A chapel organ which has spent the last 110 years accompanying services in East Cleveland is currently winging its way to its new home more than 6,500 miles away.
Made by the Durham firm of HJ Nelson & Company, it has most recently been in the Skinningrove Wesleyan Methodist Chapel although it started its life next door in the Primitive Methodist Chapel.
Now it is on its way, by sea, to Manilla in the Philippines.
The 1870s was Skinningrove’s decade of dynamism, as Darlington’s Pease family exploited the ironstone mines and the Loftus Iron Company opened the works which, using the famous – and fabulous – jetty exported pig iron to Scotland.
In that decade, Skinningrove’s population rose to about 2,000, which caused the two strands of Methodists to build two chapels beside each other around 1873 – the Primitives had split from the Wesleyans around 1810 as they wanted to get back to the original open air preaching of John Wesley.
The foundation stone for the Primitive chapel was laid on July 30, 1873, and a copy of that day’s Northern Echo was sealed inside it.
In 1910, the Primitives added an organ to their chapel. It was built by Henry John Nelson, himself a Primitive, who had started with Durham’s famous organ-builders Harrison & Harrison, who still make music today, but in 1880 had set himself up in business in Crossgate Head.
Now Skinningrove historian John Roberts takes up the story of Mr Nelson’s organ:
“Social change throughout the 20th Century led to a decline in church attendances and the Primitive chapel was demolished as part of a wider redevelopment of the village. The village hall, opened in 1982, stands on its site.
Its pipe organ was moved to the Wesleyan Chapel in the High Street, where services continued until August 2023.
Although funerals and Christmas services still attracted large numbers, attendances at regular services declined, and the chapel’s continuation into the 21st Century can be credited to Margaret and Tom Evans, who loyally took care of the building, its finances and managed its services.
The chapel was put on the market late last year and sold within a few weeks.
Martin McLachlan, Property and Finance Officer for the Methodist Church Cleveland and Danby Circuit, had responsibility for emptying the building of its contents. The organ was problematic. Although it still produced good sound – as played by the late Andrew Downs – and merited saving, it needed substantial repairs.
Martin says: “With the quick turn around on sale – and the new buyers not wanting it due to a change of use – we were very short on time. We soon found out there is very little interest in this country for re-homing pipe organs because of the costs. A few enquiries were received but these led nowhere and the organ was due to be scrapped.
“At the last minute, Martin Renshaw, an organ builder and restorer, made contact and saved the day. His international contacts had found a buyer in the Philippines on the other side of the world!”
Martin and his partner Dr Vicki Harding spent three long days taking the organ to pieces in March, supported by local volunteers.
Martin McLachlan said: “It was hard work dismantling, cleaning and wrapping of the parts, including some 600 pipes. The parts ranged widely in weight, from extremely heavy to very light and they had to be arranged and documented meticulously, ready for transferring to a large van.
“After many doubts about ever finding a new home for this fine organ, there was a happy ending as we saw the van set off from Skinningrove – and now it can continue to be of benefit, this time in a church in Southeast Asia.”
Martin Renshaw is a London-based founder-trustee of Pipe Up for Pipe Organs, a charity formed by organ enthusiasts in 2022. The former colliery villages of the North East have provided him with a plentiful supply of redundant organs, as seen on the BBC4 programme Organ Stops: Saving the King of Instruments, which can be seen on iPlayer.
Martin Renshaw says: “Another Primitive Methodist organ built by Henry Nelson for the mining village of Billy Row, near Crook, has spent some five years on loan with me as the world-famous choir’s accompaniment organ at Christ Church College and cathedral in Oxford. It has been played by many eminent organists and featured on numerous YouTube films.
“Now it has been completely restored, it arrived in the parish church at Widecombe-in-the-Moor, near Newton Abbot, in Devon, on Tuesday and will very soon be making music.”
It has roved nearly 400 miles from its home, but Skinningrove’s is now 6,500 miles away in the western Pacific Ocean.
The story of Skinningrove’s pipe organ is one that connects past with present and future, and it links places in this country and beyond. It speaks of continuity and the importance of holding on to cultural legacies rather than banishing them to the waste skips of landfill sites.”
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