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THE ORGAN

For hundreds of years the central casework of the organ at Bishop Street has been admired for its carving and design. It is an example of the work of the famous organ-builder Bernard Schmidt (or Father Smith as he is generally known). Yet when the church was originally opened in 1816, there was no organ and singing was lead by a small orchestra. Despite extensions to the building in 1847 it was not until 1858 that Groves & Mitchell installed a small organ using the Father Smith casework which had been installed in St. Margaret’s Church Leicester in 1773. This casework which now forms the central section of the current organ has four towers and is of a similar design to those found in Christ Church Oxford, St. Mary Cambridge and Eton College Chapel. The finely carved complex filigree at the top of the casing suggests that it is a piece constructed towards the end of Father Smith’s life and it was possibly one of the items sold from his workshops by his second wife, Elisabeth, after his death in 1708. Although it cannot be proved conclusively it is likely that this case was first erected in St. Mary’s Church in Chelmsford (now Chelmsford Cathedral) where it remained until 1772 and its move to St. Margaret’s.

Various alterations were carried out, firstly by Hadfield and Earee of London in 1865 and later by local organ builder Josiah Porritt in 1869, 1878 and 1906. In 1936 Hill Norman & Beard extended the organ considerably including the addition of the side grilles to the casework to accommodate additional pipework and a new detached console.
 

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