About

The history of Sherborne Abbey stretches back more than thirteen centuries. Founded by St Aldhelm in AD 705, it originally served as the cathedral for the western part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex. A Benedictine community was established there in 998, and the church remained both an abbey and an important centre of worship until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, when it was purchased by the townspeople and became Sherborne’s parish church. Much of the building’s present character resulted from extensive rebuilding during the 15th century, following a destructive fire in 1437. This work produced the Abbey’s celebrated fan vaulting, among the earliest and most ambitious examples of its kind in England. Today, the building preserves a remarkable combination of Saxon foundations, Norman architecture and Perpendicular Gothic craftsmanship, and is still affectionately known as the “Cathedral of Dorset.”

The present organ has its origins in the substantial instrument built by Gray & Davison in 1856 and installed above the north transept. It has since undergone several major transformations, including a comprehensive rebuild by J. W. Walker & Sons in 1955, alterations by John Coulson in 1972 and a further reconstruction by Bishop & Son in 1987, during which mechanical key action was reinstated and the console returned to the organ loft. A major rebuild and tonal improvement was undertaken by Kenneth Tickell & Co. in 2004–05, introducing new pipework to several divisions and adding a separate Nave Organ beneath the west window. This additional division allows the instrument to speak more effectively throughout the considerable length of the building, while the principal organ continues to occupy its historic position in the north transept. Despite its many alterations, the instrument retains a significant quantity of pipework from the original Gray & Davison organ.

The organ today is a distinctive synthesis of Victorian and modern English organ building, combining the breadth and richness of its historic Gray & Davison pipework with the clarity, flexibility and improved projection introduced by Kenneth Tickell. Its wide tonal range makes it particularly effective in accompanying the Abbey’s liturgical and choral tradition, while its contrasting divisions, powerful choruses and more intimate solo colours provide an equally compelling instrument for recital use.