Doncaster Minster, formally the Minster and Parish Church of St George, is the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

minster church Minster is an honorific title given to particular churches in England and Wales, most notably York Minster in Yorkshire, Westminster Abbey in London and Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. The term ''minster'' is first found in royal fou ...

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England. It is a grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and was designed by architect designer

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

. The church was built in 1854–1858 to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire. It is an active place of worship, and has a

Schulze Schulze is a German surname, from the medieval office of Schulze, or village official. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrew Schulze (1896–1982), clergyman and civil rights activist * William August Schulze, rocket scientist recru ...

organ, a ring of eight bells, and a celebrated clock by Dent. The church is one of two parish churches to have minster status in South Yorkshire. The other is the

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

History

The original 12th-century Norman building burnt down on the last day of February 1853.Doncaster Minster website
This fire resulted in the loss of the medieval library which was above the south porch. The current building was designed by architect

Sir George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

in 1853 and constructed between 1854 and 1858 at a cost of £43,126 4s 5d. It was consecrated by the Archbishop of York on 14 October 1858.

The Minster today

The Minster is one of Doncaster's most architecturally important buildings evidenced by its Grade I listing and was described by Sir

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

as "Victorian Gothic at its very best". It was given minster status as the Minster and Parish Church of St George by the

Bishop of Sheffield The Bishop of Sheffield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield in the Province of York. A similar title was first created as a suffragan see in the Diocese of York in 1901. John Quirk, the only Bishop suffragan of She ...

on 17 June 2004. It is an active place of worship with regular services and is also used for civic services, arts events and other celebrations. The Minster is a member of the Major Churches Network, successor to the Greater Churches Network. Amongst its treasures are a clock by Dent (the designer of the Palace of Westminster Clock, more usually known as

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...

) and a spectacular 5 manual

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

by the renowned German organ builder Edmund Schulze (1824–1877). The minster has eight bells with a tenor of .

Vicars

* Walter de Thornton: 1320''The history and description of St. George's Church at Doncaster'' (1855), by John Edward Jackson * William Cooper (died 1403) * John Jackson (the elder): 1650 to 1690in biography of his son, also John Jackson, born 1686, within Aikin ''A General biography'' vol 5 (1799) "His father afterwards becoming Rector of Rossington and Vicar of Doncaster" * John Jackson (son of the above): 1690 to 1706 * Patrick Dujon: 1706 to 1728 * Hollis Pigot: 1728 to 1762John Helyin (1734) ''A sermon preached at St. Sepulchre's Church; April the 25th, 1734'', p. 50 * Henry Piggot: 1763Listed as a subscriber to: L. Holden (1763) ''A paraphrase on the Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes'' * The Revd Mr Hatfield: 1767Listed as subscriber to: Fawkes (translator) ''The idylliums of Theocritus'' 1767 to 1785 * George William Auriol Hay-Drummond: 1785 to 1790 * Stephen Moore: 1790 to 1807 * Robert Affleck: 1807 to 1815 * John Sharpe: 1817 to 1860 ''Morning Chronicle'', 6 March 1822.Mentioned as vicar from 1822 to 1859, the name John Sharpe given in Hull Packet, 17 March 1829, list of donations to York Minster * Charles John Vaughan: 1860 to 1869 ''Leeds Mercury'' 18 August 1860, "Dr Vaughan, the new vicar of Doncaster..."''Derby Mercury'', 15 September 1869 "Dr Vaughan, the vicar of St. George, Doncaster, preached his farewell sermon on Sunday September 5th" * Francis Pigou: 1869 to 1875''Leeds Mercury'' 18 August 1869''Hull Packet'', 15 October 1875 * Edward Carr Glyn: 1875 to 1878 ''Birmingham Daily Post'' 8 June 1886 "Canon Wright.. succeeded the Hon. and Rev. E. Carr Glyn at Doncaster in November 1878 * Charles Sisum Wright: 1878 to 1886And mentioned in ''Leeds Mercury'', 14 August 1885''Derby Mercury'', 16 June 1886 * Henry Tebbutt: 1886 to 1894''Bristol Mercury'' 23 July 1886mentioned as vicar of Doncaster in ''Northern Echo'' 11 October 1894, and referred to as Bishop of Hull in ''Leeds Mercury'' 16 January 1895 * John Nathaniel Quirk: 1901 to 1905 (simultaneous with being Bishop of Sheffield
rootsweb
YORKSGEN-L Archives Re: Bishop of Sheffield * F.G. Sandford: 1905 to 1928 www.doncaster.gov
The Mayoress's Drawing Room (refers to portrait of him) * Richard Brook: 1928 to 19?? * Michael James Jackson: 1969 to 1973 * The Revd John Bird * Canon C. Smith * Canon Paul Shackerley * The Revd David Stevens

Organs and organists

Organists and choirmasters

1862 Schulze Organ

Rising from the ashes

The

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Church of St George possessed a fine Harris

of 1739–40. This instrument was praised by John Stanley, who declared "every pipe in the reed stops to be worth its weight in silver". It grew from an original specification of some 24 stops to one of 51 stops and was reputed to be the largest organ in England except for York Minster, due to the efforts of Jeremiah Rogers (organist 1835–1879), who paid for much of the work himself. The organ had just been relocated from the west gallery to the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and its pedal extended to 32 ft pitch, when it was consumed by fire, along with the entire building, on 28 February 1853. The leading architect of the day, Sir George Gilbert Scott, was commissioned to rebuild the church, a task which he completed in only four years. Consecrated in 1858, the new church is the most cathedral-like of Scott's parish churches and is crowned by a bell tower 170 feet high. Jeremiah Rogers was desirous of commissioning an organ worthy of Scott's new church and set out to acquire "the best organ that could be obtained anywhere in the world". Rogers made many visits around Europe inspecting famous organs, often in the company of his friend E. J. Hopkins (organist of the

Temple Church The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...

J. F. Schulze and Sons

Johann Friedrich Schulze was born in Milbitz near Paulinzella, Thuringia, in 1794, and began making organs there in 1825. His first organs were for Horba (10 stops) and Milbitz (21 stops). In 1825, he moved to Paulinzella where his business increased and he undertook substantial contracts at Solingen and Bremen

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

. In 1851, he exhibited an organ at the Great Exhibition, reputedly at the express invitation of Prince Albert, himself a native of Thuringia. One of three foreign organs on exhibition, Schulze's instrument was a modest two manual of 15 stops. Subsequently, transferred to

Northampton Guildhall Northampton Guildhall is a municipal building in St Giles' Square in Northampton, England. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The first guildhall in Northampton was a 12th-century building at the junction of Gold Street and Horsemarke ...

, it was later destroyed. It presented several features which at the time were new to the country and aroused much interest, resulting in the award of a prize medal. The specification was as follows:

Specification

E. J. Hopkins, in the first edition of ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'', comments on Schulze's exhibition organ and describes the Lieblich Gedackt as "the invention of Schulze....singularly beautiful in quality of tone". The Flauto Traverso he describes thus "double length in the upper part....the pipes being of wood bored and turned to a cylindrical shape were in reality so many actual flutes". In addition he noted that the organ possessed two excellent free reeds. The exhibition organ did not by itself produce any orders for the firm and it may have been Hopkins' personal familiarity with some of the German instruments which finally clinched the Doncaster commission for Schulze. Hopkins visited the 1852 Schulze organ at Bremen Cathedral and was later to recall: "The effect of the organ was exceedingly solemn, grand or soothing, according to whether I used the 16 and 8ft diapasons, the full organ, or the flutes and gedackts. In fact, I never at any organ, in the whole course of my life, felt myself under such a great enchantment. Indeed the excitement was so great that I had two or three times to leave the church in the most urgent state." Writing in ''The Organ, its History and Construction'' ( E. J. Hopkins and E. F. Rimbault, Third Edition, London 1877), Hopkins describes a specification for an ideal 4 manual organ of 87 stops which bears a close resemblance to Doncaster. The order was placed in 1857, originally for a three manual instrument. With the death of Johann Friedrich Schulze (1793–1858), it was left to his son, Heinrich Edmund Schulze (1824–1878), to take over as the innovative and creative force within the firm (see plate I). Edmund Schulze soon persuaded Rogers to enlarge the specification to a 5 manual instrument which was to be the largest church organ in the country with 94 registers over 5 manuals including 25 stops on the pedal department, exceeded only by Willis's organ for St. George's Hall, Liverpool of 1851. In 1860 the main consignment of parts from Germany arrived at Hull. Much of the construction took place in the church itself where Edmund Schulze together with four or five men worked on the project for two years. One observer reputedly noted that the large 32 foot principal was cleverly made from the wooden packing cases of the shipment itself. According to Rogers, Schulze spent three weeks regulating and finishing the mixtures working from the early hours of the morning until midnight and sleeping on the bellows before resuming his labours. The new organ was dedicated at a service on 24 September 1862. As a result of the publicity of the Doncaster organ, many other orders followed, especially in the North of England, including St Mary's Tyne Dock (1862), Meanwood Towers (1869, subsequently moved to Harrogate and finally to St Bartholomew's Armley), St Peter's Hindley (1873) and St Peter's

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

(1879). Doncaster was to be the largest organ the firm were to build. Prior to this, Schulze's largest contract had been the 80 stop 4 manual instrument in the Marienkirche, Lübeck, completed in 1854 (destroyed in 1942), often regarded as a sister instrument to Doncaster. After the death of Edmund Schulze in 1878, the firm ceased trading the following year.

Innovations of Edmund Schulze

The Doncaster Schulze contained a number of technical innovations. Huge pedal slider soundboards were built to enable each pedal stop to be available at two pitches, thus enabling an independent pedal section of some 25 registers including 2 mixtures, 4 mutations and 8 reeds, well able to support both classical and romantic repertoire. In terms of sheer number of stops, though perhaps not in ranks, it exceeded its rival at St. George's Hall, Liverpool. In addition to the provision of conventional beating reeds, Schulze provided two free reeds: the pedal Contra Posaune 32 ft and Posaune 16 ft. Doncaster possesses the only known example of this stop at 32 ft pitch in England. In order to obtain more definition in his pedal department, Schulze provided the first known example of a wooden 16 ft Violone, fitted with a box mouth to steady the speech. Other innovations included in the instrument were the triangular section Hohl Flute 8 ft on the Great division and the use of wooden harmonic flutes. Stop names and characteristics unfamiliar in this country included the Quintaten, Lieblich Gedackt, Gemshorn, Dolce, Terpodian and of course the famed wide mouthed Schulze diapason. The Flauto Traverso 8 ft and the Flauto Traverso 4 ft, as noted by Hopkins, consist of cylindrical open flute pipes, made from Beech, bored and turned on a lathe. The chief glory of the Doncaster Schulze is its bold Great Flue Chorus which extends from its manual 32 ft to no fewer than 14 ranks of mixture (the Swell having to be content with a mere 12 mixture ranks).

Norman & Beard and later works

In 1910 the only significant changes were made to the instrument with the replacement of Schulze's "borrowed" solo manual with an independent department in its own swell box. Another new swell-box was provided for the echo organ making it in the words of Magnus Black "inaudible above the traffic except in the early hours of the morning". The echo swell box shutters have since been removed! A large leathered No1 Diapason, standing in its own separate chest, was added to the Great at this time. It was removed in 1959. The sum total of the Norman & Beard changes was the addition of 8 new stops (i.e. the Solo division and the Swell Celestes). It is believed that the wind pressure to the Great Reeds was increased, but no other changes were made to the voicing. In 1935 J W Walker & Sons provided a new electro-pneumatic action and radiating terraced stop tab console on the south side of the choir (see plate VI). Further work was carried out by Walkers in 1959 including the replacement of the original pedal chests, which after 100 years service were no longer reliable. The Walker console was removed in 1999 when Andrew Carter installed a replacement 5 manual drawstop console built by Nicholson. The blowing plant and Great action were overhauled at this time.

Critical Appreciation

The organ at Doncaster Minster is the Magnum Opus of Edmund Schulze and is the largest instrument that the firm produced. One of the largest organs in Europe, it is no exaggerated claim that this single instrument revolutionised the British organ and led to a complete reappraisal of the classical organ. Doncaster became, and still is, a place of pilgrimage for musicians and organ builders alike. One example of its significance was the reaction of the Victorian architect, T.C. Lewis, who became a follower of Schulze and set up on his own account as an organ builder. Lewis, whose famous instrument at Southwark Cathedral owes much to Doncaster, had high praise for the Doncaster instrument: "...anything finer it is, I believe, impossible to imagine...it is by far the grandest instrument I have ever heard." Dr. Nicholas Thistlethwaite in "The Making of the Victorian Organ" Cambridge 1990, states: "The Doncaster organ proved to be one of the two most influential organs built in England during the second half of the century. Schulze's work and especially his monumental organ at Doncaster, established a new ideal. His later English work was to be received with equal respect, but it was Doncaster that showed the way." The historical importance of the Doncaster instrument to the present day lies in the fact that it was sufficiently good to escape the almost continual rebuilding that similar instruments of the period underwent. Sadly similar instruments at St. George's Hall Liverpool, York Minster and Birmingham Town Hall found themselves undergoing regular rebuilds to keep up to date with the latest organ fashion. A number of works have been written specifically for the Doncaster Schulze; these include Francis Jackson's Fourth Organ Sonata and a Trio Sonata by Magnus Black (organist 1957–1995). Magnus Black summed up its musical significance thus: "The classical revival....led to an appreciation of well-balanced manual choruses and independent pedal departments......These are among the features of the Doncaster Schulze. The German Romantic organ never lost its connections with its classical predecessor and many important features relate it to the organs of Bach's time." Andrew Wilson

Specification

Manual compass C to a³ Pedal compass C to f¹ (originally to e¹) * Stops added by Norman & beard 1910. The original Solo division consisted of stops borrowed from the Swell. The Vox Humana was originally playable only from the Solo division. 8 thumb pistons to Great 8 thumb pistons to Swell 8 thumb pistons to general combinations 6 thumb pistons to Choir 3 thumb pistons to Echo 4 thumb pistons to Solo Thumb pistons for So-Pd, Sw-Pd, So-Gt, Sw-Gt, Gt-Pd, Ch-Pd 8 toe pistons to Great 8 toe pistons to Swell Reversible toe piston for Gt-Pd Great and Pedal combinations coupled Generals on Swell toe pistons Balanced Swell and Solo pedals 16 levels of departmental memory 64 levels of memory on generals

Wind pressures

* Swell Flue - " * Swell Reeds - 6" * Great Flue - " * Great Reeds - 5" * Choir - " * Echo - " * Solo - 6" * Solo Tuba - 15" * Pedal Reeds - 5" * Pedal Flue - " and 5"

Chronology of Main Works

* 1862 Edmund Schulze & Son, Paulinzella. Tracker and Barker lever action. * 1894 Abbott & Smith, Leeds. New console and tubular pneumatic stop action. * 1896 Abbott & Smith removed foot blowing gear and installed Shipley gas engine and compressor. * 1910 Norman & Beard provided a new Solo organ together with 5 new stops to Solo organ & 2 Swell strings at a cost of £985. Large open diapason added to Great (removed in 1958). * 1935 J W Walker & Sons Ltd, London. New stop tab console with electric action. * 1958 J W Walker & Sons Ltd, London cleaned the organ and provided new soundboards to the pedal. * 1983 Swell and choir organs restored after water damage. * 1989 Cleaned after fire in church. * 1992 J W Walker & Sons refurbished soundboards of Great Organ reeds and mixtures. * 1994 A J Carter refurbished the Great flue soundboards. * 1999 Nicholson in collaboration with A J Carter installed new console;

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

& sub-octave couplers to Swell and Solo, and the Echo to Choir and Echo to Pedal couplers were removed. Blowing plant refurbished. * 2000 A J Carter, Wakefield restored Great main action.

Gallery

File:St.George's font - geograph.org.uk - 1157077.jpg, The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

File:St.George's chancel - geograph.org.uk - 1157054.jpg, The

File:St.George's nave - geograph.org.uk - 1157114.jpg, The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

File:St.George's pulpit - geograph.org.uk - 1157147.jpg, The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

References

External links

* *
Facts and pictures of Doncaster Minster on Skyscrapernews.com

National Pipe Organ Register – Details of the Doncaster Schulze

Panoramic view of the sanctuary, St George's Minster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doncaster Minster Buildings and structures in Doncaster Grade I listed churches in South Yorkshire Churches completed in 1858 Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom 19th-century Church of England church buildings Church of England church buildings in South Yorkshire George Gilbert Scott buildings Major Churches Network

History

The Minster today

Vicars

Organs and organists

Organists and choirmasters

1862 Schulze Organ

Rising from the ashes

J. F. Schulze and Sons

Specification

Innovations of Edmund Schulze

Norman & Beard and later works

Critical Appreciation

Specification

Wind pressures

Chronology of Main Works

Gallery

See also

References

External links