Marlborough Road, St Albans

The Marlborough Road Organ was installed by Wedlake when the church was completed in 1898, but it included substantial elements of an earlier instrument (provenance currently unknown), built by Bevington in 1881.

In 1948 Hill, Norman and Beard replaced the original mechanical action with pneumatic action, added extra ranks of pipes and moved the console from the organ case to its present position.

A few years ago, the pneumatic action started to break down rendering the pedal organ and other parts unplayable. In 1993 the church decided, after careful evaluation of options, for restoration rather than replacement, and awarded a contract for nearly £31,000 to T.W.Fearn of London to convert the action to electro-pneumatic, introduce certain tonal, switching and control improvements and generally overhaul the instrument.

We now have an instrument admirably fitted both for its primary purpose of leading worship and for providing a valuable resource for the musical life of St.Albans.

TONAL SPECIFICATION of the ORGAN

SWELL ORGAN

1. Violin Diapason 8’ 9. Contra Oboe 16’
2. Viola da Gamnba 8’ 10. Cornopean 8’
3. Voix Celestes 8’ TC 11. Clarinet
4. Lieblich Gedeckt 8’ 12. Tremulant
5. Principal 4’ 13. Super Octave
6. Vienna Flute 4’ 14. Swell Unison Off
7. Fifteenth 2’ 15. Swell Sub Octave
8. Mixture II

GREAT ORGAN

16. Double Dulciana 16'25. Piccolo 2'
17. Open Diapason 8’ 26. Tierce 1 3/5’
18. Geigen Principal 8’ 27. Mixture III
19. Claribel flute 8’28. Trumpet 8’
20. Dulciana 8’29. Octave Trumpet 4’
21. Principal 4’30. Swell Octave to Great
22. Stopped Flute 4’31. Swell to Great
23. Twelfth 2 2/3’32. Swell Sub Octave to Great
24. Fifteenth 2’

PEDAL ORGAN

33. Harmonic Bass 32’ 40. Octave Flute 4'
34. Open Diapason 16’41. Contra Oboe 16'
35. Bourdon 16’42. Trombone 16'
36. Dulciana 16’43. Trumpet 8'
37. Principal 8’ 44. Clarion 4'
38. Bass flute 8’45. Swell to Pedal
39. Fifteenth 4’ 46. Great to pedal

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