St. Paul's Church was built in 1835 and
was consecrated by Bishop Henry Philpotts, Bishop of Exeter, in
1838. It is built of local chert and Beer stone and was designed
by Charles Fowler of London in the Norman style. Owing to the
orientation of the site on which it stands, the Church actually
lies North-South. It is 132 feet in length and 58 feet in
breadth. The tower, which is a conspicuous landmark in the Otter
valley, is 104 feet high and accommodates a clock made by
Matthew Murch of Honiton in 1851.
|
|
The chosen builder was Kenneth Tickell of
Northampton who writes:
"...the importance of good positioning for organs
is now widely appreciated. St. Paul's is to be congratulated
on providing a perfect setting for their new instrument. Like
all our organs it has mechanical (tracker) action to the keys
and pedals. The case is made of American Oak, the rounded
arches of the church being the obvious inspiration for the
design. The polished front pipes, including the unusual
embossed central pipe, are made of 70% tin, whilst those
inside are alloys of tin and lead, as well as poplar
wood".
The Great division stands in the centre at the first level,
the Pedal section is divided on either side of the Great. High
above the Great is the Swell box with its pipes inside. This
is the traditional 'werk-prinzip' layout of many European
organs of the 17th and 18th centuries and the most desirable
from an organ builders angle.
All ranks are independent except the Bass Flute on the pedal,
extended from the Subbass. There is electric action to the
stops and piston controls, together with a two level memory
for stop combinations. In addition to the six thumb pistons
for both manual divisions, four for the Pedals and six
generals, It is possible to programme any one or every one of
those 22 combination pistons to act as general pistons,
covering all the stops.
|