On Saturday 9th June, Fressingfield Parish Church was full in celebration of the re-dedication of their newly restored Father Willis organ. The Rt Rev’d Dr Mike Harrison, Bishop of Dunwich, carried out the dedication, presenting the organ key to resident organist Peter Creswell.
The congregation was treated to organ music played by Julian Haggett, Regional Consultant at the Royal College of Organists, who was instrumental in running workshops and also from two of the his students.
Rev’d Canon Susan Loxton, rector, thanked the Heritage Lottery Fund, Jenny Whitehurst, project leader, and the team of volunteers and commented ‘The restoration project for the organ involved significant community involvement with organ lessons for students, workshops for local primary and secondary schools, lectures, exhibitions, historical research, the production of a photobook, website and much more, the results being a very special legacy for generations to come.
The project was financed by an East of England Heritage Lottery Fund grant, donations from Garfield Weston, The Duchy of Lancaster and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, amongst others, plus extensive local fundraising. Local business, W and A Boggis of Roydon, were the contracted organ restorers.
The Father Willis organ was commissioned by Queen Victoria and built in 1865 for the Royal Chapel of Savoy London. It remained at the chapel until 1939 when it was bought by the Reverend Thursford Pitt for his church in Fressingfield. It had served the community here for 77 years, but was in need of urgent attention in order to continue for further generations.
17th December 2016
The start of the project Celebration combined with a Christmas event. We had an exhibition showing an overview of the project with thanks made to all concerned, especially the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The organ played for the last time before the restoration began.
Research Training
On 26th January 2017, there was a visit by 14 members of the village history group to Ipswich Records Office. A wide range of subjects were researched, including education in Fressingfield, the 1864 schedule of work for Fressingfield Church and research of many buildings in the village. The visit included a talk on the Records Office, a tour of the storage areas and a chance to withdraw documents and study.
The visit was greatly appreciated and visitors expressed enthusiasm to visit again and continue research on their own.
High School Workshop
The workshop was held at All Saints' Church Stradbroke, so the organ could be used, and was attended by 11 students. It was led by Julian Haggett BA. 'From a whisper to a roar', the structure of the organ was simply explained and its music likened to a whole orchestral sound. A wide range of music was played as an example.
The students had a lively, interactive session and themselves had a go at playing the organ. Julian received excellent feedback from the teacher. Another session would have been appreciated but there was no room in the timetable. The art department had no time in the school timetable to take part but in lunchtimes and after school they produced a collage from photographs of the church's medieval art.
Photo: from left, Rt Rev’d Dr Bishop Mike, Jenny Whitehurst,
Rev’d Canon Susan Loxton, Jeremy Caddick of Emmanuel College.
Photo by Philip Eastgate
Primary School Workshops
March 2017. Two workshops were attended by 32 children. They were held in Fressingfield church and were also led by Julian Haggett who gave a simple talk on the organ's structure and explained its restoration. Five work groups followed to investigate the organ's environment of medieval beauty. Sketch books, pencils and felt tips were provided for each child.
The five activity groups were
* Photography to create collages
* Sketches
* Stained glass windows
* Brass rubbings
* Painting of the designs
The children worked in collaborative groups and discussed their objectives.
Rodney Briscoe of Boggis and Co supplied wooden organ pipes onto which the children transposed their artwork to stunning effect.
Volunteers helped with the art activities. The children will return to play the restored organ.
Open Sessions
There was an open afternoon for the parents following the last Primary School workshop. Artwork was displayed in the church so the parents could share their children's experiences. Workshop leaders, equipment and refreshments were funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
On Saturday 28th October 2017, a further exhibition of the carefully mounted artwork was displayed in the church hall at one of the fundraising coffee mornings. Artwork will be transferred to a pop up banner for display in the school.
Organ Lessons
Lessons commenced in March 2017 in All Saints' Church Stradbroke. There were two High School students and one mature student from Fressingfield Church. They were taught by Julian Haggett and all made outstanding progress.
They were provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund with a good manual and special organ shoes to enable them to feel the pedals with sensitivity. Initially nine lessons per pupil were provided. Finances were saved by volunteers helping with teaching supervision which enabled the supply of of six further lessons.
Sadly, funding was not available to continue the lessons and the students who then went to college no longer have lessons. The mature student is continuing with lessons with the support of the fundraising team.
History Talk
Reverend Rosemary Willis gave the talk about the medieval history of the church to an audience of 35. The talk began in the church and continued around the outside, viewing the tower, porch, sanctus bell etc. There were photographic displays and an organ information area and HLF acknowledgements. Refreshments were supplied.
Saturday 16th December 2017. This was a village event which commenced at 5pm with a tea for the children enabling families to come and join in with the other early evenings events. The tea was provided very generously by friends of the church.
There was a workshop for the children and over the course of the evening there were up to 21 children having a great time with the activities.
Christine Lindsay made little Christmas cakes which the children had fun icing. Mary Cufley and Marie helped to decorate cards wooden stars, deer and snowflakes. There was also flower arranging and the making of a crib. It was meant to close at 6pm but they were enjoying it so much the families stayed well into the evening.
The adult buffet commenced at 6.30pm with a good attendance. The raffle, guess the lucky squares and a quiz plus several stalls attracted quite a lot of attention.
Wine and delicious food were served.
The main attraction of the evening was to hear the first sounds of the newly restored organ.
Chris Bartrop, the organist, arrived at 6.45pm and shortly after the organ was heard. It was emotional for all who had worked so hard for this moment. Chris the organist and the other restorers, Rodney John and Izaak, returned to explain the work done on the organ. Chris Barber flood lit the inside of the organ so the pipes and mechanisms could be clearly seen. Mike Cox, who has kept a photographic record, also talked to a lot of visitors.
The restorers have done a wonderful job meticulously and carefully rebuilding this very complicated instrument making it pristine and in first class condition.
The casement is in the process of being restored in the Boggis and Co workshop.
The choir sang carols interspersed with organ music.
Many people stayed and enjoyed all that was going on.
The event came to an end about 9pm when people started to drift away. Thank you to all who worked so hard to make this event a success.
Thank you to the HLF who helped to support this event to celebrate the organ playing for the first time and enabled everyone to see the instrument before it is hidden again by the casement.
Thursday 24th May 2018
We held a workshop for Primary School children in the church so that they could hear the restored organ
Website Training
Website training has taken place for one person rather than the two envisaged because the cost was appreciably more than expected. The content was written by members of the organ project team as were the photographs taken 'in house'.
Evaluation of the project to date
The restoration has proceeded systematically despite difficulties at the start. The work is of a very high standard and was executed with great care.
The outreach programme has been exciting and much appreciated by all taking part. In the cases where the programme had to be adjusted, it was unavoidable but increases in the numbers attending other similar events more than made up for the deficits, leaving all participants requesting further activities.
Some activities are still to happen - a Scout workshop, possibly another history talk and the completion of the planned book.
