The dismantling of the instrument began shortly after a live broadcast of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3 on Wednesday 21 January 2004 and, following a settling-in period, it will be formally recommissioned on 7 May 2005.

The work included extensive overhauling of the wind system, actions, soundboards and the opulent Henry Willis III console of 1933. The instrument remained completely untouched tonally, apart from the remodelling of one 4 ft pedal stop which was added in 1978; originally a Schalmei, it was remade as a Clarion.

A significant aspect of the HLF bid was to develop use of the organ in the cathedral's recently-established music outreach programme for local schools. This will include a permanently available video projection system, which will enable schoolchildren, other visitors and a new generation of concert-goers at the cathedral to see the organ being played in a way never before possible.

Geraint Bowen, organist and director of music at the cathedral, commented: It is wonderful that with the aid of this major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we were able to restore this magnificent instrument. Twenty-five years since its last restoration, it sounded as fine as ever, but the demands of so much daily use inevitably took their toll on its mechanical reliability. All of us at the cathedral realised how much we took it for granted when it was dismantled in late January 2004, and we all look forward immensely to its re-commissioning in May.

To download a PDF leaflet about the series of concerts celebrating the recommissioning of the organ, please click here.