The challenges

The skills of our organists really do help to cover up so many of the shortcomings which now exist on our organ. Sticking notes, hissing sounds, mechanical malfunctions on particular stops and delays in the reaction to the keyboards are all regular occurrences which they try their best to disguise. However, even the skills of our amazing musicians are no longer enough to keep standards up. In recent months there have been some heart stopping moments when it seemed possible that the organ would fail altogether.
The air supply, which drives the organ, had become extremely noisy and was failing badly. Frequent maintenance visits from organ builders Harrison & Harrison were just about keeping it going but finally in 2021 a fairly major overhaul of the air supply had to be undertaken, generously funded by The Friends of Wells Cathedral. Despite the success of this project, the number of other mechanical failures continues to grow and it is now increasingly urgent that in order to avoid a catastrophic failure, we begin the full refurbishment of the instrument.



The vision

The primary objective of the project is to recondition the organ by removing all 5,000 existing pipes for repair, cleaning or replacement and to overhaul the console, the pedals and the stops. But our vision also includes plans to deliver a significant enhancement to its musical performance.
To this end we will revoice and rebalance the instrument, moving more of the sound to the nave side and less of it on the quire side.
This will create a much more appropriate volume for the great civic services, the carol services and celebrations which take place in the nave each year. For daily Evensong in the quire a much more elegant and sensitive range of pipes will accompany these daily devotions.
We also intend to add a few more pipes to increase the range and interest of sounds available, especially for the larger occasions. Our cathedral organ is one of the few without a colossal 32-foot stop to underpin the fabulous sound of a great congregation – an omission we aim to correct. Also to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty in 2022, we hope to commission a range of Jubilee Trumpets for the grandest occasions.
A few more additions are being planned to ensure that the refurbished organ will be a Grand Organ that will be truly appropriate for our reputation as a centre of excellence for English choral music.

How you can help
The Friends of Wells Cathedral aims to raise £2m over the 5-year period of the Grand Organ Appeal. However, always up for a challenge, we hope the new Grand Organ will be completed a little earlier in time for the Cathedral’s 850th anniversary. There are 6 ways by which you can help us achieve this daunting target.
How you can help