© Maggie Kilbey & Marcel Glover 2026
Black Chapel, North End, Great Waltham (Essex)
Barrel Organs in English Parish Churches
Barrel organ by an unknown builder. Note: this is a ‘peculiar’ chapel (outside the jurisdiction of a bishop) situated in the parish of Great
Waltham.
The organ is located in the west gallery and operated from the front, with the crank handle on the right and a central blowing pedal.
Mahogany case with gold painted dummy pipes (3-3-3-3).
Stop list: Open Diapason 8’, Stopped Diapason 8’, Principal 4’, Fifteenth 2’.
Restored by Freddy Hill in 1975-6. Tunes recorded in 1996.
Two barrels x 10 tunes. Both barrels have new gears and barrel 2 has had both ends replaced at some stage. There is a handwritten
tunelist (not original) pasted inside the case, pencil additions give the modern first lines of hymns and numbers from Hymns Ancient &
Modern. There are some discrepancies between the metres ….
References: Thomas Elliston, ‘The Barrel Organ in Church’, Musical News (3 Jul. 1920) 7; Chelmsford Chronicle (24 Aug. 1928) 4 & (27 Jun.
1941) 2; Hughes (1955); Boston & Langwill (1967); Roger Booty & Freddy Hill, ‘Barrel Organ Redivivus 1: Chelmsford’s Black Chapel’, The
Music Box, vol. 7 no.7 (Autumn 1976) 276-7; Turner, (2002); Historic England historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1338494.
BARREL 2
Tune
Metre
BARREL 1
Tune
Metre
© Maggie Kilbey & Marcel Glover 2026
Barrel Organs in English Parish Churches
Black Chapel, North End,
Great Waltham (Essex)
Barrel organ by an unknown builder. Note: this is a ‘peculiar’ chapel
(outside the jurisdiction of a bishop) situated in the parish of Great
Waltham.
The organ is located in the west gallery and operated from the front,
with the crank handle on the right and a central blowing pedal.
Mahogany case with gold painted dummy pipes (3-3-3-3).
Stop list: Open Diapason 8’, Stopped Diapason 8’, Principal 4’,
Fifteenth 2’.
Restored by Freddy Hill in 1975-6. Tunes recorded in 1996.
Two barrels x 10 tunes. Both barrels have new gears and barrel 2
has had both ends replaced at some stage. There is a handwritten
tunelist (not original) pasted inside the case, pencil additions give the
modern first lines of hymns and numbers from Hymns Ancient &
Modern. There are some discrepancies between the metres ….
References: Thomas Elliston, ‘The Barrel Organ in Church’, Musical
News (3 Jul. 1920) 7; Chelmsford Chronicle (24 Aug. 1928) 4 & (27 Jun.
1941) 2; Hughes (1955); Boston & Langwill (1967); Roger Booty &
Freddy Hill, ‘Barrel Organ Redivivus 1: Chelmsford’s Black Chapel’,
The Music Box, vol. 7 no.7 (Autumn 1976) 276-7; Turner, (2002);
Historic England historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-
entry/1338494.
BARREL 1
Tune
Metre
BARREL 2
Tune
Metre