Hillie2412

I have nearly 2000 pipes   -   yes!   But that’s not enough.   There should be at least another 500 more.   Sadly I was never finished as the Abbey didn’t have enough money to pay Mr William, but more was promised. When I was a year old   -   in 1912   -   more pipes were given to me and my third keyboard brought into use.   But I still didn’t have some of the most important sounds which would make sure my voice is really heard in this lovely large building. But I am so proud of all the pipes Mr William made.   The largest is 16’ high, and the smallest about 1/2". Some are wood, some are metal, and some have a bung in the top to make them sound deeper.

As I have said, I am over 100 years old.   So I am now old and a little tired When Mr William made me, I had all the latest technology. I am, yes! pneumatic   -   that was a real wow at the time.   As well as keys and levers, I was made with lots of lovely lead tubes, so that compressed air could rapidly pass around me, and up into my pipes Mind this was hard work on the choirboys who had to take it in turns to pump air into me and sometimes they were too enthusiastic and made me work far too hard.   I was 10 years old before anyone thought of replacing those choirboys with a big electric motor but they kept my pump just in case that new-fangled electricity didn’t do the job properly I’ve still got all those lovely lead tubes, and they usually still work, but I’ve also got lots of little motors   -   hinged with white leather, to flap open and shut to let air through   -   and these now are showing their age and don’t always work 

I would also like to say something about the Abbey building I sit on the north side of the new (1890s) Chancel.   Looking to the east I see Mr John’s High Altar and directly across from me, I speak into a lovely small Lady Chapel Looking west I see the history of the Abbey in its stone work.   At the far west end is a glorious 14 th century window and the space where the old organ once sat.   In the nave I look at massive 11 th century Norman arches, built by William the Conqueror’s friend Roger de Montgomery, but the upper stories of the nave have had to be restored by Mr John Outside I am told much of the original Norman Abbey complex has been destroyed and for over 300 years, the building was in a very poor state until Mr John sorted it all out My position on the north side of the Chancel gives me splendid views of the inside of the building, and I am fortunate to have a huge amount of space   -   space to allow my lovely sounds to blend, mingle and pass out into

I was designed by Mr William with advice from Dr George of Hereford Cathedral.   My dear friend Mr Percy (Pilcher) was the Abbey’s organist at the time and he helped choose Mr William to be my builder The Abbey had been restored and extended by Mr John (Loughborough Pearson) in the 1890s with a view to the Abbey becoming the cathedral church for the whole of Shropshire.   A new organ was needed to sit on the north side of the new Chancel. Mr William proposed a 3 keyboard organ, with chorus work and reed stops on each, and several large pedal stops, all to be of a scale to fill the Abbey with lovely sound. I was designed to be vibrant, bright and powerful, and capable of helping large congregations sing their favourite hymns As my blog will reveal, Mr William’s ambitions for me have yet to be fully realised, and I will explain why it is that over 100 years on, I need to be worked on again to bring me back to full working order

Hello and welcome to my blog.   Let me introduce myself.   My official name is 2412.   When I was made in Mr William’s Islington workshop, he stamped that number on some of my timbers and pipes.   So that’s my proper name but you can call me Hillie. I am over 100 years old.   I was made for Shrewsbury Abbey in 1911 and they paid £850 for me.   I replaced an older inferior pipe organ which was no longer up to the job of accompanying and assisting congregational worship in the recently extended building. On 17 September 1911 I was introduced to the Abbey congregation and was told I was just beautiful.    A week later, the Shrewsbury Chronicle (they didn’t have social media in those days) carried a report on my first services which made me feel so proud and pleased with the lovely work by Mr William

Welcome to Shrewsbury Abbey’s 1911 Hill organ blog The grand old lady has decided to tell her own story, using modern social media which she has mastered with a little help from her friends In the pages of this blog, the Organ will tell her own story, reveal some of her best kept secrets, explain why she now needs restoration and completion, and comment on some of the events during the Abbey’s appeal for funds to enable the work to take place