Organ found new home after church sold

The organ was made in 1910

A 114-year-old organ has found a new home after the church where it was kept was sold.

Skinningrove Methodist Church, in Skinningrove, near Saltburn-by-the-Sea, in Teesside, closed in August as a drop in members made maintenance difficult, bosses said.

Volunteers then stepped in to save the organ.

The musical instrument will go through some recovery work and will be moved to a local museum.

Interest from abroad

Martin McLachlan, property and finance officer for the Cleveland and Danby Methodist Circuit, said the organ was initially advertised for free online and attracted about 10 overseas inquiries, from as far as Mexico and Taiwan.

However, the timeframe, for it to be vacated from the church, meant it could not be transported abroad.

The organ also has wood worm, which has caused damage to the feet, where some of the pipes sit.

"In the end, the decision was made that it was going to be taken on, and recovered and put back together by local pipe organ enthusiasts," Mr McLachlan said.

"We've got to the point whereby happily we've found a very good home for it."

Mr McLachlan, left, with lay pastoral assistant Paul Wells, in front of the organ, which will be repaired

A professional organ builder will help to dismantle the instrument, cataloguing and numbering it parts.

The organ will then be laid out in a warehouse and treated, with some parts replaced.

The organ was made by Nelson and Co in Durham in 1910.

It will be placed in a local private organ museum when it is put back together.

Mr McLachlan added it will "go on for many, many years to come".