Pulling out the stops

St Paul’s church organ - restoration plan

A Royton church organ is undergoing a £110,000 restoration to restore its former glory.


The organ, given to St Paul’s in 1956 by local cotton manufacturers the Gartsides, began to show signs of mechanical failure and needed repairs. The church is running an appeal to raise money for renovation.

The instrument began to show early failure four years ago, and a drive started to raise the money.

Father Peter McEvitt said: “The organ is now in the middle stage of the restoration work — around 1,500 pipes of varying sizes, from six inches to 16ft in length, have been removed and much of the instrument is now at the restorers in Liverpool.

“They hope to have the organ back in place by the end of the year. We have a season of concerts planned for next year to mark the milestone.

Tomorrow night the church is running a silent movie night featuring the 1920 movie “The Phantom of the Opera”, with accompaniment by Donald Mackenzie of the Odeon in London’s Leicester Square.

The ticket-only event costs £12 for adults or £6 for children and includes a drink and hot supper, from 6.45pm.