The magnificent Walker organ at St Mark’s Church of Ireland (Parish of Portadown) has gone through a £45,000 overhaul over the past few weeks and is sounding more stunning than ever – its first ‘outing’ was the Carols from St Mark’s event a fortnight ago, The Portadown Times reports
£25,000 of the amount came from the church’s organ fund and £20,000 has still to be raised, with the Rector, Canon Jim Campbell launching an appeal, come the New Year.
In this special article, Mr Campbell lays out the history of the organ, and shows how vital it is to church music, not only in St Mark’s in particular, but Portadown in general.
“The present organ at St Mark’s was installed in 1948 by the famous firm of J.W. Walker and Sons. It replaced an instrument which had been installed in 1886 and built by Annessen’s of Gramont in Belgium. The St Mark’s Walker is one of the finest parish church organs on the island of Ireland with 53 speaking stops and 1,891 pipes.
The mixture stop of the Great Division is unique in Ireland, having a 21st in its make-up, producing a ‘reedy’ twang to the great chorus when drawn.
The organ is often described as having a ‘smooth’ tone which was the norm for organs of its vintage. Because of the sheer size of the instrument, it is extremely versatile and can be successfully used for both accompaniment and recital purposes.
The organ was overhauled in the 1960s by Smethurst of Manchester, and in 1982, Rushworth and Dreaper of Liverpool carried out the work that included the introduction of ‘Solid Technology’ that allowed the instrument to become more versatile for the player.
The present console of the draw stop variety was also introduced, replacing the original horeshoe-shaped tab stop console which had been sited behind the pillar to the south side of the chancel.
The latest overhaul was the work of Wells Kennedy Partnership of Lisburn. It was necessary as many of the motors underneath each pipe of the organ were beginning to fail. This is a common fault, over time, with the kind of soundboards the organ possesses.
The work was of an extremely intricate and time-consuming nature, hence the reason why the organ was dismantled for an extended period of time and took three weeks to reassemble. Some of the low-voltage wiring, dating from 1948, also had to be replaced. The work leaves St Mark’s with an instrument in excellent condition for the foreseeable future.
£45,000 may sound a lot of money, but if the organ were built from scratch today, it would cost £1.5 million, That’s a lot of notes!”