered again in c.1825. Richard Hedgebeth of the Stuart Organ Co (who created the present instrument) made some ambitious claims for its history that have not been verified. Most of the old parts appear to be post-Restoration in date. | ||||||
| 19 Dingestow Court, Monmouthshire | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | OD SD PR 12 15 SQb/t | Chest, most of the pipework | ||||
| ?Bernard Smith | GG C AA D-e 3 (not original) | |||||
| The organ has pipework attributed to Bernard Smith, and it may originally have been made by him. It was substantially rebuilt with a new case, keyboard and action by Robert Gray in 1775. Although the organ has only been at Dingestow since 1848, there is evidence to suggest that it has been in the Bosanquet family since it was first built. | ||||||
| 20 Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire | ||||||
| c.1680 Cabinet organ | Original specification obscured by later work | Case front, much of the Great pipework, case doors | ||||
| Gerard Smith | ||||||
| Probably built as a cabinet organ, there are some features that indicate the hand of Gerard Smith. The instrument was rebuilt in 1773 and then later enlarged to two manuals by Henry Holland on the gallery of the great hall in 1799. Unusually, it seems originally to have had both metal and wooden pipes, the former having markings very unlike those of Gerard Smith. The front ones are elaborately painted, have three different mouth types and some are embossed: they may be from an older, and perhaps not domestic, organ that Smith reused. | ||||||
| 21 St George in the Meadows, Nottingham | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | SD PR 15 CNt | Most of the case, pipefront, doors, chest, parts of the keyboard, SD PR | ||||
| Germanic circle | D-d 3 , originally C AA D-c 3 | |||||
| The pipe markings suggest a Germanic circle builder for this organ; it underwent some alterations in the eighteenth century that were reversed in the restoration by Goetze and Gwynn in 1993. The pipe front has three gilded compartments with fine carving to the pipeshades. | ||||||
| 22 USA, precise location uncertain, The ‘King James Travelling Organ’ | ||||||
| c.1680 Cabinet organ | SD OF 12b/t 15b/t SQb/t | Uncertain, but could be largely intact | ||||
| Dallam/Harris workshop | C D-c 3 | |||||
| This organ served briefly in James II’s portable Catholic chapel on Hounslow Heath from c.1686-8. When illustrated in the 1840s it had a sash window front which suggests a connection with Christopher Wren at some point. It could possibly be the secondary organ that Harris was ‘’preparing’ (ornamenting?) for the Whitehall Catholic chapel in 1688: the exceptionally rich decoration (closely related to No. 14) would be commensurate with such a role. The organ passed into private hands and was eventually sold to an American (possibly William Randolph Hearst) in 1924, since when its whereabouts have been unknown. It is a significant instrument that would be interesting to rediscover. | ||||||
| 23 Organ in the possession of Richard Bower | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | SD PR (15 missing) | Most parts despite some alterations to the case | ||||
| Harris circle, builder X | Originally C AA-c 3 | |||||
| A small organ from the Dallam/Harris workshops. The case and pipe front appear to have been cut down slightly in the nineteenth century and the 15 is missing. The pipe front has outer ‘towers’ but is otherwise devoid of carving; it is of the same basic design seen in Nos 12 and 14 from the same workshop. Nothing is known of its origins; it was previously part of the Finchcocks Collection in Kent and was apparently in a church in Lewes, East Sussex, prior to that. | ||||||
| 24 Auckland Castle Chapel, Bishop Auckland, County Durham | ||||||
| 1688 chapel organ | 1688: ODt SD PR 12 15 SQb CNt | Case front and sides, 5 stops | ||||
| Bernard Smith | 1688: C AA D-c 3 | |||||
| Although never a consort organ, this instrument by Bernard Smith originally had a number of features drawn from the domestic organ tradition. These included its compass, a treble-only wooden OD and a case that was essentially like that of a consort organ but with a liturgical style pipe front and the console placed at the back. Built for Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, the organ was altered on several occasions and is now a two-manual with a much-enlarged case. | ||||||
| 25 St John’s, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, the Brattle organ | ||||||
| Chest and pipes of a consort organ, Germanic circle | SD PR 15b/t SQb/t | Chest, SD PR | ||||
| This organ was brought to the USA by Thomas Brattle, who had visited England in 1689. It was extensively rebuilt in 1836 and only the chest and two ranks of pipes remain, but it is afforded importance in the USA as being the second earliest organ to have been imported to the continent. | ||||||
| 26 St Nicholas, East Dereham, Norfolk | ||||||
| c.1690 Three ranks of pipes Bernard Smith | SD PR 15 | |||||
| These three ranks of pipes are interesting in that they are the sole survivors of the organ built by Bernard Smith for Roger North, who had it installed in the long gallery at Rougham Hall at some point after 1690, where it was later described by Charles Burney. North’s organ was sold to East Dereham church in 1786 and later formed the swell of an organ by Joseph Hart. Remarkably the pipes survived several further rebuilds to be incorporated into the present organ of 1995 by Bower & Co. | ||||||
| 27 The Russell Collection, Edinburgh | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | SDb/t PRb/t PRt 15 | Parts of the case, chest, key and stop action, SD PR 15 | ||||
| Possibly Germanic circle | C AA D-d 3 | |||||
| This organ has been attributed to Bernard Smith: this is doubtful, but it may be from the Germanic circle of builders. It underwent significant alterations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, losing its pipefront but gaining doors and its current grey and white paint scheme. The metal PR treble was added in 1965 in the space probably originally occupied by a 12. | ||||||
| 28 Belchamp Walter Hall, Suffolk | ||||||
| Cabinet organ | SD PR 15 SQ&CN | Most parts except the pipes of the mixture | ||||
| Germanic circle | C-c 3 | |||||
| The organ was owned by Christopher Batt, a Kensington merchant, in the early eighteenth century and was bequeathed to his daughter Elizabeth Mayne in 1738. She was an associate of Handel, which is probably the origin of the unsubstantiated legend that it was owned by the composer. Mayne gave it to her son as a wedding gift in 1757 and it has remained in the family of his widow, Isabella Raymond, at Belchamp Walter ever since. The carving on the pipe front is reminiscent of No. 17 and there are unusual painted portraits in cartouches on the front pipes. The organ is in largely unaltered condition. | ||||||
| 29 St Mary’s, Upton, Berkshire | ||||||
| Chest and 4 ranks of pipes | ODt SD PR FL 15 SQb CNt | Chest, OD SD ?FL 15 | ||||
| This is a cabinet organ that was rebuilt with a new case and action in the eighteenth or early nineteenth century. A tentative attribution to Bernard Smith has been made but further investigation is needed. | ||||||
| 30 Boxted Hall, Suffolk | ||||||
| Chest and some pipework | ||||||
| This is another cabinet organ that underwent a significant mid eighteenth-century rebuild with a new case. It was moved to the hall in 1783 by Humphrey Argent senior of Colchester. It is known at the hall as the ‘Chippendale Organ’ though the case does not bear any obvious similarities to his work. Further investigation is required. | ||||||
| 31 Jesus College, Cambridge, the Sutton organ | ||||||
| 2 ranks of pipes | ||||||
| Sir John Sutton (who owned Nos. 14 and 22) commissioned J.C. Bishop to build this gothic revival organ in 1847; it incorporated various ranks of old pipework sourced by Bishop and Sutton himself. A 2012 restoration by William Drake revealed that of the old material, two stops, the OD and SD now on the choir, are wooden ranks from a consort organ. | ||||||
| 32 St Michael, Crambe, Yorkshire | ||||||
| 5 ranks of pipes | OD SD PR 12 15 | Approximately 60% of the pipework | ||||
| Five ranks of wooden consort organ pipes were used as the basis of a new instrument in the early nineteenth century. This was restored in 2006 by Goetze and Gwynn, who made a number of new wooden pipes to replace later metal additions to the trebles of each rank. | ||||||
| 33 Royal College of Music, London | ||||||
| 1702 cabinet organ | SD ODt PR 15b CNt | Most of the case, pipework, chest and action | ||||
| Germanic circle | C-f# 3 (not original) | |||||
| The organ was built for Jane Frewen of Brickwall House, Northiam, East Sussex, and remained in her family until 1944. It has been incorrectly attributed to Bernard Smith but is certainly of the Germanic circle of builders. A number of alterations have been undertaken subsequently without significantly altering its character. The ODt was originally a 15t. The heavy superstructure conceals unmitred bass pipes and appears to be an original feature. | ||||||
| 34 St David’s School, New York, USA | ||||||
| Parts of 2 ranks | Parts of a SD and FL | |||||
| Although once considered to be an original consort organ, this is in fact an early twentieth-century fake made up of old parts including a chest that seems to have been made c.1840 to accommodate some seventeenth-century ranks: parts of a SD and FL survive, which may have been from a genuine consort instrument. The keyboard, though undoubtedly old, is not English, and the carved parts of the case, though of the seventeenth century, are not from an organ originally. The instrument was evidently concocted by a dealer to attract a wealthy buyer, and a fanciful royal history was conjectured for it by its subsequent American owners. | ||||||
| 35 J.W. Walker & Sons | ||||||
| Pipe front | ||||||
| In 1990 Stephen Bicknell made a sketch of a consort organ pipe front then in the possession of the organ builders J. W. Walker & Sons. It had three rounded towers and sloping toe boards to the flats; these latter and the central tower had carved swags in lieu of pipe shades. The pipes appeared to be painted and there was some damage evident to the top rail. The design suggested a relatively late date. The whereabouts of this interesting fragment are currently unknown. | ||||||