Dent Parish Church Organ

There are no records of an organ in Dent Church prior to 1892 and an undated photograph, but presumably pre-1892, taken from the back of the church does not show an organ of any description, either in the north or south aisles.

The present instrument, built by Vincent and Co. of Sunderland, was installed during the incumbency of the Reverend J Hayden (1891-1910) who was both an organist and composer. It is undoubtedly due to his passion for music that Dent Church is fortunate to have such a fine instrument. (The Rev Hayden was also responsible for the building in Dent of the very large Old Vicarage in Flintergill.) The following is taken from The Sedbergh and District Parish Magazine of July 1892:

"The date of the Dedication of our new organ is fixed for Friday, July 8th There will be a service in the afternoon at 2-30. The sermon will be preached by the Right Rev. Dr. Ware, Bishop of Barrow-in-Fumess. Mr. Henry S. Vincent, organist of the Parish Church of Bishopwearmouth will preside at the organ."

The organ is built around a powerful Diapason chorus on the Great which is more than balanced by a very fiery Full Swell, courtesy of the 8 foot Trumpet and 3 rank mixture together with the Great to Swell sub-octave coupler. For the accompaniment of congregational singing there is a rich choice of strings and flutes for the organist to play with, the Swell to Mixture or Full Swell only usable in this context when tempered by the very efficient Swell box.

The one section of the organ which is sadly lacking is the pedals. Only one relatively quiet 16 foot Sub Bass and 8 foot Violone are expected to support the enormous power above. Interestingly enough though, there is a suspicious vacant hole alongside the other two pedal stops, complete with felt surround, as if another, rather more substantial 16 foot was part of the original intended specification. Perhaps money ran out. There is also a lot of vacant space on the east side of the organ case which would easily accommodate thirty 16 foot pedal pipes quite nicely.

Last, and certainly least, is the Clarinet stop on the Great. The specification given in the 1892 Parish Magazine mentions 'Spare Slide for Clarionet' but the 'Clarinet' is certainly there in all its buzzing glory, only missing a bottom octave, and giving a very passable imitation of a medieval crumhom. Only really useful when playing the music of Susato or drowned within the full organ.

In 1962, after 70 years of service, the organ was given a major overhaul by Rushworth and Dreaper Ltd. of Liverpool at a cost of £585. No new pipework or additions were made to the organ however and apart from some replacement woodwork and leather the organ is in its original condition. The organ is maintained and tuned by the Rushworth and Dreaper representative in Kendal. There is a CD and cassette tape of the organ on sale in Dent Post Office which demonstrate the full tonal range and expressive power of the instrument (CD) and cassette case on view in the church for details of the programme.

The following is a description of the organ, built by Messrs.Vincent and Co., Sunderland:-

Couplers, Composition Pedals, &c„ as usual.

The case is being constructed of oak by Mr. Brassington of Settle, from plans drawn by Messrs. Paley, Austin, and Paley, of Lancaster, and will be in keeping with the oak-work of the choir in material and design.

Published by D Humphreys and E Denton - December 2000
Reproduced by kind permission of the Organist Roger Bush