Church Organ - St.Laurence's Church, Ludlow, Shropshire. - Musical Instruments on Waymarking.com

Today's organ is one of the finest Parish Church organs in the country, and attracts recitalists from all over the world.

It is probable that there was an organ here as early as 1400. A late C15th account mentions money paid for "mending ye organs", the first know organist was here from 1492 to 1508.

In the mid-16th century there were two organs in St Laurence but as a result of a decree of 1650, during the Commonwealth, organs were destroyed and records became scant.

In 1764, through the generosity of Henry Arthur Earl of Powys, one John Snetzler, a Swiss organ builder living in London, completed what still remains the heart of today's organ at a cost of £1,000 (about £110,000 in today's money). The organ had no pedalboard, but did have three manuals and 19 stops, most of which survive to today. It was placed prominently on a platform directly under the church tower and a plaque on the present organ case commemorates this.

In the 19th Century the organ was restored and enlarged, a fourth manual added, and it was moved to its present position in the North Transept. The work carried out by the renowned firm of Gray and Davison.

Further changes and improvements were made during the C20th, restoration in 1982 by Nicholson and Co. (Worcester) Ltd., and in 1985 the restoration of the Solo division in memory of Olive Ogston (1888-1984).

In 2006, thanks largely to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund further work was carried out to clean the interior of the instrument, improve the console, and to add a set of pipes to re-create one of the stops of the original Snetzler organ which had been removed in the C19th.

Today's organ is a fine instrument used every Sunday for services and for a wide range of musical events in the church.

There are 53 stops, four manuals with 56 notes from CCC to G and a pedal board of 30 notes from CCC to F. Full coupling is available using pistons both from the pedal board and the thumb pistons.

Information taken from (visit link) and the church's information board set up near the organ.

Co-ordinates are for the south-west porch.

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