We were pleased to be entrusted with the restoration of a James Conacher organ in a gem of a church in the Yorkshire Pennines.
The Grade Il listed estate church of St Anne, Carlecotes, near Penistone, was built in 1857 and stands in the grounds of the 16th century Carlecotes Hall.
It retains, to its good fortune, an original, unmodified 1890 Grade II* listed organ by James Conacher of Huddersfield.
The instrument became unplayable because of problems with its mechanical action, so we were delighted to carry out a historical restoration.
The Conacher name is usually associated with organs voiced with studious restraint by the Huddersfield builder, Peter Conacher. However, his brother James – and, in particular, James's son, Peter – created instruments of greater tonal interest, with bolder voicing, through first-hand experience of the work of Henry Willis.
The Carlecotes organ was stripped down in our workshop where the soundboards were repaired, the rollerboard rebushed, the tracker action restored, the pedalboard remade and the stencilled pipes carefully cleaned. It was returned to Carlecotes to serve for another century or more.
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