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 & Gwynn with largely original pipework and a copy of the original case.

The day will include contributions from Alan Thurlow, Nicholas Thistlethwaite, The Churches Conservation Trust, Rob Balfour-Rowley of Goetze & Gwynn and Margaret Phillips, who gave the opening recital in October last year.  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.

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