We might assume tat the choir and organ would always have been in the chancel. But not so. From the late 16th century right up to the restoration of the church in the late 19th century, the choir and musicians were at the west end. There was an ornate wooden choir gallery accessed by the bell tower stairs. It housed the choir and the musicians before the installation of a pump organ and pipes. Church records show that the first ‘Master of Musick’ was appointed to the choir in 1700 and was paid a retainer of 3/4d about 16p) a year. The organ and choir were later moved to the chancel when the church was renovated in the Victorian period.
The original pump organ was eventually replaced in 1978 with a pipe organ built by Nicholas Pitts. This was later sold to a small town in Germany and replaced by the present 3 manual electric organ ( though the old pipes are preserved above the Vicar’s Vestry)
