Chaplain’s visit to Ireland to see the new organ in construction

Chigwell School's Rev David Wilson visited Ireland in late March, to check on the construction progress of our new organ as we are preparing for its repatriation to our school in late summer.

Having returned from his trip, he kindly shares some photos with us and he reflects: 'I flew into Ireland, picked up a hire car and drove south to Wexford. The long roads were calm and empty and after two hours I turned off for the country lanes. The narrow roads seemed to travel for a long time before I arrived at what appeared to be a farm! I met with Paul, an ordained priest and organ builder, and he directed me towards, what appeared to be, a derelict building. As the barn door was opened the organ appeared, in all its glory, right in front of me. My first surprise was how big the organ actually was and my second was the amount of craftsmanship that had gone into its rebuild. I was given an exacting tour of the organ by my hosts, and I could see by their excitement how proud they were of the work they had done and how much they were looking forward to coming to England to install this great edifice. It is planned that the organ will be brought to Chigwell School on the 1st of August, and it will take four weeks to install.

Credits: Copy by Rev David Wilson