Dundee: St Salvador’s Episcopal Church
Wordsworth & Maskell, 1882 — organ surveyed August 2021
Technical summary
With no floor space on offer, Wordsworth & Maskell succeeded in taking what was available to them, accommodating a large instrument in an unpromising elevated chamber to the south of the chancel.
Mechanical key and drawstop actions are incorporated exclusively and with self-assurance, perhaps most notably in the accommodation of the two pedal ranks, elevated on ventilled chests (to give clearance for access from the stair to the console) at the east of the chamber, with their respective transmissions drawn from a most substantial roller board of some considerable length.
The Great soundboard sits at impost level, although not immediately behind the case front as might be anticipated, being set further back and with upperwork and reed underneath the concealed arch. Beyond the Great, at the same level and separated by a spacious passage board, is the Swell, enclosed in an ample expression box (cottage profile) which takes advantage of the height offered from the sloping roof of the adjoining side chapel. Tonal egress is perhaps unavoidably convoluted, although mitigated otherwise by the presence of some thirteen ranks of pipework.
The planting of pipework on both manual soundboards is in sides, with basses in the centre.
The large double-rise reservoir, happily with restored feeders and handle in tact and attached, sits directly below the manual soundboards, with trackers running underneath from the pedal touch.