Some photographs of the organ in the Church of St. James, Kilkhampton, may be seen in my photo gallery. There are a few showing the old keyboards and draw-stops. The Swell Organ was originally of short compass, extending down to Gamut G. It can be seen that the ‘Swell to Great’ stop has been positioned over the remainder of the Swell keys, with the sharps removed, in order for the stop to draw! Things To Do

The organ as it now stands, is a most exciting instrument. The excellent 32ft. Subbass is extremely useful.  The choruses are bright and clear, with no sense of thickness or heaviness. The Sesquialtera on the Great, together with the Stopped Diapason and even the Nason Flute, makes a telling solo voice. The superb four-rank mixture caps the chorus with great brightness and life.

 

The Pedal Bombarde adds a thrilling éclat to the full organ.

 

This was almost certainly the first organ in Cornwall to possess general pistons. There are two thumb pistons which act as general pistons, in addition to three thumb pistons each for the Great (with Pedal) and Swell. There are also three foot pistons for the Pedal (with Great). These latter pistons give different combinations to the thumb pistons. They are currently set to give a smooth crescendo by commencing with the first thumb piston and then pressing toe and thumb pistons in turn, until the full Pedal and Great are reached. The second general piston is set to draw full organ. There are also three thumb and toe reversible pistons which act on the unison couplers.

The organ of the Church of St. James, Kilkhampton has had a rather chequered history – the actual origins of the instrument are now shrouded in mystery. It is possible that it contains pipe-work by Schrider, from an instrument which may have stood in Westminster Abbey. The main part of the instrument was transferred from the Church of St. Mary, Langley Marsh, in 1860. There was originally on the Great a Trumpet, which drew in halves and a third rank to the Sesquialtera, which was then called ‘Mixture’. The Swell and Pedal organs had been rebuilt using the old pipe-work and chests, but with some new ranks added. The instrument was cleaned by the firm of T.C. Lewis. in 1888 and in 1892, the same firm added a Sub Bass 32ft., by extending the existing 16ft. rank downwards to GGGG. The remaining notes are presently obtained by quinting on itself notes a fourth below the fundamental. This results in one of the most effective quiet 32ft. effects known to the writer.

In 1940, the instrument was moved to the east end of the North Aisle and, in 1985, Roger Yates effected a rebuild, with a new console and electric action, but retaining the old console with its reversed-colour keys and stop labels on the jambs adjacent to the stop-handles, on the west front of the instrument for historical interest.

In 1962, Roger Yates added a Bombarde, with French shallots, to the Pedal Organ.

The instrument is currently in the care of Lance Foy, of Truro.

PEDAL ORGAN	ft.		GREAT ORGAN	ft.		SWELL ORGAN	ft.
Subbass (Ext.;  to GGGG)	32		Open Diapason	8		Open Diapason	8
Principal Bass	16		Stopped Diapason	8		Chimney Flute	8
Subbass	16		Principal	4		Dulciana	8
Octavbass	8		Nason Flute	4		Principal	4
Rauschquint (12-15)	II		Fifteenth	2		Twelfth	2 2/3
Bombarde	16		Sesquialtera (17-19/12-17)	II		Fifteenth	2
Great to Pedal			Mixture (22-26-29-33)	IV		Bassoon	16
Swell to Pedal			Swell to Great			Trumpet	8
			Swell Octave to Great			Octave