The Disappearing Organ Mystery ... another story by Tony Goulding

This plaque was unearthed in a garden in Chandos Road South, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester.

The dedication of a church organ to the fallen of The Great War is not unusual as the losses experienced by most communities and organisations led to myriad ways of remembering the fallen. Church organs were a popular choice as were public halls, hospitals (1) and other community amenities such as parks and sports grounds (2)

Indeed, the popular British film of 1949, “Silent Dust”, has, as a sub-plot, a wealthy blind man planning to dedicate the new cricket pavilion, he has financed, to his son believed killed in World War2. In doing so he faces estrangement from the local community who feel the dedication should be for all the young men who did not return    

The mystery, however, is in which church was the organ and how and why did it end up in someone’s garden? 

Assuming that, the plaque had been affixed to an organ in a neighbouring church there are two obvious candidates for its former home viz. St Werburgh’s Church of England, and Wilbraham St. Ninian’s United Reformed Church both of which are only a very short distance from the Chandos Road South. 

St. Ninian’s, Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester,1960. 

My initial thinking was that the find was associated with “St. Ninians”, especially as the plaque’s wording suggests to me it had a non-conformist connection. Although it is slightly further away from the discovery site this church’s history provides a few possibilities. 

The present building dates from as late as 1951 leading to the possibility that the organ the plaque refers to belonged to the old church and was abandoned when the new church was opened. 

Another possibility is that the organ belonged to the Whalley Range Presbyterian Church (3) which amalgamated with the Chorlton-cum-Hardy Church after it was heavily damaged by the German Luftwaffe during Christmas Blitz of 1940.  

It could also relate to the former Wilbraham Road Congregational Church (4) which closed in July 1985. As the Presbyterian and Congregational denominations had, in 1972, integrated to form United Reformed Church, these two nearby churches combined under the new name of Wilbraham St. Ninian’s United Reformed Church.

A search of the newspaper archive on “Find My Past” for any reports of an organ at any of these churches being rebuilt in September 1921 proved fruitless.  

St. Werburgh’s Church, Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester

However, while looking through the archive I did discover a family notice from The Manchester Evening News of 29th April 1994 in which the bereaved family express their gratitude for the donations to the St Werburgh’s Organ Fund.

If this church did indeed acquire a new organ at this time, this may account for the plaque.

The timeline also seems to fit too. An organ renewed in 1921 would be over 70 years old by 1994 and probably due for renewal. 

Also, the condition of the plaque itself suggest that it has been in the ground for only a limited period. The St. Werburgh’s option being the latest would mean the plaque being buried the shortest time.

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Cricket Club’s Pavilion

I am sorry I have not been able to provide a definitive answer as to this object's origins I have “rounded-up the usual suspects” and “you pays your money and you takes your Choice”.

Notes: - 

1) Locally, Stretford Memorial Hospital on Seymour Grove was one such.

2) In 1945 the committee of Chorlton-cum-Hardy Cricket Club at the end of Hardy Lane to purchase their ground (at a cost of £3,500 in this regard.

3) This was on Upper Chorlton Road nr. Brooks Bar and is now The New Testament Church of God.

4) Located at the junction of Wilbraham Road and Withington Road. The building was sold in 1987 and converted for use as a Hindu Temple: “The Bhavan Hindu Temple”

Pictures: -

  All from the collection of Tony Goulding, except St. Ninian’s Church (1960) by A.E. Landers (m18467) courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass.

Acknowledgements: -

 Most importantly I would like to thank Mr Trefor Jones who found the plaque in his garden and agreed that I should attempt to trace its provenance.

 I have mentioned in the text my use of Find My Past’s Newspaper Archive, but I would also like to acknowledge the metropolitanchurch.org.uk website’s excellent history of the building they now worship in (--St. Ninians--) and finally that fascinating book by Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping, “Chorlton-cum-Hardy – Churches, Chapels, Temples, a Synagogue and a Mosque”