Lavender Audio Hereford Cathedral [Hauptwerk]

Although it is likely that Hereford Cathedral has enjoyed the provision of an organ since pre-reformation times, the earliest recorded instrument is one by Renatus Harris, dating from 1686. The specification is not known, but doubtless consisted of a sizeable Great with a smaller scale Choir division. Over the next 150 or so years, the organ gained a short compass Swell and pedals were added in 1806. By 1832, the organ had passed into the care of J.C. Bishop, who undertook a major restoration under the auspices of Samuel Sebastian Wesley, whose extended anthem The Wilderness was first heard at the re dedication service in November of that year. Bishop continued to look after the instrument during the middle part of the 19th century and he was responsible for moving the organ to the college of the vicars choral in 1841 whilst major structural work was undertaken in the Cathedral.