By Diane Walker
Recently, an AI generated ‘fact’ popped up on my desktop telling me that the organ keyboards by Henry Willis now on display in the Treasures Exhibition were played by Samuel Sebastian Wesley.
Although I’d been preparing some notes about S.S. Wesley for this year’s Annual Report of the Friends of Exeter Cathedral to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Wesley’s death, I hadn’t initiated any AI enquiries. An electronic big brother must have been keeping a watch on what I’d been writing and decided to help me!
However, the information associating Wesley with the keyboards in our Treasures Exhibition is incorrect. Perhaps on this occasion AI should more appropriately be termed Artificial Ignorance!
The keyboards in the Treasures Exhibition are indeed by the famous Victorian organ builder ‘Father’ Henry Willis. They date from 1859 when Willis first carried out work on Exeter Cathedral’s organ. They were replaced in 1891 during later work by him.
However, after nearly six and a half years as organist, Wesley had left Exeter Cathedral early in 1842 and there’s no indication that he returned. Indeed, relations were so bad that I doubt there was any likelihood of Wesley being invited back to Exeter to play the organ.
Samuel Sebastian Wesley moved to Winchester Cathedral in 1849 and to Gloucester Cathedral in 1865. Although Wesley and Willis collaborated on the design of several organs, there is no evidence that Willis’ work at Exeter involved Wesley.
Alfred Angel had succeeded Wesley as organist of Exeter Cathedral and Angel corresponded with Willis about the changes to the Exeter Cathedral organ which took place in 1859. Willis was then responsible for tuning the organ until 24 February 1866 when Chapter passed the job to Messrs Speechly & Ingram who were also responsible for the next major organ project completed in 1876.
In 1891 Chapter turned once more to Henry Willis to carry out another restoration of the organ when the range of notes was extended and new extended keyboards were required. This was also when the large 32ft stop pipes were moved to the south transept. SPEECHLY or HY SPEECHLY can be found stamped just below the mouths of these pipes which had been re-cast by Henry Speechly during the restoration of the organ completed in 1876.
From 1891 until 1921, the organ was maintained by Hele & Co.
Since 1921, Harrison & Harrison have maintained and rebuilt the organ. This included major works in 1933, 1965, 1985, 2002 and 2014, and reconstruction of the organ following damage during the Exeter blitz. Exeter Cathedral’s organ is now a Harrison & Harrison instrument.