"To John Hewe for repairing the organ at the altar of B. V. M. in the Cathedral Church, and for carrying the same to the House of the Minorite Brethren, and for bringing back the same to the Cathedral Church, 13s. 9d."
This is the earliest instance I have found of a practice afterwards common—that of one church lending another its organ.[1]
Surely no further proof need be required of the smallness of our cathedral organs at the end of the fifteenth century.
But I must remind you that it was not uncommon before the Reformation for a cathedral to possess several organs. The York records particularly mention the organ at the altar, and the large organ in the choir. It was the smaller organ that was lent to the Minorite Brethren. There were doubtless several other organs in the various chapels. The Cathedral of Worcester had three organs; one in
- ↑ 1508. For bringing the organs of the Abbey (Westminster) into the church, and beryng them home agayne, ijᵈ."—Accounts of St. Margaret's, Westminster.
