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Roll-Operated Player Pipe Organ Census
By Rowland Lee

Interestingly, there is a Duo-Art pipe organ installation in a country
house in Kenya.  The house ("The Castle") was built in 1938 as a
hunting lodge for an English Lord, and is now owned by the Kenyan
government.  The organ was built in the UK in 1950 by Jack Davies an
Sons, who had taken over the Aeolian Company's pipe organ interests in
the UK.  It was probably built from Aeolian components, as Davies and
Sons were very busy in the 1940s and 50s recycling residence organ
installations for churches, at a time when many materials were still
being rationed.

The organ and house are in a somewhat distressed condition but the
Kenyan Museum Service would like to restore them as a Colonial museum
and tourist attraction.  The Lancastrian Theatre Organ Trust's website
has some photographs and much more information about this bizarre but
charming piece of history: http://www.voxlancastria.org.uk/stopt.htm 

Rowland Lee
Lincolnshire, UK


(Message sent Wed 13 Oct 2010, 14:13:59 GMT, from time zone GMT+0100.)

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