© Maggie Kilbey 2025
Barrel Organs in English Parish Churches
Wiltshire
Affpuddle (St Lawrence) : Bevington & Son barrel organ ex Collingbourne Kingston
1997. Ref: NPOR, K00193
Alderton (St Giles) : Barrel organ installed 1858.
Ref: Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre (WSHC), PR/Alderton: St. Giles/1078/16
Register: baptisms
Bradford-on-Avon (Holy Trinity) : H. Bryceson barrel organ. Sold 1855. Ref: Bath
Chronicle and Weekly Gazette (18 Oct. 1855) p.2
Britford (St Peter) : Walker barrel organ installed 1841. Ref: Salisbury and Winchester
Journal (16 Aug. 1841) p.4
Chiseldon (Holy Cross) : Barrel organ sold 1868. Ref: North Wilts Herald (30 Mar. 1868)
p.1; NPOR, N08398
Christian Malford (All Saints) : Bevington & Son barrel organ installed 1839.
Ref: Bevington & Sons (c.1841); WSHC, PR/Christian Malford: All Saints/1710/30
Memoranda book belonging to Rev. R.V. Law
Collingbourne Kingston (St Mary) : Bevington & Son barrel organ ex Great Bedwyn.
Transferred to Affpuddle 1997. Ref: NPOR, K00191
Corsley (St Margaret) : Barrel organ installed 1825. Ref: Somerset Standard (7 Jul. 1967) p.17; ‘Corsley’, in: A History of the County of Wiltshire:
vol.8 (London, 1965) pp.13-25, BHO www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol8/pp13-25
Crockerton (Holy Trinity) : Barrel & finger organ installed 1856. Ref: Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette (3 Apr. 1856) p.3
Devizes (St James) : Barrel organ. Ref: ‘The borough of Devizes: Religious and cultural history’, in: A History of the County of Wiltshire: vol.10
(London, 1975) pp.285-314, BHO www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol10/pp285-314
Downton (St Lawrence) : H.C. Lincoln barrel & finger organ installed 1826. Ref: NPOR, R01349
*Enford (All Saints) : James S. Eagles barrel organ installed 1815. Converted to finger organ.
Everleigh (St Peter) : Now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. Barrel organ installed 1814.
Ref: North Wilts Herald (6 Oct. 1933) p.11; Everleigh Village Website www.everleigh.org/st-peters-church/ [accessed 5 Mar. 2022]
Fisherton Anger (St Clements) : Barrel organ. Ref: ‘Fisherton Anger’, in: A History of the County of Wiltshire: vol.6 (London, 1962) pp.180-194
Great Bedwyn (St Mary the Virgin) : Bevington & Son barrel organ. Transferred to Collingbourne Kingston .
Ref: Bevington & Sons (1847); Boston (1959) p.123
*Great Durnford (St Andrew) : Barrel organ.
Liddington (All Saints) : See Surviving instruments
Lydiard Tregoze (St Mary) : Barrel organ. Ref: Country Life (25 Jun. 1948) p.1286
Maiden Bradley (All Saints) : Barrel organ. Ref: Salisbury and Winchester Journal (12 Feb. 1876) p.4; Somerset Standard (12 May 1967) p.18
Monkton Farleigh (St Peter) : Barrel organ installed 1841. Ref: Charles Hobhouse, ‘Some account of the parish of Monkton Farleigh’,
Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, LVIII (1882) pp.97 & LIX p.194
North Bradley (Christ Church) : Flight & Robson barrel organ installed 1824. Converted to finger organ 1876. Ref: ‘North Bradley’, in: A
History of the County of Wiltshire: vol.8 (London, 1965), pp.218-234. BHO www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol8/pp218-234
Norton (All Saints) : T.C. Bates barrel organ. Ref: Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard (18 Feb. 1911) p.7
Poulshot (St Peter) : Barrel organ. Ref: Stanley Harper & Dennis W. Hampton, Historical Sketch of Poulshot Church (1933)
*Purton (St Mary) : Barrel organ.
Stanton St Quintin (St Giles) : Bevington barrel organ installed 1843. Ref: Bevington (2022)
*Steeple Ashton (St Mary the Virgin) : Barrel & finger organ installed 1835.
Ref: Stephen Glynne, ‘Notes on Wiltshire Churches’, Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, CXXXIX (Dec. 1923) pp.292-3;
Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser (2 Dec. 1876) p.2; ‘Steeple Ashton’, in: A History of the County of Wiltshire: vol.8, pp.198-218,
BHO www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol8/pp198-218
Stratford-sub-Castle (St Lawrence) : J.W. Walker barrel organ installed 1852. Converted to finger organ 1876.
Ref: WSHC, PR/Stratford-sub-Castle: St. Lawrence/2474/11 Subscription lists and estimate for converting the barrel organ into a manual
instrument (1876); ‘Stratford-sub-Castle’, in: A History of the County of Wiltshire: vol.6, pp.199-213,
BHO www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol6/pp199-213
Swallowcliffe (St Peter) : Barrel organ. Rebuilt 1850. Ref: NPOR, A00261
West Lavington (All Saints) : Barrel & finger organ. Sold 1869. Ref: Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette (21 Oct. 1869) p.1
Wilsford (St Michael) : J.W. Walker barrel & finger organ.
Ref: WSHC, PR/Wilsford with Lake, St Michael/1986/10 memoranda concerning installation of a barrel organ (1845)
Wroughton (St John the Baptist & St Helen) : Barrel organ. Ref: Reading Mercury (22 Jan. 1848) p.2
* Listed in Lyndesay G. Langwill & Noel Boston, Church and Chamber Barrel Organs, 2nd edn (Edinburgh, 1970) p.97
Photo: M. Kilbey
Maiden Bradley