St Michael
Martin, Lincolnshire
Standing forlorn, with only a farm for company, St Michaels is a precious little building.
The organ in St Wilfrid’s is one of the oldest in Britain. It was put in the Choristers’ Practice Room at Magdalene College Oxford in 1740, but it may be even older, possibly from the 1680s. All the pipework except the cornet and the top notes of the principal stop is made of wood. It has a bureau type of case, the upper part is dark mahogany but the lower part is older. The keyboard has black naturals and sandwich ivory sharps. It is still hand pumped by an iron lever on the side.
The organ has travelled around many churches. Magdalene College first gave it to the people of Horsington in 1860 when they paid for the new church to be built. Eventually Horsington did not need it and it was moved to Scrivelsby, but was affected by the damp there and so was moved to Stixwould and finally to Thornton. Its preservation was largely due to the late Revd William Whaler, incumbent of this group of parishes, who was a lover of old organs. The organ is a great treasure and a little known unique survival among church organs in this country.