After almost a year of work both in Malaysia and England our historic ‘Father Willis’ organ is leading our worship once again. Tony Hughes has the story.

The organ has been lovingly restored by specialist organ builders Peter Wood and Son of Harrogate, Yorkshire and Mark Wood, who has overseen all the work both in Malaysia and the UK, tells us that he has been “very privileged to have been engaged in the restoration of the organ. It is a joy to see and hear it in the form ‘Father Willis’ intended; a fine organ set in the heart of Malaysia built by men whose inventory included the Grand Organ at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Thankfully it has survived two World Wars and will now continue to lead the musical heritage of St Mary’s for the foreseeable future”.

Unplayable when Mark Wood and his colleagues Nigel Crossley, Mark Tavener took over the organ restoration, their work included regluing the sound boards, repairing some of the pipes which collapsed during the absence of the ‘speaking pipes’, replacing 17 pipes from the harmonic piccolo to exactly the same dimensions as the original Father Wills pipes, as well as re-leathering the bellows. The keys connecting rods and bearings, not restored since the organ arrived in St Mary’s in 1904, have been completely replaced and the organ is now completely re-instated to the original ‘Father Willis’ format.

Work was hampered by two local problems. One involved water found in the packing cases containing the organ parts on arrival at Port Klang, and the other, much more serious, white ants in the roof beams of the organ chamber. Happily these were discovered and eliminated before the organ was re-installed and the damaged wooden beams replaced with appropriate timber and supported by a new steel girder.

So all’s well that ends well and our musical Jewel in the Crown will continue to be at the heart of our musical tradition here at St Mary’s. Praise the Lord.