Cornwall villagers seek new home for rare organ

The Trudgian organ is the focal point of the former Methodist chapel

Operators of a village hall in Cornwall are seeking a new home for an organ in their former Methodist chapel, which needs work to improve the community space.

The organ at the former Nanstallon Methodist Church was installed in 1923 and was built by the local firm of J Trudgian & Son of St Dennis.

When the chapel itself closed, locals rallied round to find enough money to buy it and create their hall.

They said they were working to find a new home for the instrument, thought to be only one of six of its type which still survived, and did not want it to "go in a skip".

Trustee Linda Farnham said she was in two minds about giving up the instrument

John Trudgian had set up the Mid-Cornwall Organ Factory back in 1888, and the firm flourished until about 1930.

Mr Trudgian Senior died in 1925, and his son, John Junior, died in 1932.

Out of 29 organs made by them, only six are thought to have survived.

The Nanstallon Community Trust was set up in August 2022 and £200,000 was raised to pay for the former Methodist Church in December 2023.

Sheila Trethewey, treasurer of the Nanstallon Community Trust, said the organ was the focal part of the building.

She said: "We would love it to go to a new home where we feel it will be played. It definitely won't go in a skip."

The organ cuts off the main building from a large kitchen behind and the trustees said this meant they could only fit a limited number of people inside the former church.

Trustee Linda Farnham said: "We've got a village where there is no shop, no pub, no central base.

"A few of us in the village set up a charity to raise funds to buy it. With all the help and support, we got it."

About the organ, she said it was a "a head and heart thing".

She said: "The heart is I love the organ. But, if we keep it here, it will not get played; it will rot and it will be such a shame."