© Maggie Kilbey 2024
Barrel Organs in English Parish Churches
Yorkshire (East Riding)
Yorkshire (North Riding)
Yorkshire (West Riding)
Atwick : 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 : Gray & Davison barrel & finger organ installed 1844.
Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 2 (1844) p.16; Musical Times (1 Nov. 1899) p.737
Bilton : Barrel organ.
Ref: Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (25 Sep. 1929) p.6
Blacktoft : See Surviving instruments
*Brandesburton : Forster & Andrews dumb organist installed 1857.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
Bridlington : 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 : 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 : H. Bryceson barrel organ installed 1846. Transferred to York Castle Museum, YORCM : DA6377.
Ref: Boston (1959) p.124
*Holme-on-Spalding-Moor : 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 : Forster & Andrews barrel & finger organ installed 1846.
Elvin (1976) p.22
Kilnwick Percy : Gray & Davison barrel & finger organ installed 1849.
Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 3 (1849) p.34
North Cave : Barrel organ.
Ref: Witney Gazette and West Oxfordshire Advertiser (23 Dec. 1899) p.3
North Frodingham : H.C. Lincoln barrel organ installed 1855.
Ref: BOA, Gray & Davison Ledger 5 (1855) p.289
*Rimswell : Barrel organ transferred from Ramsey (Isle of Man) 1852.
*Rudston : Robson & Son barrel & finger organ transferred from Lydlinch (Dorset) 1850.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.23
Sigglesthorne : 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 : Gray & Davison barrel organ installed 1841.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.21
Coxwold : 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 : Barrel organ.
*Fylingdales : Barrel organ.
Hawes : G.M. Holdich barrel & finger organ installed 1852.
Ref: Leeds Intelligencer (24 Jul. 1852) p.5
Helmsley : C.S. Dunscombe barrel organ. Transferred to Helmsley Castle. Destroyed c.1930.
Ref: NPOR, D00376
Kirkby Ravensworth : Barrel organ. Sold 1863.
Ref: Richmond & Ripon Chronicle (29 Aug. 1863) p.2
*Lastingham : Forster & Andrews barrel & finger organ installed 1857. Part-exchanged for finger organ 1879.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
Malton : Barrel organ.
Ref: Leeds Mercury (10 Apr 1912) p. 3
*Marske : Barrel organ.
Masham : 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 : 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 : Barrel organ installed 1847.
Riccall : Barrel organ.
Ref: Selby Times (30 June 1882) p.4
Scalby : Barrel organ.
Ref: East Riding of Yorkshire Archives and Local Studies Service, PE134/2 Register of baptisms and burials
Sheriff Hutton : Barrel organ.
Ref: George W. Todd, Castellum Huttonicum: Some Account of Sheriff Hutton Castle (1824) p.44
Skelton : Barrel organ.
Ref: Hargrove, A Brief Description of Public Interest in the County of York (1843) p.111
*Stokesley : 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 : 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 : 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 : Barrel organ.
Ref: Darlington & Stockton Times, Ripon & Richmond Chronicle (15 Sep. 1894) p.5
*York : Thomas Haxby barrel organ installed 1782.
Ref: Temperley (1979); Turner (1999) p.65
*Adlingfleet : Forster & Andrews barrel & finger organ installed 1857.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
*Aldborough : Forster & Andrews improved barrel organ installed 1846.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.22
Aston : 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 : Brindley & Foster barrel & finger organ.
Ref: NPOR, N07869
*Dent (now Cumbria) : Forster & Andrews barrel & finger organ installed 1854.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.26
*Farnham : 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 : 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 : Barrel organ.
Ref: Leeds Intelligencer (25 Oct. 1851) p. 6
*Hatfield : Forster & Andrews dumb organist installed 1849.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.23
*Hook : Barrel organ transferred from Staunton (Notts.) 1854.
Ref: Elvin (1976) p.30
Knaresborough : Elliot & Hill barrel organ installed 1831.
Ref: BOA, Elliot & Hill Account Book 1 (1831) p.23
Long Preston : Barrel organ installed 1804.
Ref: NPOR, N07869
Neepsend : Barrel organ.
Ref: Sheffield Daily Telegraph (29 Jun. 1903) p.7
Rossington : J. & W. Holt barrel & finger organ.
Ref: Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal (23 Dec. 1853) p.2
*Roundhay : Barrel organ.
Sedburgh (now Cumbria) : Barrel organ.
Ref: NPOR, E00625
*Skipton : H.C. Lincoln barrel & finger organ installed 1839. Sold 1874.
Ref: Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (21 Mar. 1874) p.3
Snaith : Barrel organ.
Ref: York Herald (31 Jul. 1841) p.2
*Sykehouse : Barrel organ.
*Thorne : Barrel organ installed 1804.
Ref: The Histories and Antiquities of Thorne (1829) p.47
Tickhill : 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