Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company based in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

that makes and restores

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

s. It was established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, and the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

History of the firm

Thomas Harrison established an organ building company in 1861 in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, then moved to

in 1872. The company was moderately successful but did not achieve real success until 1896 when Thomas's sons Arthur and Harry took over. Harry designed the organs and Arthur proved to be a particularly gifted voicer, resulting in commissions for rebuilds of several great organs including

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

, the Grand Organ at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

and new commissions including

, and

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

(1925). Between 1890 and 1996, Harrisons was located on Cross Street (now Hawthorn Terrace), Durham in a former paper mill. The building is now called Harrison House. Arthur Harrison died in 1936 and Harry retired in 1946. The company passed to Harry's son Cuthbert. The firm was led by Mark Venning from 1975. David Hirst joined as Deputy Managing Director in 2008 and led the firm as Managing Director from 2009. In 2010, Mark Venning returned to maintain operations until the arrival of Dr Christopher Batchelor in 2011. The firm was run by Dr Batchelor from 2011 to June 2017. In October 2017, Andrew Reid left his job as Director of the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

and joined Harrisons as the new managing director. In 2022, Andrew Scott took over as managing director, the first to work his way up through the firm from an apprenticeship. Mark Venning remains active as chairman. In the postwar period Harrisons contributed significantly to the renaissance of classical organ building; their instruments for the

(designed in close collaboration with Ralph Downes) and

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, also known as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be an abbey follo ...

(for

Peter Hurford Peter John Hurford OBE (22 November 1930 – 3 March 2019) was a British organist and composer. Life Hurford was born in Minehead, Somerset, to Gladys Hurford (née James) and Hubert Hurford, a solicitor. He was educated at Blundell's School ...

) are of particular importance. To those two landmark instruments may be added the organs of

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midla ...

, the chapel of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

and

St George's Chapel St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar (a church und ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

, all of these instruments being built during the tenure of Cuthbert Harrison and under his direction. Harrisons continued to innovate and push the boundaries of organ building, even as they maintained their traditional craftsmanship. In the late 20th century, the firm expanded its operations to include electronic and digital organs. They also worked to adapt their instruments to modern performance styles and spaces, designing organs for concert halls and recording studios. Under the leadership of Mark Venning, the company continued to receive numerous commissions for high-profile instruments. These included the organs of several British cathedrals, and of

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...

in Cambridge. Harrisons also worked on international projects, including the restoration of the organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, and the construction of a new organ for the National Concert Hall in Dublin. These builds were detailed in "''The Harrison Story",'' recounting the history of the firm, was published in 1974 by Laurence Elvin.

References

External links

*
The Restoration of the Organ at St Alban's Cathedral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison and Harrison Pipe organ building companies Organ building companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1861 Durham, England Companies based in County Durham 1861 establishments in England Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom