Modernizing The Organ And Gifts Of New Fittings When the organ had been installed in the south transept in 1908, the organ builder, Rest  Cartwright, expressed his opinion of it: 'architecturally, I have no doubt the general public would  look upon it as a very fine organ. Candidly I'm afraid to an architect it will never look as if it was  built or intended for the church.' Its cramped position in the south transept also prevented it  ever being heard to advantage. In spite of a new blower in 1931, extensive repairs in 1937 and  a thorough overhaul, cleaning and repair in 1952, the organ was by the 1960s becoming  increasingly noisy and unreliable.  In 1964 the distinguished historian of organs, Dr W.L. Sumner, prepared a report, estimating  the cost of rebuilding as £4-6000. That was clearly prohibitive, but now for the first time the  proposal which would prove the key to the problem was made by Mr Pite. This was that the  organ should be redesigned and resited on the upper west wall of the nave which his recent  extension had created. The Organ Committee, which had been formed back in 1959,  recommended in June 1968 the acquisition of an organ costing not more than £2000, which  could be sited on the new west wall. But a reconstruction, using pipes from the old organ would  be much cheaper than acquiring a new instrument; so in November 1968, after investigating  seven different proposals, the Organ Committee recommended that Ralph Arnold of Orpington  should be commissioned to rebuild the organ, resite it on the west wall, with a floor-level  console, at an estimated cost of £2340. The contract was signed in November 1969, and by  the autumn of 1970 the newly recreated instrument was ready to play. Mr Geoffrey Gilbert,  organist 1966-1971, explained in an article in the parish magazine in March 1971 how the new  instrument differed from the old: 'The original instrument had 24 different stops and the new  one has 22. The old one had about 1160 pipes, but the new one has only about 440. Thus by  reducing the number of pipes and the actual physical size of the organ Mr Ralph Arnold, the  builder, has skilfully used a modern principle of organ building known as the "extension  principle". To explain this briefly:- against the 24 separate ranks (or rows) of pipes each  containing 58 individual pipes, which the original organ had, the new one will have but 6 ranks.  It is from these six ranks that the twenty-two different stops are derived. This is made possible  by extending each rank in length (i.e. number of pipes) below and above the usual number of  58 per rank so that notes of all required pitch can be sounded.'  The new organ, reduced in size and placed high up, so that only the console, sited at the east  end of the south nave aisle, occupied any floor-space, freed up the entire south chancel aisle  and transept. The transept remained an open area, available for overflow seating at big  services, or for informal meetings. The chancel aisle, however, at the far east end, was now  permanently partitioned off to form a secure clergy vestry, twice as large as the former one.  Now for the first time St Luke's enjoyed a satisfactory provision of vestries, for choir and clergy.  During the ensuing quarter century after these great works nothing more was done to the  structure of St Luke's. The church was, however, enriched by further notable fittings,  particularly during Archdeacon Richard Mason's time. The altar in the Lady Chapel was  designed by Geoffrey Gilbert and made by his pupils at Sevenoaks School. Several fine altar  frontals were commissioned. Most striking of these is the festival frontal designed and made by  Nancy Tatham of Lewes in 1984-5. The Trinity frontal, of 1990, is by Pat Savage of Seal Chart  Studios, in her distinctive style. Hers too are the batik falls on pulpit and lectern, and the  banner made in 2000 to celebrate the parish's links with other churches. During 1993-4 the  church was provided with a complete set of embroidered hassocks, made by a working party of  parishioners to commemorate the 90th anniversary of St Luke's church. The individually  designed hassocks, each commissioned by a member of the congregation, form a remarkable  record of the interests and memories of members and their loved ones. The Agnus Dei roundel  of stained glass in the south transept was set up in 1996 in memory of Judge John Newey. Its  designer was Judy Hill of Keith and Judy Hill of Marden.  The Parish Church Of St Luke, 30 Eardley Road, Sevenoaks, Kent. TN13 1XT  Tel 01732 743045  Charity Reg. No:- 1127331