St Cyprian's Cathedral - Kimberly. J.W Walker and Sons Opus 1299

Anglican cathedrals have a special place in my heart, for their traditions, and for their acoustics. So many great organists all around the world minister with their music within these special places. Their walls echo with the sounds of worship, of chorals and anthems, and of congregational singing. The pipe organ holds a central place to much of what I know of Anglican worship, and for this reason so many great pipe organs are installed in Anglican churches and cathedrals.

This particular organ is a wonderful example of a great organ within a great cathedral. Built in 1936 by J.W. Walker and Sons in England, Opus 1299 was shipped to Cape Town and then up to Kimberley (remember that Kimberley once was the diamond capital of the world). It was installed in the cathedral in 1937 by CH Boot. A bronze plaque below the organ reads: "To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Amy Henrietta Hill, at rest June 23 1935, this organ was given by her son Thomas Alexander Frederick Hill, 1936". Since then it has had plenty of maintenance work done, a new relay system (SolidState) and new console, plus a few changes in the chambers (the Great Mixture originally was three ranks, and is now four). When the new console was installed they made allowance for five more Stops, which have not yet been added to the organ. We've added these digitally for the Hauptwerk version of the organ (Stops in red in the specification below). The rest of the pipework itself is unchanged, and so it gives us a wonderful example of the work of J. W. Walker and Sons, and of English church organs of this time period. For more information about the cathedral see St Cyprian's Cathedral History.

P/III 30/61 52 Stops 12 Couplers 2 457 Pipes