St. Mary’s Church, High Street, Boston Spa LS23 6DR

www.stmarysbostonspa.org.uk

 

Press Release:

 

Starts.

 

Heritage set for another century at St. Mary’s with celebration concert.

 

 

The 136 year old pipe organ in St. Mary’s Church, Boston Spa has undergone a complete restoration and rebuild. Following 3 years of dedicated fundraising by the congregation and local community and supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the organ was removed to the workshops of Principal Pipe Organs in York. It was stripped down and all worn out parts refurbished. After over a century of use the entire organ mechanism was worn past any hope of further adjustment and had to be totally re-built, but care was taken to retain the mechanical, Victorian built, tracker action.

 

Liz Etherington & John Townend, who organised the fundraising events, said that they were delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund grant had allowed St. Mary’s to carry out all the work needed including placing the organ on a purpose-built gallery.

 

“All our sponsors and the whole community are now invited to a Rededication and Celebration Organ Recital to be held on Saturday 3rd July at 7.30pm. The Recital will be given by Geoffrey Coffin, former Assistant Organist at York Minster and founder of Principal Pipe Organs. It will feature well known organ music and will be followed by a finger supper. Entry is free, no tickets are required and everyone will be very welcome”.

 

In addition to restoring the organ, fundraising has allowed St. Mary’s to produce information leaflets and an interactive touch screen display for visitors. After the Recital there will be free self-guided church tour and organ specification leaflets, along with a more detailed booklet about the Church and its history available for purchase. Visitors are encouraged to use the interactive display, now in place beneath the new gallery, which follows the progress of the organ restoration in the church and the workshop. It also features information on how a pipe organ works, some pipe sounds and short excerpts of music played on the restored organ. A photo gallery, details of the Victorian stained glass East Window and brief notes on the church and village history are also included. John Townend added that they confidently expect that, with appropriate maintenance, the Organ will now serve St. Mary’s and the village well for at least another century.

 

Ends

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

John Townend: 01937 845711. email: j.townend1@ntlworld.com

 

Heritage Lottery Fund Notes to Editors.

 

Using money raised through the National Lottery, since 1994 the Heritage Lottery Fund has not only revitalised hundreds of museums, parks, historic buildings, landscapes and wildlife sites, but has also given new meaning to heritage itself. People from every walk of life are now involved with the heritage that inspires them, making choices about what they want to keep and share from the past, for future generations. HLF has supported more than 33,900 projects, allocating over £4.4billion across the UK, including £341million to more than 2,500 projects across the Yorkshire and the Humber region alone. Website: www.hlf.org.uk