A Remarkable Legacy

Thursday July 25 2024

In a short series David Fleming reflects on the role of one man in spreading the sound of the organ across the Church of Scotland.

John Wardle was, by all accounts, a very personable gentleman, and he played a very significant part in the development of music in the Church of Scotland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

You have probably never heard of John Wardle.  Let me explain.  In 1866, the General Assembly took a momentous decision.  A large proportion of the older men then in the ministry still regarded instrumental music in churches as associated with Romanism.  Unaccompanied chanting of psalms was the norm.  However, reform was in the air, and a new hymn book was authorised.  Other churches were taking on board hymn-singing and there was a veritable explosion of hymn writing, and hymn tune composing.  Many of the hymns we sing today have their origin in that revivalist spirit.  The playing of organs became acceptable, and that eventually spurred much competition as to which church had the best organ.

Shortly after, in 1876, John Wardle aged 26, arrived in Aberdeen from Manchester.  He was a journeyman organ-builder trained and employed by Wadsworth Brothers of Manchester, and the supposition is that he came to repair or maintain some of the organs in the city, the previous organ builder recently having died.  He very soon established a reputation, possibly based on his personality, but also on Wadworth’s aim to supply the ‘parish’ church market (as opposed to cathedrals and very large buildings) and John’s unique abilities to ‘make your building sound’.  

John was a very competent player himself and went on to be the Organist and Choirmaster at St James, Stonehaven for over 58 years.  His wife, Ellen, was an accomplished concert soprano, and one of his sons followed in his father’s footsteps.

John, and Wadsworth’s, progress was greatly helped by the Dunfermline-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie offering to match pound for pound any church’s funds for organ-building.  From 1885 until 1938 John installed over 160 organs in Scotland, mainly in the North-East.  About half of these are still in regular use.  Not bad in comparison to the lifetime of today’s technology.

Whenever you go into a building where a Wadworth organ is being played, just recognise that the instrument has the almost unique quality of encouraging everyone to sing – to sing God’s glory.  It is a curious fact that the vast majority of organs in the world are found in churches.  The reasons are obvious.  They make the building, and the people sing.  This is partly due to the way an organ creates its sound and, unlike most orchestral instruments, its sound (whether loud or soft) fills the whole church.  They are also designed so that one instrument can cover a very wide range of emotions, from the soft melancholy required, say, before a funeral service to the spine-tingling grandiose exuberance of the Royal Albert Hall on the last night of the Proms - and almost everything in between.   Our Wadsworth organ here at St James has fulfilled all of this range on many memorable occasions.  Organs also have a great ability, when played with skill, to ‘lead’ the congregation, making it very clear when they should start singing (and when they should stop!)  Organs also keep the treasurer happy by only requiring payment to one musician.  Church organs are indeed wondrous instruments, and Wadsworth Brothers made a valuable contribution to that wonder.

Wadsworth Brothers were not, of course, the only organ-builders flourishing in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, but they did create a market for themselves, mainly in parish churches in the North of England as well as Scotland.  You can see more detail on our web site at  https://www.stjames-stonehaven.org.uk/exhibition/product-category/organs/  Regrettably, that market declined, but also the two brothers fell apart, and the company was eventually taken over by Jardines in 1946.  But they, and their agent John Wardle have left us here in Scotland with a remarkable legacy, one we would do well to preserve for our children to enjoy for years to come, and to praise God with a spirit and an understanding also.  

David Fleming is curator of the ‘Priests and Pipes’ Exhibition there, featuring John Wardle’s accomplishments.

The first part of this series features in the monthly edition of Life and Work. Subscribe in print or digital here