© Maggie Kilbey 2024
Barrel Organs in English Parish Churches
Yorkshire (East Riding)
Yorkshire (North Riding)
Yorkshire (West Riding)
Atwick (St Lawrence) : Forster & Andrews improved barrel
organ installed 1856. Sold 1860. Ref: Hull Packet (9 Mar.
1860) p.4; Yorkshire Gazette (10 Mar 1860) p.7; Ecclesiastical
Gazette (13 Mar 1860); Elvin (1976) p.26
Bainton (St Andrew) : Gray & Davison barrel & finger organ
installed 1844. Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 2 (1844)
p.16; Musical Times (1 Nov. 1899) p.737
Bilton-in-Holderness (St Peter) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (25 Sep. 1929) p.6
Blacktoft (Holy Trinity) : See Surviving instruments
*Brandesburton (St Mary) : Forster & Andrews dumb
organist installed 1857. Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
Bridlington (Old Priory Church) : Postill of York barrel &
finger organ installed 1834. Barrel mechanism removed
1838. Transferred to private collection 1893.
Ref: Musical Times (1 Nov. 1899) p.737
*Burstwick (All Saints) : Barrel organ transferred from
Everton (Beds.) 1852. Ref: Church Bells (6 Mar. 1875) p.162;
(13 Mar. 1875) p.175; Bedfordshire Magazine, vol.3 no. 19
(Winter 1951/2) p.103; Elvin (1976) p.30
*Garton-in-Holderness (St Michael) : H. Bryceson barrel
organ installed 1846. Transferred to York Castle Museum,
YORCM : DA6377. Ref: Boston (1959) p.124
*Holme-on-Spalding-Moor (All Saints) : John Hunton of
York barrel & finger organ installed 1852.
Ref: York Herald (25 Sep. 1852) p.7; Hull Daily Mail (23 Apr.
1909) p.8; Bradford Observer (31 May 1950) p.4
*Hunmanby (All Saints) : Forster & Andrews barrel & finger
organ installed 1846. Elvin (1976) p.22
Kilnwick Percy (St Helen) : Gray & Davison barrel & finger
organ installed 1849. Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 3
(1849) p.34
North Cave (All Saints) : Barrel organ. Ref: Witney Gazette
and West Oxfordshire Advertiser (23 Dec. 1899) p.3
North Frodingham (St Elgin) : H.C. Lincoln barrel organ
installed 1855. Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 5 (1855)
p.289
*Rimswell (St Mary) : Barrel organ transferred from Ramsey
(Isle of Man) 1852.
*Rudston (All Saints) : Robson & Son barrel & finger organ
transferred from Lydlinch (Dorset) 1850.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.23
Sigglesthorne (St Lawrence) : H. Bryceson barrel organ. Sold
1848. Ref: The Hull Packet & East Riding Times (31 Mar. 1848);
Hull Advertiser and Exchange Gazette (31 Mar 1848) p. 4
Sproatley (St Swithun) : Gray & Davison barrel organ
installed 1841. Ref: Elvin (1976) p.21
Coxwold (St Michael) : Barrel organ. Ref: J.B. Jefferson, The
History of Thirsk (Thirsk, 1821), p.101; Reuben Percy, The
Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction, XII (London,
1828) p.120
*Crayke (St Cuthbert) : Barrel organ.
*Fylingdales (St Stephen) : Now in the care of the Churches
Conservation Trust. Barrel organ.
Hawes (St Margaret) : G.M. Holdich barrel & finger organ
installed 1852. Ref: Leeds Intelligencer (24 Jul. 1852) p.5
Helmsley (All Saints) : C.S. Dunscombe barrel organ.
Transferred to Helmsley Castle. Destroyed c.1930.
Ref: NPOR, D00376
Kirkby Knowle (St Wilfrid) : Barrel and finger organ. Ref:
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (26 Aug. 1876) p.3
Kirkby Ravensworth (St Peter & St Felix) : Barrel organ. Sold
1863. Ref: Richmond & Ripon Chronicle (29 Aug. 1863) p.2
*Lastingham (St Mary) : Forster & Andrews barrel & finger
organ installed 1857. Part-exchanged for finger organ 1879.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
Malton (St Nicholas) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Leeds Mercury (10 Apr 1912) p. 3
*Marske (St Edmund) : Barrel organ.
Masham (St Mary the Virgin) : Barrel organ. Ref: Samuel
Smiles, Self-Help, with Illustrations of Character and Conduct
(London, 1859) p.129; Bradford Observer (19 Apr. 1866) p.5;
Sutcliffe Smith, A Musical Pilgrimage in Yorkshire (Leeds, 1928)
p.108; Turner (1999) p.66
*Northallerton (All Saints) : J.C. Bishop improved barrel
organ. Ref: Nottingham Journal (29 Jan 1924) p.4;
MacDermott (1948) p.70; Boston (1959) p.122; Elvin (1976)
p.20; Ord-Hume (1978) p.83
*Ouse Bridge (St John) : Barrel organ installed 1847.
Riccall (St Mary) : Barrel organ.
Ref: Selby Times (30 June 1882) p.4
Scalby (St Laurence) : Barrel organ. Ref: East Riding of
Yorkshire Archives and Local Studies Service, PE134/2
Register of baptisms and burials
Sheriff Hutton (St Helen & the Holy Cross) : Barrel organ.
Ref: George W. Todd, Castellum Huttonicum: Some Account of
Sheriff Hutton Castle (1824) p.44
Skelton (St Peter) : Barrel organ. Ref: Hargrove, A Brief
Description of Public Interest in the County of York (1843) p.111
*Stokesley (St Peter & St Paul) : Flight & Robson barrel
organ installed 1824. Ref: A SELECTION OF PSALMS & HYMNS,
AS SET ON THE ORGAN, IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF STOKESLEY ...
(STOKESLEY: W. Pratt, 1824)
Sutton-on-the-Forest (All Hallows) : Flight & Robson barrel
organ installed 1809. Ref: A Selection of PSALMS & HYMNS as
Set on the ORGAN, In the Parish Church of Sutton on the Forest
IN YORKSHIRE. Made by Flight & Robson, St Martins Lane
(London, 1809)
*Thirkleby : NOT AN ORGAN: Joseph Bell barrel & finger
harmonium installed 1852. Ref: York Herald (2 Oct. 1852) p.6
Thirsk (St Mary) : Muir, Wood & Co., Edinburgh, barrel &
finger organ installed 1813.
Ref: J.B. Jefferson, The History of Thirsk (Thirsk, 1821), p.62;
Transactions of the Architectural and Archaelogical Society of
Durham and Northumberland, 2 (1875) p.lxiii; Bulmer's
Directory of 1890 transcribed here:
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/NRY/Thirsk/Thirsk90
Wensley (Holy Trinity) : Now in the care of the Churches
Conservation Trust. Barrel organ. Ref: Darlington & Stockton
Times, Ripon & Richmond Chronicle (15 Sep. 1894) p.5
*York (St Michael le Belfry) : Thomas Haxby barrel organ
installed 1782. Ref: Temperley (1979); Turner (1999) p.65
*Adlingfleet (All Saints) : Forster & Andrews barrel & finger
organ installed 1857. Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
*Aldborough (St Andrew) : Forster & Andrews improved
barrel organ installed 1846. Ref: Elvin (1976) p.22
Aston (All Saints) : Thomas Haxby barrel organ installed
1782. Ref: Richard Warner, Literary Recollections (London
1830) p.309; Mary E. Lane, The Story of the Church of All
Saints, Aston, in the Diocese of Sheffield (1950)
Bolton Percy (All Saints) : Brindley & Foster barrel & finger
organ. Ref: NPOR, N07869
*Dent, now Cumbria (St Andrew) : Forster & Andrews barrel
& finger organ installed 1854. Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
*Farnham (St Oswald) : Elliot & Hill barrel organ.
Transferred to Mechanical Music Museum Chichester (since
closed).
Ref: J. Fairfax-Blakeborough, Letter, Notes and Queries, X (22
Apr. 1922) p.316; Country Life (16 Sep. 1965) p.700
Gateforth (St Mary) : Barrel organ. Transferred to Leeds
Museum. Ref: Bradford Observer (31 May 1950) p.4; The
Parish Church of Saint Mary Hambleton – Centenary 1882-1982
Hanging Heaton (St Paul) : Barrel organ. Ref: Leeds
Intelligencer (25 Oct. 1851) p. 6
*Hatfield (St Lawrence) : Forster & Andrews dumb organist
installed 1849. Ref: Elvin (1976) p.23
*Hook (St Mary the Virgin) : Barrel organ transferred from
Staunton (Notts.) 1854. Ref: Elvin (1976) p.30
Knaresborough (St John the Baptist) : Elliot & Hill barrel
organ installed 1831.
Ref: BOA, Elliot & Hill Account Book 1 (1831) p.23
Long Preston (St Mary the Virgin) : Barrel organ installed
1804. Ref: NPOR, N07869
Neepsend (St Michael) : Barrel organ. Ref: Sheffield Daily
Telegraph (29 Jun. 1903) p.7
Rossington (St Michael) : J. & W. Holt barrel & finger organ.
Ref: Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal (23 Dec. 1853) p.2
*Roundhay (St John the Evangelist) : Barrel organ.
Sedburgh, now Cumbria (St Andrew) : Barrel organ. Ref:
NPOR, E00625
*Skipton (Christ Church) : H.C. Lincoln barrel & finger organ
installed 1839. Sold 1874.
Ref: Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (21 Mar. 1874) p.3
Snaith (St Lawrence) : Barrel organ. Ref: York Herald (31 Jul.
1841) p.2
*Sykehouse (Holy Trinity) : Barrel organ.
*Thorne (St Nicholas) : Barrel organ installed 1804. Ref: The
Histories and Antiquities of Thorne (1829) p.47
Tickhill (St Mary) : Ohrman of York barrel organ.
Ref: Doncaster Gazette (1831); J.T.F., Letter, Notes and Queries,
X (6 May 1922) p.353 & (20 May 1922) p.398
* Listed in Lyndesay G. Langwill & Noel Boston, Church and Chamber
Barrel Organs, 2nd edn (Edinburgh, 1970) pp.99-101