BUILDING HISTORY OF OUR PARISH ORGAN The organ was made by G.M. Holdich in 1855. Holdich’s nameplate is on the keys.  We don’t know where the date comes from, but it feels about right.  The nameplate gives Holdich’s address as Judd Place East (New Road, Kings Cross) from where he moved in 1857.  The organ was according to the NPOR made for the Aldershot Iron Methodist Church, though the internet suggests that the Church in Aldershot was Church of England.   In 1876 it was moved to Farnborough Methodist church and then to Farnborough Baptist church (NPOR).   By 1980, the organ was hosted by one school in Haslemere. It was from there in 1980, that it was bought for English Martyrs, and restored by Saxon Aldred, who left this inscription:  RESTORED 1980-1981 AND MOVED TO THE CHURCH OF THE ENGLISH MARTYRS, READING BY SAXON ALDRED.

ORGAN RESTORATION – UPDATE

We are pleased to announce that an anonymous donation of £5,800 has recently been made which gives us a total of £84,142.16. This includes a £15,000 grant which Pilgrims Trust will disburse once the restoration work commences.

After receiving formal approval for our Organ Restoration from the Diocesan Finance, Audit and Risk Committee on December 17^th 2025, we contacted the Organ restoration Company. We were told that they are inundated with jobs and the earliest they could schedule our restoration work is 2028. Owing to price rises, the company projected that the quote for 2028 will be £95,328.00 incl Vat. However, there is probability for cancellations, implying that our Organ project could be brought forward to 2027.

Even if we were to go with the cost of £95,328.00, we should still be able to cover the balance after Vat deducted. This means we are okay for the worst-case scenario. It is based on this that we would like to draw the Organ Restoration fund raising to a close. A proper thank you note will be included in a subsequent newsletter.