STOP PRESS

The church of St John, Thaxted, provides a wonderful setting for a remarkable instrument. In the North transept sits a Georgian organ, now rarely played due to its failing condition, but representing a unique survival from the past.

The organ was built by Henry Cephas Lincoln around 1820, originally for St. John’s Chapel, Bedford Row, London. It was moved to Thaxted in 1858, and was in active use here until the 1960s. Over the 150 years in Thaxted, the instrument has been little repaired and altered – meaning that it offers a tremendous opportunity for restoration and use as a late-Georgian organ.

A further distinction is that Gustav Holst was the Thaxted organist in the early years of the twentieth century; both he and his friend Ralph Vaughan-Williams played this organ regularly.

In a recent talk given in the church, Canon Nicholas Thistlethwaite, the foremost authority on England’s historic organs, said: “The organ now sounds like a shadow of its former self. It’s still nearly all there, waiting (like the Sleeping Beauty) to be re-awakened and restored to glory, but in its present state it cannot give a good account of itself. It is also getting to the point where some of the damage will become irreversible.”

A local group has been formed, with the support of the Vicar and Parochial Church Council, with the aim of preventing this important historic instrument being lost. The links will tell you more about the organ, our aims, fund-raising events, and about how you might be able to help with this significant project.