St Agatha's Church Organ

From "Organ Centenary at St. Agatha's"
By Derek Nightingale (2003)

"To the glory of God and in loving memory of George Cozens this organ is presented by his brother William R. Cozens of Mackney, July 7th 1903"

Thus reads the inscription above the organ, which was built by George Staniland, a grocer in St. Martin's Street, Wallingford from about 1849 to 1880. It is said that he had an organ in his shop! The instrument installed in 1903 replaced a smaller one erected in 1893. A label inside, dated 1870, suggests that it was previously used elsewhere. Originally the wind would have been hand-blown, with later conversion to an electric drive. The instrument is larger than is normal in a village church, with 19 stops and around 1000 individual pipes. The action of the two keyboards is mechanical, that of the pedals pneumatic. A builder in 1978 referred to the instrument's "amazingly enlightened specification". Following fire and water damage in 1987 substantial repairs were completed, which have enabled the instrument to continue in use since then without so far needing major overhaul which pipe organs invariably require from time to time. Some minor repairs were undertaken in 1998, when the builder described the instrument as a "splendid 2 manual and pedal organ with a large and comprehensive specification".

From the British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS)

St.Agatha's Organ - Brightwell-cum-Sotwell.

2 extracts from BIOS reporter -

George Staniland of Abingdon was a subscriber to 'H & R' in 1855. An organ bearing his name may be found at Brightwell-cum-Sotwell in Oxfordshire. Relf Clark tells me it has a Great from double to mixture, and the Swell also has a mixture, and the date of installation was1903. Clearly it was not new then. A reference to Musical Opinion, September 1903 page 336, to which at the moment I have no access, speaks of this organ as by 'the late Mr Staniland'. Is any further work of his known, and can anyone tell us something about him?

Rev.B B Edmonds BIOS R Vol.15 1 1991

Derrick Carrington writes of the time ''some 20 years ago, when I used to assist Ernest Davey, the HNB tuner. Brightwell-cum-Sotwell was one of the jobs we looked after, and one day some people came into the church, one of whom turned out to be George Staniland's (2) grand-daughter. The lady was fairly aged then, but once helped onto the bench was still able to play while reminiscing about her grandfather. He was apparently the grocer of Wallingford and had built and erected the organ in the centre of his shop!

The organ is very interesting - there are a number of different forms including metal chimney flutes and a bell gamba in the swell. The instrument was decidedly English Classical, rather akin to an early Holdich.''

Ibid. Vol 3/4 p.18 1991