William Hill


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



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