The College manages the remarkable Early English Organ Project (EEOP).
A dairy door in a 17th-century house in Wetheringsett, Suffolk, and a piece of decaying timber found behind old pews and lumber in the churchyard shed at Wingfield, Suffolk, have transformed our knowledge and understanding of the pre-Reformation English organ.
The door and the timber proved to be the remains of two soundboards (or windchests) from English organs made before the Reformation. Using additional evidence from early organs in Southern France and Spain, from surviving music and the archives, it has been possible to build up a reliable scheme for these two organs - and to build them anew.
Read this article in iRCO to find out more about these remarkable instruments.
Since 2005, the Wetheringsett and Wingfield Organs have been owned by the College, which maintains a UK-wide programme of residencies. Such residencies allow organisations to use the instruments in liturgy, concert, and in educational work.
The Wetheringsett Organ is currently in residence at St Swithun's, Worcester, where it is being used in recitals and for educational and research work.
The Wingfield Organ is in residence at Wingfield Church in Suffolk, the church where the soundboard on which the reconstructed organ is based was found.
Download our information sheet to read more about the Early English Organ Project (EEOP) residency scheme.
For enquiries about using the instruments or about making donations towards their upkeep and promotion, and in support of EEOP residencies, please contact Andrew McCrea, Director of Academic Development, at the RCO: andrew.mccrea@rco.org.uk