Betty

THE ST JOHN’S ORGAN

We are very proud of “Betty”, our 32-stop, 1636-pipe, Grade 2* listed, William Hill & Son organ. She arrived in 1865 to replace an earlier organ by Henry Bevington, which was built in 1845 and is thought to have been played by Mendelssohn shortly afterwards. In 1865, for the princely sum of £830, William Hill & Son built “Betty” for us, a wondrous creature who first lived at the West End of the church in a gallery which has since been taken down. In 1880, “Betty” was moved to the East End of the church, and pneumatic action was added to the pedal organ in memory of Lucy A. Galloway. Further alterations in 1925 saw Rushworth & Dreaper adding octave couplers and re-voicing the organ’s reeds.

By 2013, when the Save Betty! campaign began, the organ was in a state of advanced disrepair. There were a number of problems, ranging from dirt and wear to more significant technical issues. Because “Betty” was built into the North East corner of the church, there was minimal access to many important parts of the organ. For this reason, some urgent repairs were impossible to make without taking out the entire organ. Hence, the Save Betty! campaign began to repair the organ into good order in time for its 150th birthday.

Thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, in March 2015, “Betty” went away to a spa in Malvern, run by Nicholson Organ Builders, and was completely restored. “Betty” returned to St John’s in July 2015, and was officially opened by James O’Donnell in November 2015.

The website Save Betty!, which documented the restoration campaign and all of its various events, can be accessed by clicking here.

“Betty”’s full specification listing on the National Pipe Organ Register can be found here.

Stop List