About us | Introduction
The Royal College of Organists is a multi-faceted charity and membership organisation whose professional and educational work is aimed at all who have interests in the organ and choral music.The College was established in 1864, the result of an idea by Richard Limpus, organist of St Michael's, Cornhill in the City of London. His idea to form a body for the purpose of 'elevating and advancing our professional status' was enthusiastically welcomed by his colleagues, who elected Limpus as their first Secretary.
It was always Limpus's intention to obtain a Royal Charter, an ambition achieved in 1893 by his successor, Edmund Turpin. It was Turpin also who secured a permanent home for the new Royal College, in premises in Kensington Gore. This idiosyncratic building was to be the College's home from 1904 to 1990, and gave it a stability which enabled the officers to concentrate on their work of administering the examinations raising standards in the profession and developing the Library.
The mission established by the founders in those early years, now augmented by the dynamic education and outreach work of RCO Academy, has been maintained by the College ever since.