Gerald Sumner
|
This article should be read as an extension to the excellent report on the Penrith Conference by Paul Joslin which appeared in the October 1996 edition of the Reporter. The interest shown at the Conference in the history of the Wilkinson firm was pleasing. The visit to St. George's Church, Kendal, was particularly memorable, due in no small measure to the excellent demonstration recital played by Adrian Self on the organ built by Wilkinsons in 1883. What follows is a rather abbreviated account of what was said at the Conference together with some details of this most interesting organ.
The firm Wilkinson and Sons, Kendal, was founded by William Wilkinson, traditionally in 1829. He was born in 1805, the son of John Wilkinson and his wife Sarah who was the sister of Thomas Greenwood, a member of a Halifax family of handloom weavers who began organ building at about the time of Williams' birth. Thomas Greenwood was the father of John Greenwood, a musical prodigy who became famous in Yorkshire and beyond. His election as organist at Leeds Parish Church in 1821 was an extraordinarily colourful event that involved two days of feverish electioneering.
Thomas Greenwood is said to have taken up organ building to escape from his acute financial difficulties in the woollen trade. From small beginnings, later assisted by two sons from his second marraige, he founded an organ building firm that was to do much work in Yorkshire until about 1860. It is possible, but by no means certain, that William Wilkinson, although brought up by his parents to be a handloom weaver, learnt the rudiments of organ building from his uncle. An early link with Kendal was established by another uncle, John Greenwood, who became a prosperous woollen manufacturer in Stainton, a village about four miles south of Kendal.
William Wilkinson seems to have built his first organ at Northowram, near Halifax, in the late 1820s, probably in 1829, the traditional date for the foundation of the firm. The organ was built for Ebenezer Methodist Church which appears to have had family associations since three of his children were baptised there in later years. No details of the organ have survived, but the specification is known for a single manual organ of six stops without pedals built in 1834 for another local nonconformist church, the New Connexion Chapel. Apart from this modest output nothing more is currently known of his organ building activities.
In about 1839, William Wilkinson moved with his family to the Kendal area after which he worked as a mechanic in a factory, perhaps working for his uncle, John Greenwood, at Stanton Mill. There is no record of him doing significant organ building work at this time. One of the enduring legends about William Wilkinson is that he collaborated with William Sturgeon, the inventor in 1825 of the electromagnet, in attempting to apply the invention to the action of one of his organs. Recent attempts to verify this legend have proved unsuccessful but it seems that the only possible period when the experiments could have taken place was in the late 1840s.
It is quite possible that Wilkinson was doing minor organ building work at this time, but his entry into serious organ building took place rather later in 1856, when he went into partnership with his son, Thomas, a well educated young man of 21 and a fine organist. The partnership became known as Wilkinson and Son, the first new organ being built in 1857.
It is interesting that their first organ was built for Preston Patrick Church, another village very close to Stainton. The early work of the firm was confined to small organs for the churches and chapels of the surrounding area. Apart from one large three manual organ built for Ulverston Parish Church in 1866, this remained the pattern until the death of William in 1870 when Thomas took control of the firm. The work continued on a fairly modest scale until 1880 when a series of much more ambitious organs was built.
In 1880 the firm received the order for a large four manual organ of 54 stops for the Preston Corn Exchange in the face of competition from major London builders. This organ, complete with an impressive 32' front was completed in time for the Preston Guild Merchant of 1882 and caused a great deal of interest not only locally but nationally and established the firm as a major builder. A series of substantial organs followed, the first of which, in July 1883, was the three manual organ for St George's Church in Kendal.
It was around this time that Thomas was joined by his sons William Greenwood and Croft Wilkinson, after which the firm was styled Wilkinson and Sons, Kendal. Organ building on this scale continued for remainder of the century. After 1900, although many organs were built and rebuilt the firm never quite regained the scale of work of the last two decades of the Victorian period. Thomas died in 1917 after which the firm continued under the direction of William Greenwood and Croft Wilkinson. After 1935 the daughter of Croft, Miss Margaret Wilkinson, assumed control until 1957 when the firm was taken over by Rushworth and Dreaper of Liverpool. The recent death of Miss Margaret Wilkinson brought to an end the organ building family in Kendal.
The Wlkinson organ in St. George's Church, Kendal. (Photograph: Paul Joslin)
The organ in St George's Church, Kendal, was completed in 1883 and an opening recital was given by William Smallwood on the 4th of July. The organ then consisted of 37 stops on three manuals and pedal and was situated at the east end of the south gallery. From 1910-11 the church was extended eastwards by the building of the present chancel and vestries to designs by Austin and Paley of Lancaster. The organ was then moved by the builders to the present chamber on the north side of the chancel. As part of the work an Orchestral Trumpet stop on the Swell manual was replaced by an Oboe and the Pedal was augmented by a Sub Bass. It is likely that the work also included the addition of the three octave couplers now present on the Swell. Apart from routine maintenance, the only significant later work on the organ took place in 1983 when the organ was cleaned and various essential repairs were carried out.
The general structure of the organ, the pipe work and actions are of fine quality. Notable features of the organ include the elegant and richly decorated pipe front including a field of 16' pipes to the side. The elegant console, shown in Paul Joslin's excellent photograph reproduced in the Conference Report, incorporates a characteristic feature of the organs of Thomas Wilkinson, the arrangement of the stops on stepped stop jambs. The console still retains the finely detailed adjustable music desk. The Great reed stop is a Trombone, another characteristic detail.
Particularly notable are the diapason choruses on Great and Swell completed by quint mixtures, the choruses having a refined but still brilliant effect which is admirably complemented by the chorus reeds. The solo reeds and the soft flue stops are remarkably beautiful. A most striking quality of the organ is the near perfect blend of the var-ious stops, giving endless possibilities in combination, the good acoustics of the church perfectly complementing the superb tonal finish. One occasionally finds organs that are in some indefinable way particularly special, having qualities for which the usual adjectives seem somehow inadequate. This organ has that special quality.
Although the work of the firm was largely confined to the northern counties of England, the organs built under the direction of Thomas Wilkinson are quite comparable with those of the well known builders of the period. The St. George's organ is the largest, essentially unaltered instrument built by the firm in playing condition. Recently, one other three manual organ has been restored and perhaps only two other three manual organs now exist in original but playable condition. Other organs built by the firm in the same period have been altered, destroyed, or exist only in an unplayable state. Regrettably, this latter group includes the 4 manual, 54 stop organ originally in the Preston Public Hall. The much discussed restoration of this organ now appears very improbable, a situation which increases the importance of the St George's organ even further.
The organ is clearly of the greatest importance not only locally but nationally and is now in need of a thoroughly conservative restoration. It is hoped that this will be soon be possible so that this superb example of local artistry and craftsmanship will be pre-served, played and enjoyed for another hundred years.
The present specification of the organ is:
Great CC-a3
Double Open Diapason 16
Choir CC-a3
Swell CC-a3
Bourdon 16
Pedal CCC-f
Open Diapason 16
Accessories
*Added 1911
|
