© Maggie Kilbey 2026
Barrel Organs in English Parish Churches
Suffolk
Aldeburgh (St Peter & St Paul) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Suffolk Chronicle (15 Nov. 1862) 4
*Ampton (St Peter) : Barrel organ. Ref: Percy A. Scholes,
‘Barrel Organs in Church’, Radio Times (2 Mar. 1934) 620
Boxted (St Peter) : Barrel organ. Ref: Suffolk and Essex Free
Press (23 Jun. 1886) 5; Bury Free Press (26 Jun. 1886) 8
Burgh (St Botolph) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Westminster Gazette (30 Apr. 1898) 2
*Buxhall (St Mary) : Barrel organ. Converted to finger
organ. Ref: Bury Free Press (19 May 1928) 5
Coddenham (St Mary) : William Gray barrel & finger organ
installed 1817. Removed 1896. Ref: D. Allen, ‘The Vanished
Barrel Organ of Coddenham Church’, Proceedings of the
Suffolk Institute of Archaeology (1996) pp.442-54; Turner
(1999) 66-70; Turner (2002) 36
*Dalham (St Mary) : Barrel organ installed 1833. Converted
to finger organ 1860. Ref: NPOR, D00564
*Denham (St John the Baptist) : J.W. Walker barrel organ.
Converted to finger organ.
Dennington (St Mary) : H. Bryceson barrel organ installed
1825. Ref: Edmund Farrer, ‘The Dunthorne MSS.’,
Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History,
XX Part 2 (1929) 166
Drinkstone (All Saints) : J.W. Walker improved barrel organ
installed 1842. Ref: Bury Free Press (30 Aug. 1919) 3; Plumley
(2023)
Earl Soham (St Mary) : Barrel organ.
Ref: The Ipswich Journal (9 Oct. 1869) 8
Fornham All Saints (All Saints) : Barrel organ. Sold 1892.
Ref: East Anglian Daily Times (1 Nov. 1892) 6
Great Cornard (St Andrew) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Bury and Norwich Post (9 Sep. 1862) 7
*Great Glemham (All Saints) : Flight & Son barrel & finger
organ. Barrel mechanism removed. Ref: NPOR, D00067
*Great Waldingfield (St Lawrence) : J.W. Walker barrel &
finger organ installed 1855. Transferred to Sutton
(Northants.) 1888. Ref: NPOR, N13355
Halesworth (St Mary) : J.W. Walker barrel organ.
Ref: Ipswich Journal (23 Apr. 1853)
*Hartest (All Saints) : Flight & Robson barrel organ
transferred to Phoenix Brewery, Sudbury 1923.
Ref: Suffolk and Essex Free Press (14 Jul. 1920) 6
*Henley (St Peter) : Barrel organ installed 1848.
*Hoxne (St Peter & St Paul) : Joseph Walker barrel organ
installed 1836. Converted to finger organ 1867.
Ref: Plumley (2023); NPOR, D00247
Hundon (All Saints) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Musical News (23 Oct. 1897) 365
Kedington (St Peter & St Paul) : J.W. Walker barrel organ
installed 1843. Ref: Plumley (2023)
Kelsale (St Mary & St Peter) : Barrel organ. Ref: George
Irving-Davies, ‘Kelsale Church’, Proceedings of the Suffolk
Institute of Archaeology and History, VIII Part 1(1892) 37
*Knodishall (St Lawrence) : Barrel organ.
Ref: J.S. Curwen, Studies in Church Music (1888) 184; Musical
Opinion (Nov. 1895) 85
Leiston (St Margaret) : Gray & Davison barrel organ installed
1849. Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 4 (1849) 181
Little Bealings (All Saints) : Barrel organ. Converted to
finger organ 1868.
Ref: The Halesworth Times and East Suffolk Advertiser (17 Mar.
1868) 4; The Ipswich Journal (21 Mar. 1868) 5
*Little Cornard (All Saints) : Dumb organist. Put on a
bonfire 1985. Ref: John Budgen, ‘Experiences with Barrel
Organs’, BIOS Reporter (Apr. 1997)
*Monks Eleigh (St Peter) : Barrel organ installed 1836.
*Needham Market (St John the Baptist) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Edward T. Lingwood, ‘Notes on Needham Market
Church’, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and
History, XVII Part 2 (1920) 135
Old Felixstowe (St Peter & St Paul) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Felixstowe Times (21 Apr. 1928) 7
Old Newton (St Mary) : Barrel organ installed 1838.
Converted to finger organ 1871. Ref: NPOR, A01043
Otley (St Mary) : Barrel organ. Converted to finger organ
1871. Ref: The Suffolk Chronicle; or Weekly General Advertiser &
County Express (8 Jul. 1871) 11
Oulton (St Michael) : Gray & Son barrel organ installed 1840.
Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 3 (1840) 138
Polstead (St Mary) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Samuel Lewis, A topographical dictionary of England, 4th
edn., III (London, 1865) p.522; (Plumley (2023)
*Poslingford (St Mary the Virgin) : Barrel organ. Converted
to finger organ 1870.
Ref: Suffolk and Essex Free Press (14 Jul. 1920) 6
Shelland (King Charles the Martyr) :
See Surviving instruments
Shotley (St Mary the Virgin) : Barrel organ. Converted to
finger organ. Ref: Framlingham Weekly News (3 Oct. 1874) 4
Snape (St John the Baptist) : Barrel organ. Converted to
finger organ. Ref: NPOR, A01006
*South Elmham (St Margaret) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and
History, XX Part 1 (1928) 106
Sternfield (St Mary) : Barrel organ installed 1866.
Ref: Pearson's Weekly (5 May 1900) 18
Stradbroke (All Saints) : Barrel & finger organ. Sold 1871.
Ref: Norfolk Chronicle (4 Feb. 1871) 4
Stradishall (St Margaret) : Barrel organ. Sold 1872.
Ref: Bury Free Press (7 Sep. 1872) 4
Stutton (St Peter) : Barrel organ installed 1832.
Ref: Harold Mills West, Suffolk Villages (2002)
Walsham-le-Willows (St Mary) : Joseph Walker barrel &
finger organ installed 1842. Ref: The Suffolk Chronicle; or
Weekly General Advertiser & County Express (16 Jul. 1842) 4
Wetheringsett (All Saints) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Diss Express (28 May 1954) 7
Winston (St Andrew) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Suffolk and Essex Free Press (24 Aug. 1898) 1
Wissington (St Mary the Virgin) : See Surviving instruments
Wortham (St Mary the Virgin) : Benjamin Flight barrel organ
transferred from Diss (Norfolk) 1844. Ref: NPOR, K00428
*Yoxford (St Peter) : Barrel organ. Ref: J.S. Curwen, Studies in
Church Music (1888) p.184; Henry Parr, ‘Yoxford Church’,
Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History,
VIII Part 1(1892) 37; Musical Opinion (Nov. 1895) 85
* Listed in Lyndesay G. Langwill & Noel Boston, Church and Chamber
Barrel Organs, 2nd edn (Edinburgh, 1970) 94
Dalham
Photo: M. Kilbey