Pipe organs may very well be extinct by 2070

Pipe Up, a charity dedicated to the preservation of organs, has warned that each 12 months over 400 church organs are going unused and even being scrapped every 12 months.

A spokesperson for the group said, “A cultural catastrophe is staring Britain within the face: the approaching lack of its pipe organs,” reports the BBC.

According to the charity, a survey suggested that each week five organs are being dumped in landfill, while 4 organs fall into disuse every week resulting from lack of maintenance.

The chairman of the group, George Allan, said that many organs were being needlessly thrown away. It is feasible to revive “nearly playable organs” in a couple of days and at a price of lower than £1,000.

Allan said that, even when his group was able to save lots of organs, they often ended up being shipped abroad.

“There’s a Catholic priest there [in the Philippines] who appears to be populating the entire country with redundant British and American organs,” he said. 

The use of organs has massively decline within the last 100 years. In 1915 it’s believed there have been 40,000 of them in Britain, a figure now believed to be closer to fifteen,000. Of those 15,000 only around half are playable and amongst those only half are recurrently used.

The decline in organ use is closely related to the decline in churches, a lot of that are struggling and even face closure resulting from extensive repair bills. Recent changes to a government funding scheme for historic places of worship has added to concerns that some churches may face insurmountable financial challenges.

Allan said, “If this trend continues by 2070, Britain could have no pipe organs left, outside cathedrals, Oxbridge colleges, a couple of concert halls and a few well-supported churches. We hope to steer a kind of crusade. We cannot do much about church closures, but what we will do is we will revive the motivation to maintain organs working.”