St. Mary, Downe

Downe is a village in Greater London, England. The village is notable for the fact that Charles Darwin lived and died here. St. Mary the Virgin is a medieval church dating mostly from the 15th Century. It was damaged considerably during WWII when a flying bomb landed opposite the east end of the church, but was restored in 1950 when a new east window was added too.

The organ was originally built by Henry Jones during the 19th century (according to the National Pipe Organ Register) and was reconstructed and enlarged by Henry Willis in 1920.

It is not certain what work was done by Willis, however, it is possible a 2ft Fifteenth on the Great (replacing a Harmonic Flute 4ft which was then 'chopped down' and moved to the swell, backed up by the metal pipe form) was added, as looking at other similar vintage examples of Henry Jones's work, a Harmonic Flute on the Great would be typical. The Swell Stopped Diapason 8 and Viola 8 quality is also reminiscent of Willis's voicing so also could have been an addition by them.