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The Organ
 St Peter’s is most fortunate in being home to an exceptionally fine four-manual organ built by the eminent Victorian craftsman William Hill. The church was consecrated in 1870 and the trustees particularly wanted to have somewhere where the music would play a worthy part in the reverent and devotional worship in the new church. Dr Benjamin Agutter was appointed as the first Organist and Choirmaster. Correspondence shows that Dr. Agutter worked carefully with William Hill and Son on the specification for the organ which was installed in 1870.
Dr. Agutter was still Organist and Choirmaster when the organ was enlarged, again by the William Hill & Son firm, to its present four manual specification in 1903 and an electric blower was installed. A grand West Case was added in 1903 to a design by Arthur Hill.
The organ with its 47 speaking stops provides a wide palette of rich and subtle sounds, and is well-suited to the demands of choral and congregational music, as well as solo recitals. A review of the organ was written in 1970 by William L. Sumner and published in Musical Opinion. Sumner, a great authority on organs contributed over sixty articles to The Organ magazine. His article is reproduced with kind permission below. |
Renovations and Repairs
| Three important renovations have taken place since 1903. The electrification of the manual actions was undertaken in 1972. The electrification of the pedal action was completed in 1994 and the manual slider machines were restored in 2000. In 2002, the organ was damaged by rainwater and as a consequence repairs were made to the wind chests, swell and great. This work was completed in 2003. A new electric blower was installed in 1994 which replaced the Watson and Watson 1903 blower. This was restored in 1994, but sadly it needed to be replaced with a more effective machine. |  |
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Current Condition
 The instrument is tonally in good shape. The condition and the quality of the pipework provide for an exciting musical experience. However, the organist has to overcome many handicaps to produce such effect.
The pistons are not functioning, and so the organist must pull individual stops to change the sound combinations. This limits the range of music which can be played, particularly of the romantic period. It must be a high priority to restore the pistons to working order.
The tremulants have been out of service since the 1970s - not being a high priority for repair, and the swell pedal for the choir organ is also out of action. Again this sounds worse than it might seem, since there are only two reeds, a Clarinet and the Vox Humana which are enclosed on the Choir. A number of stops are currently not functioning due to malfunctions between the console and the slider machines which were restored in 2000.
Those familiar with the specification of three and four manual Hill organs will recognize that the St Peter’s Streatham organ is a classic of its kind. A large specification which provides a fantastic range: from the soft string sounds of the Swell Salicional and Voix Céleste to the roaring, majestic full Swell with 16’ Double Trumpet, 8’ Cornopean, and 4’ Clarion. She has a pedal stop list that provides ample, but not over-the-top support to the large Great and Swell departments. The Choir and Solo provide a range of alternative colour and descant and fauxbourdon opportunities.
The organ was cleaned after the Second World War - remarkably, despite the church losing its windows and flying bomb damage to the roof, the organ survived unscathed. To access the interior of the organ, the organ tuner/builder must be quite athletic. This has probably helped protect the instrument from untrained curiosity and potential damage. The pipe work is in excellent condition for a 135 year-old. |
The Layout
 The arrangement of the departments of the organ give away its development and provide a source of debate as to the original intentions. The Great Organ speaks out over the choir area of the church. The Swell is placed centrally and the pedal pipes encircle the Swell box. The Swell shutters open over the choir area. This means that the largest departments of the organ do not speak directly into the body of the church (westwards) - thus reducing their impact in the nave. However, the choir organ is directly behind the west facing Arthur Hill screen and so can provide a boost for congregational items as well as being used on its own to solo out lines. However, the choir organ acts as a baffle for the Swell and Great. The Solo is placed at the top of the organ chamber and so its sound is relatively unencumbered. The Tuba pipes peak, and speak, over the top of the south case. At some stage, a second shutter was added the Swell to speak westwards but this has not been connected in living memory.
Deep within the organ in the furthest corner hemmed in by the 32’ Sub Bourdon and the 16’ Trombone is a row of pedal pipes of the organ showing decoration almost certainly displayed on the West Case when the organ was built in 1870 but now sadly hidden away inside. The decoration depicts climbing sun flowers which can also be seen on the outside of the organ case and depicted above the Reredos at the East End of the Church. |
The Future
 | Preparation is being made for the next stages of restoration. Further work is needed to the wind reservoirs. The 1970s electro-pneumatic actions are now very worn. As mentioned earlier, work is required to restore the finger pistons (4 to great and 4 to swell). There are no toe pistons – this could possibly have been an economy, since the size of the instrument and comparison with other contemporary instruments show that this is an unusual limitation. The original Hill high-cheek profile keys were removed in 1972 and it might be desirable to restore this aspect of the organ to its original design, since the existing more inferior keys will require replacement at some stage.
There is no evidence that the exterior metal flue pipes were intended to be painted. Although, the painted interior pipes show that decoration was an original feature. A climbing sun flower design would certainly enhance the south case and perhaps atone for the hidden decorated pedal pipes. But this is unlikely to be a high priority for the immediate period.
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More Information / Contact Us?
 | The Director of Music - David Cresswell - is pictured at the console.
If you would like to know more about the organ, the choir or music at St Peter's then please do not hesitate to make contact, via email through this website or to music@stpeters-streatham.org
The specification of the organ follows.
The article by W.L. Sumner follows the specification... |
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Organ Specification
| Great Organ |
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Choir Organ |
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| Double Diapason |
16' |
Open Diapason |
8' |
| Open Diapason 1 |
8' |
Dulciana |
8' |
| Open Diapason 2 |
8' |
Gedeckt |
8' |
| Gamba |
8' |
Gemshorn |
4' |
| Stopped Diapason |
8' |
Suabe Flute |
4' |
| Principal |
4' |
Flautina |
2' |
| Wald Flute |
4' |
Clarinet |
8' |
| Twelfth |
2²/³’
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Vox Humana |
8' |
| Fifteenth |
2' |
Tremulant |
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| Mixture |
3rks |
|
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| Trumpet |
8' |
Solo Organ |
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| Clarion |
4' |
Tuba |
8' |
| |
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Viol d'Orchestre |
8' |
| Swell Organ |
|
Orchestral Oboe |
8' |
| Bourdon |
16' |
Rohr Gedeckt |
8' |
| Open Diapason |
8' |
Harmonic Flute |
4' |
| Salicional |
8' |
Tremulant |
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| Voix Céleste |
8' |
|
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| Stopped Diapason |
8' |
Pedal Organ |
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| Rohr Flute |
4' |
Sub-Bourdon |
32' |
| Principal |
4' |
Bourdon |
16' |
| Twelfth |
2²/³’
|
Open Diapason |
16' |
| Fifteenth |
2' |
Violone |
16' |
| Mixture |
2rks |
Bass Flute |
8' |
| Double Trumpet |
16' |
Violoncello |
8' |
| Cornopean |
8' |
Principal |
8' |
| Oboe |
8' |
Trombone |
16' |
| Clarion |
4' |
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| Tremulant |
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| Couplers
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| Gt, Sw, Ch, So to Pd |
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Sw to Gt, So to Gt |
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| Sw to Ch, Swell Octave and Sub-Octave |
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Solo Octave and Sub-Octave
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| There are 4 pistons to Great and 4 pistons to Swell
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Balanced swell pedals for swell and solo
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Two South London Organs by W.L. Sumner
 | Reproduced with kind permission of the editors from Musical Opinion Magazine: Published February 1970
"The Church of St. Peter, Leigham Court Road, Streatham
Few "untouched" large Hill organs now remain. It is more than half a century since the Hill firm amalgamated with, and was later absorbed by, that of Norman & Beard.
Most of the instruments of the original firm have been rebuilt. The large organ in All Hallows, Gospel Oak, and the four-manual, which formerly stood in the Northern Polytechnic Institute, Holloway Road, now in the Catholic Church, near the top of Highgate Hill, still remain to us. The large organ, which used to stand in the little church .of St. Mary the Boltons, Kensington, has been transferred, with some modifications, to the great parish church of Yarmouth, where it replaces the late J. J. Binns's largest instrument, destroyed in the war.
The four-manual Hill in the Church of St. Peter (formerly known as. St. Peter and St. Paul [See note*]), Streatham, is worthy of sympathetic restoration. Although the church lost most of its stained glass in the war, the organ was little damaged. In its life of nearly 70 years it has received little attention, apart from routine maintenance. The fact that it functions as well as it does, and is still unmistakably a musical instrument, testifies to the workmanship and quality of materials which went into its making. The solid plates of ivory, 1/8in. thick, of its manual keys are not much worn, even on the great manual [See note**].
The church, on a hillside near the top of Leigham Court Road, Streatham, commands a view over a considerable part of South London." |
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[The Organ Specification was reproduced at this point in the original article and can be found (unchanged!) above].
"The great organ chorus of diapasons and upper work is typically Hill's: it is bright, transparent; unexaggerated, and fills the church with a gentle fullness and brilliance. The gamba is a small open diapason of bright but not incisive tone. The stopped diapason is a gem and the so-called Wald flute, a speciality of its makers, is pleasing. The trumpet and clarion do not engulf the flue tone. Such a great organ steers its way between the overwhelming flue brilliance of the Schulze School and the reedy ensemble of the Willis. The Swell organ is remarkable for its size. Even the Bourdon has its uses, when it is played an octave higher with other soft stops. There is a good diapason chorus in this division; and this offers possibilities for the playing of Bach, which are not to be found in the choir organ. The full swell is "free" in tone, and the blend of reeds and flue work is very good. All the individual registers of the choir organ are good, although the vox humana shows signs of its age. This division should be recast as a positive, organ, and made positive in more senses than one! The Solo organ stops are good. The tuba is of moderately loud trumpet tone, and I prefer it that way.
On the pedal organ, some of the ranks, already extended to 8 ft. pitch, could go further, and add to the independence of the section and its value for sustaining a Solo line of melody. The trombone does not carry all away with it: it blends well with the flue work. The bourdon, which is very regular and without "chiff" in its tone, is quiet enough to be used with very soft combinations. The violone is excellent."
Sumner goes on to review the fine Harrison and Harrison 3-manual instrument at All Saints' Church, Tooting Graveney, S.W.I7, and concludes:
"Here, then, are two organs, one of which, when I last saw it, was in need of restoration [See note ***]. They are in walking distance of one another. They are not as well-known as they ought to be. If they were in a suburb of Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam or Brussels, would there not be pilgrimages to see them?"
* Unknowingly, Sumner refers to the original consecration to St Peter and St Paul of the temporary church which stood on the opposite side of Leigham Court Road until the new church was built in 1870.
** The original manuals were removed in 1972 when restoration to the manual actions took place. So sadly, the solid plates of ivory cannot now be seen. The last reference to the original keyboard, was that it was stored in the loft of the organ builder Bishop's.
*** Almost certainly St Peter's!!
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