f the most celebrated organs in the country have, or have
not, been made here, is quite uncertain, though the Directories and
papers of all dates tell us that makers thereof have never been wanting.
In 1730, one Thomas Swarbrick made the organ for St. Mary's Church,
Warwick, and the Directory for 1836 gives the name of Isaac Craddock
(the original maker of the taper penholder), who repaired and in several
cases enlarged the instruments at many of our places of worship, as well
as supplying the beautiful organ for St. Mary's, at Coventry.--The tale
has often been told of the consternation caused by the introduction of a
barrel organ into a church, when from some catch or other it would not
stop at the finish of the first tune, and had to be carried outside,
while the remainder of its repertoire pealed forth, but such instruments
were not unknown in sacred edifices in this neighbourhood but a short
time back [see "_Northfield_"].--A splendid organ was erected in Broad
Street Music Hall when it was opened, and it was said to be the second
largest in England, costing L2,000; it was afterwards purchased for St.
Pancras' Church, London.--The organ in the Town Hall, constructed by Mr.
Hill, of London, cost nearly L4,000 and, when put up, was considered to
be one of the finest and most powerful in the world, and it cannot have
lost much of its prestige, as many improvements have since been made in
it. The outer case is 45ft. high, 40ft. wide, and 17ft. deep, and the
timber used in the construction of the organ weighed nearly 30 tons.
There are 4 keyboards, 71 draw stops, and over 4,000 pipes of various
forms and sizes, some long, some short, some trumpet-like in shape, and
others cylindrical, while in size they range from two or three inches in
length to the great pedal pipe, 32ft. high and a yard in width, with an
interior capacity of 224 cubic feet. In the "great organ" there are 18
stops, viz.: Clarion (2ft.), ditto (4ft.), posanne, trumpet, principal
(1 and 2), gamba, stopped diapason, four open diapasons, doublette,
harmonic flute, mixture sesquialtra, fifteenth, and twelfth, containing
altogether 1,338 pipes. In the "choir organ" there are nine stops, viz.:
Wald flute, fifteenth stopped flute, oboe flute, principal, stopped
diapason, hohl flute, cornopean, and open diapason, making together 486
pipes. The "swell organ" contains 10 stops, viz.: Hautbois, trumpet,
horn, fifteenth, sesquialtra, principal, stopped diapason, open