A day out in Crawley

by **Nevis** » Sun Jun 21, 2015 2:16 pm

My husband, catching me gazing wistfully out of the window today, suggested that I take myself off for the day to do some historical research on the town where we live, which is Crawley in West Sussex.
Good idea. So, armed with a notepad and pen, camera and £20 for ‘expense’s’ (a quick half in the George Inn, Crawley High Street etc) I set off.
My first stop was the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in the centre of town. The church was founded in 1250. The main roof of the church is made of thick slates or slabs of Horsham stone. It was very cold inside, but beautiful.
There wasn’t a soul about so I wandered about for a bit admiring the architecture and the lovely stained glass windows but what immediately caught my eye was a magnificent organ.
The organ (a 'Father Willis') was made by the famous Henry Willis & Sons Ltd. company and installed in 1885.

A day out in Crawley

A day out in Crawley

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Re: A day out in Crawley


	Author Message Reply with quote A day out in Crawley by Nevis » Sun Jun 21, 2015 2:16 pm My husband, catching me gazing wistfully out of the window today, suggested that I take myself off for the day to do some historical research on the town where we live, which is Crawley in West Sussex. Good idea. So, armed with a notepad and pen, camera and £20 for ‘expense’s’ (a quick half in the George Inn, Crawley High Street etc) I set off. My first stop was the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in the centre of town. The church was founded in 1250. The main roof of the church is made of thick slates or slabs of Horsham stone. It was very cold inside, but beautiful. There wasn’t a soul about so I wandered about for a bit admiring the architecture and the lovely stained glass windows but what immediately caught my eye was a magnificent organ. The organ (a 'Father Willis') was made by the famous Henry Willis & Sons Ltd. company and installed in 1885. Attachments St. Paul's Cathedral Henry Willis sat on a large committee to decide the future of the organ at St. Paul's Cathedral. When he was asked his views he was forthright and told the members "The placing of the organ in the position in which I think it should be involves a stupendous question -" he announced. "Namely, the removal of the statues of Lord Nelson and Lord Cornwallis." The old organ case was unique in that it was the same, back and front. Henry had the idea to cut the case in half and place one half of the organ on each side of the choir. His plan also allowed the committee to move the choir closer to the dome which, to this day, means that they can be heard far better that before. The members of the committee were plainly shocked by this idea and asked Henry to leave the room. A few minutes later he was asked back into the meeting and questioned. They could see merit in Henry's idea, but there was, they thought one insurmountable problem. His plan would, surely, require two organists! Henry assured them that this would not be necessary. The committee agreed to his plans and the organ bears testament to Henry's foresight to this day. Father Henry Willis.jpg (4.69 KiB) Viewed 2955 times The windows have this lovely message. ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’. For this message the author Nevis has received thanks: dub Nevis Admin Posts: 557 Images: 1 Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2010 8:19 am Has thanked: 1613 times Have thanks: 690 times Highscores: 20 Top Advertisement Reply with quote Re: A day out in Crawley by Littergoesongrrr » Sun Jul 12, 2015 5:58 pm I used to pick up the rubbish discarded by a small number of small minded individuals around where I live Its a never ending processs... Then, I started to have paranoia moments, Sleepless nights,which manesfested by making me believe that somebody was following and chucking the rubbish back around again Each time I turned around, they ducked out of sight, spooky! Here is a extremely good website that is out to combat one scourge of our enviroment https://www.streetlife.com/conversation ... #comment-5 https://www.streetlife.com/conversation ... #comment-5 Last bumped by Nevis on Sun Jul 12, 2015 5:58 pm. Littergoesongrrr Top


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