© Maggie Kilbey & Marcel Glover 2024
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. The
mahogany case has four panels of gold painted dummy pipes.
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) p.7; Chelmsford Chronicle (24 Aug.
1928) p.4 & (27 Jun. 1941) p.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)
pp.276-7; Turner, (2002); Historic England
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-
list/list-entry/1338494.
BARREL 1
Tune
Metre
1.1
CM
1.2
CM
1.3
CM
1.4
SM
1.5
CM
1.6
148th
1.7
LM
1.8
CM
1.9
1.10
CM
BARREL 2
Tune
Metre
2.1
LM
2.2
104th
2.3
CM
2.4
LM
2.5
SM
2.6
LM
2.7
CM
2.8
77.77.D
2.9
87.87.47.
2.10
87.87.887.
© Maggie Kilbey & Marcel Glover 2024
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. The
mahogany case has four panels of gold painted dummy pipes.
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) p.7; Chelmsford Chronicle (24 Aug. 1928) p.4 & (27
Jun. 1941) p.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) pp.276-7; Turner,
(2002); Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-
list/list-entry/1338494.
BARREL 2
Tune
Metre
2.1
LM
2.2
104th
2.3
CM
2.4
LM
2.5
SM
2.6
LM
2.7
CM
2.8
77.77.D
2.9
87.87.47.
2.10
87.87.887.
BARREL 1
Tune
Metre
1.1
CM
1.2
CM
1.3
CM
1.4
SM
1.5
CM
1.6
148th
1.7
LM
1.8
CM
1.9
1.10
CM
