In 1811 Sir William Bagshawe made alterations to his fine dining-room to accommodate a new purchase, a chamber organ by John England and Son (George Pike England). The organ was subsequently installed in his country house, Oakes Park, Sheffield.

Besides being an eminent physician, Sir William was also a fine musician and a patron of the arts who counted Joseph Haydn among his friends. It is quite possible that Haydn himself played on this instrument. It is not known exactly how the organ came to the Bagshawe family, but it is known that at the time he acquired it, the organ was in its totally original condition. In 1836 a slight change was made to the diagonal reservoir; it was converted into a Cummings single rise reservoir requiring a slight enlargement to the base of the case at the rear. The plaque on the organ reads 'England and Son Fecit 1790, Stephen Street, Tottenham Court Road'.

This is a rare example of an old British organ. It was discovered in the home of the Bagshawes of Sheffield by the keen and historically-minded Prof. E. D. Mackerness. The older George England worked between 1740 and 1790, his son George Pike England from 1788 to 1814. George Pike England was most likely the builder of this Sheffield organ. Father and son had a great reputation as organ makers. They also made the organ at Sheffield Cathedral, of which unfortunately little original work remains. The South Church in remote Hallowell, Maine, acquired in 1823 a small George Pike England organ, apparently secondhand.

Susi Jeans, widow of Sir James Jeans, gave an inaugural recital on this unusual find on 6 April 1973 and described her first experience on the organ:

When I saw the organ first, it was practically unplayable, but from the few notes which could be elicited it was apparent that we had found a rare treasure. A hurried examination showed that the instrument was untouched. Natural deterioration was slight but some damage was caused by a bomb in the Second World War, causing water to leak into the organ.

The Bagshawes, keenly wishing to protect the inherent qualities of the England chamber organ, hired Mr Christopher Stevens to undertake small urgent repairs. Over a period of three weeks, spent at Oakes Park, Mr Stevens repaired the tracker action, cleaned up the sound board and windchest into which particles of the ceiling had penetrated. Three collapsed organ pipes were carefully straightened out; the whole pipe work was cleaned and replaced, but no attempt was made at regulation. The organ case also received expert treatment; a layer of Victorian varnish was removed to reveal a finely figured mahogany case. The only concession to modernity, was the addition of an electric blower, but the organ still can be blown by hand or foot.

Then with the help of a monochord, Mr. Stevens measured the pitch of the pipes and found that the organ was tuned in unequal temperament, that is, a compromise between meantone and equal temperament. The tuning resembled very closely that of the famous organ by Gottfried Silbermann at the Dom in Freiberg. The pitch of the organ was a third of a semitone or 36 cents below modern concert pitch (a = 440 Hz). To explore the sound of this newly found old English organ Susi Jeans had chosen to play a piece by August Klengel (1790-1847), organist at the Katholische Hofkirche in Dresden, where Silbermann s last great organ stood. The piece modulated through a number of remote keys which all sounded well and had their own key colour. There exists a recording on a c.1790 Geo. Pike England organ at Kenwood House by Jennifer Bate.

In a family account book, there are two following entries in 1836-37 relating to the organ:

For repairing the organ £13.13s
For tuning the organ 17s.

There is a signature on the inner door of the organ case 'A. Buckingham June 1836'. It seems that the item of £13.13s for the repair of the organ was used for an enlargement of the bellows and alteration of the casework at the back. A passage of a letter from a clergyman (writing in 1813 Lancashire Archives, Preston) describes the original makers reputation:

I am happy to find that you have got our old organ. I have no doubt but the new work which Mr. England has added to it, and from the manner in which he will have repaired the old, but that he will have made it a very excellent instrument.


Specifications:

Bass Treble (from middle C)
Open Diapason 8
Stopped Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 8
Dulciana 8
Principal 4 Principal 4
Fifteenth 2 Fifteenth 2
Sesquialtera II Cornet III
Hautboy 8 (enclosed)
Manual compass, fifty-nine notes, GG, AA-f 3.
Venetian swell in the roof of the case, nags-head swell for the Hautboy, both operated from the same pedal.
Shifting pedal for piano / forte registrations.
All the pipework is of common metal except for the Hautbois(tin) , and the Stopped Diapason (wood); the façade pipes are dummies, of gilded wood.