A G.P. England organ reconstructed

St John’s Church, 12 St John’s Street, Chichester PO19 1UU

Saturday 7th June:

Opened in 1813, St John’s Chapel is a rare surviving example of a Georgian proprietary chapel retaining most of its original early nineteenth century features. Proprietary chapels were a solution to the problem of insufficient capacity within existing parish churches to meet the spiritual needs of a growing 18th and early 19th century urban population. The chapel is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust and the Friends of St John’s Chapel, and is used for concerts and a wide range of cultural events. An organ was provided by George Pike England when the chapel was opened, but after a number of ‘rebuilds’ was eventually dismantled in 1980. It has now been reconstructed by Goetze and Gwynn with largely original pipework and a copy of the original case.

10.30 Coffee

11.00 Margaret Phillips: William Russell – Voluntary IX in A minor Largo & Fugue

11.10 Dr Alan Thurlow – The history of St John’s Chapel and the G.P.England organ.
Dr Nicholas Thistlethwaite – G.P.England and the reconstruction of the organ
with a demonstration of individual stops.
Rob Balfour-Rowley of Goetze and Gwynn – the reconstruction of the organ.

1.00 Lunch in the chapel (included).

2.00 Martin Renshaw – The story of the chapel and organ, as told by John Marsh.

2.20 Jane Warner Jones, Conservation Projects Manager at the Churches Conservation Trust who now look after St John’s Chapel, and Dr David Knight, Deputy Director for Church Buildings, Church Commissioners, Cathedral and Church Buildings Department, who will be happy to answer questions about redundant churches and their organs.

3.00 Recital by Margaret Phillips
Voluntary in G Op 5 no 3 John Stanley (1712–1786)
Voluntary no. 5 in A minor Charles Wesley (1757–1834)
Four pieces for small organ Op. 18 Hugo Distler (1908–1942)
Variations on Mijn God, waar zal ik henengaan Klaas Bolt (1927–1990)
Four pieces from Twelve Short Pieces Samuel Wesley (1766–1837)
Piece no 6 (from An Overture and Six Pieces) John Marsh (1752–1828)
4.00 End

The £35 fee includes a sandwich lunch. On line booking is not available at present but the objective can be achieved by completing and returning the booking form published in the BIOS Reporter and also available to download here.

Chichester Parking: The nearest car park is at the north end of Market Avenue/Road, near the junction with East Street / Eastgate. The postcode is PO18 1JW.

Tel No: 01923 718870. Email: meetings@bios.org.uk