Bressingham

St John the Baptist, Bressingham (Norfolk)

Barrel Organs in English Parish Churches

Barrel organ by an unknown builder. Painted plate on case: ‘THIS ORGAN Was Presented to the Parish of Bressingham By Revd G.H. Bidwell [George Henry Clarke Bidwell] March 1st 1859.’ The organ is operated from the rear and blown by pedal independent of the barrel mechanism, therefore the barrel can be held in position for accompanying chant without loss of wind pressure. The grained softwood castellated case has three panels of gold painted dummy pipes backed with red cloth.

References: MacDermott (1948); Boston (1959); Boston & Langwill (1967); Elvin (1984); Turner (2002); NPOR N06175.

BARREL 1 GREEN

Tune

Metre

1.1

Morning Hymn [Barthélémon]

1.2

Shirland

1.3

Sicilian Mariners

87.D

1.4

Oxford [New]

1.5

Carey’s

1.6

Hanover

104th

1.7

Irish

1.8

Wareham

1.9

Warwick

1.10

Double chant: Mornington

1.11

Double chant: Buck

1.12

Double chant: Beckwith

BARREL 2 GREEN

Tune

Metre

2.1

Magdalen [Evening Hymn]

2.2

Mount Ephraim

2.3

Old 100th

2.4

Vienna [Austria]

87.87.D

2.5

Rockingham

2.6

Sheffield [New York]

2.7

University

2.8

Abingdon

2.9

London New

2.10

Double chant: Dupuis

2.11

Double chant: Crotch

2.12

Double chant: Jones

Restored by W.A. Boggis of Diss in 1938, and later by John Budgen. Tunes recorded in 1997. BIOS Historic Organ Certificate awarded 1999 (ungraded). Played by John Betjeman in A Passion for Churches, first broadcast in December 1974: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p022ktzy Two green carriage-mounted barrels x 12 tunes corresponding with the handwritten tunelists pasted to the casework. Photos: M. Kilbey and M. Glover.