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The Victorian Era

Following the church’s restoration in 1843, the organ screen was removed and the instrument was relocated to a specially constructed chamber on the north side of the quire church where it evolved through various rebuilds until its destruction in 1941.

In the 1840’s, a new building frame, new pallets to the soundboard, the instigation of three couplers (Great to Pedals, Choir to Pedals and Swell to Great), and three compositional pedals were added by J C Bishop (1783-1854).

At this time, the Choir Vox Humana was replaced by a Dulciana, and quarter notes were restored to the Swell Organ. The compass of the organ’s divisions were also changed: the Swell was extended down to tenor C, the Great and Choir Organs were increased upwards from D to F (DD sharp was also added to these manuals), and one and a half octaves of F pedals (with an octave of CCC “return” pedal pipes applied to them).

Dr E J Hopkins became organist of the Temple Church in 1843 and, over his tenure of fifty-five years, the instrument developed greatly. In 1849 and 1856, T J F Robson carried out work on the instrument. The latter included the extension of the Swell down to CC and the addition of new and more extensive sound-boards.

The 1849 Specfication:

         

In 1851, Dr Hopkins attended the Great Exhibition in the specially constructed Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. Here, he encountered the work of the organ builder Edmund Schulze (1824-78), whose influence on English organ building is to be found in the work of builders such as T C Lewis and Brindley & Foster.  Between 1857 and 1862, twelve or thirteen stops were added to the Temple organ by Schulze.

The 1862 specification of the Temple organ can be found in Hopkins & Rimbault The Organ, its History and Construction. The Great Organ’s Second Diapason and Octave were “clear and strong”, whilst the First Diapason and Principal were “smooth and mellow”. The organ bellows were blown by the newly invented Joy’s patent hydraulic engines which had been commended to Dr Hopkins, and new and more extensive sound-boards were incorporated enabling a more orderly arrangement of the pipes.

The 1862 Specfication:

        Total number of pipes, 3333
 

Pneumatic levers were applied to the Great, Swell and Pedal keys, the case was remodeled, the quarter notes were removed, and stops were added to the Solo Organ in 1878 by Messrs Forster & Andrews. It was an organ which combined conservation with new tonal and mechanical developments.

The 1878 Specfication:

           

The last rebuild under the supervision of Dr Hopkins in 1896 was by Messrs Norman & Beard. This included some tonal changes and the renewal of soundboards to improve the speech of bass pipes. The console was remodelled with jambs at 45º to the player; fifteen pneumatic pistons were also added. The jambs from this organ are now on display in the Choir vestry.

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