Church Organs by Manufacturer

Visitors can click on the name to visit the current Church records with Organ descriptions.
Thanks to the Sydney Organ Society & Organ Historical Trust of Australia for allowing
Organ content throughout this website.

 

Organ Manufacturer Number of Church Organs
George Fincham & Sons 30
George Fincham 25
Whitehouse Brothers 24
J.E. Dodd 15
Hill, Norman & Beard 13
J.W. Walker & Sons 13
Fincham & Hobday 11
Hill & Son 10
Alfred Fuller 9
Charles Richardson 9
William Anderson 7
Norman & Beard 6
Frederick Taylor 6
S.T. Noad & Son 6
Laurie Pipe Organs 6
Whitehouse & Co 5
Knud Smenge 5
E.F. Walcker & Cie 4
J.W. Walker 4
William Davidson 3
John Gray of London 3
Gray & Davison 3
George Fincham & Son 3
Pianoforte Depot Ltd 3
John Courcelle 3
Robert Mackenzie 2
W.L. Roberts 2
J.P. Eagles 2
Walter G. Rendall 2
Henry Willis & Sons 2
Charles Jackson 2

Organ Snippets

Two Organ Society websites worth a visit

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The First Church Organ
The organ began making its way into churches around 900 CE. Exactly how and why remains an enigma, but it appears that the organ was first used for ceremonial purposes. By the 1400s, the use of organs was well established in monastic churches and cathedrals throughout Europe.

Origin's
The origins of the pipe organ can be traced back to the hydraulis in Ancient Greece, in the 3rd century BC, in which the wind supply was created by the weight of displaced water in an airtight container. By the 6th or 7th century AD, bellows were used to supply Byzantine organs with wind.

What is the oldest church organ?
It is generally agreed upon that the organ in the church of Notre-Dame-de-Valère at Sion (Switzerland) is the oldest playable organ in the world. Its oldest parts date as far back as 1435 (+/- 1 year), but they only include most of the case and 180 original pipes from the Gothic period.

Pipes
Organ pipes are made from either wood or metal and produce sound ("speak") when air under pressure ("wind") is directed through them. As one pipe produces a single pitch, multiple pipes are necessary to accommodate the musical scale. The greater the length of the pipe, the lower its resulting pitch will be.