YouTuber buys huge organ lodged in walls of Bristol home using eBay

The new owners of the viral Bristol house with an organ built into walls find a buyer to remove it in one piece

A house in Cliftonwood went viral last year, after its 98-year old owner passed away and the house, complete with full-size church organ built into its walls, went on the market.

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Fast forward to today, and the last week has seen the organ being removed from the house in one piece to make its way to a new home in Kent in This Museum is not Obsolete, all documented on a new Youtube series.

The previous owner of the house, Joan Baker, was an organist at the local church and her husband Ron built the organ into the walls of their house for her to practice on.

The organ was situated on the half landing of the property, with pipes going up into the bedrooms above. Neighbours say that they would hear her playing and Ron playing the trumpet alongside her - she was something of a local legend.

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The organ dominated a lot of the property, and was certainly uniqueThe organ dominated a lot of the property, and was certainly unique
The organ dominated a lot of the property, and was certainly unique | Rightmove

Despite the new owners of the property having all intentions of keeping it, due to the roof needing serious repairs and the organ having to be taken out anyway to do them, they decided to look for a buyer willing to take it in one piece.

We caught up with the new proud owner, Sam Battle, who runs This Museum is not Obsolete, a museum that houses obsolete electronics and technology that is repurposed to be interesting, tangible, and something that people can come and play.

You’ll find items such as analogue synthesisers, scientific equipment, world-record-breaking DIY modular synthesisers, telephone exchangers, and all manner of things.

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Established in 2020 with funding from patrons of Patreon, the museum is off the back of Mr Battle’s successful Youtube channel and his fascination of and dedication to mending “silly machines”.

Mr Battle has a long road ahead of him to work out how to preserve the organ and get it working in Joan’s honourMr Battle has a long road ahead of him to work out how to preserve the organ and get it working in Joan’s honour
Mr Battle has a long road ahead of him to work out how to preserve the organ and get it working in Joan’s honour | Sam Battle

So, where does the Bristol organ fit into all this? “I had a conversation with a visitor a couple of weeks ago about a machine that I have set up, not functioning, which is called a flame-thrower organ,” explains Mr Battle.

“It’s an organ that acts like an organ but instead of air going through the pipes, its butane and then the butane gets ignited and sets on fire as it comes out and makes an air. They suggested I should just get compressed air in it and turn it into a normal organ.”

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It got Mr Battle thinking that there are probably loads of organs for sale as they can’t be easy to sell. He found the Bristol house organ on eBay, where it has been sat for the last two months.

“I immediately recognised it from the pictures because of the Rightmove post that was a bit viral last year,” he laughs.

“After chatting to the new owners, props to them as they kept getting offers from people to purchase it and break it up for parts, but they wanted to hold out for somebody to come along, take it in one piece with the hope of getting it going again.”

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Mr Battle immediately recognised the organ from the Rightmove images that went somewhat viralMr Battle immediately recognised the organ from the Rightmove images that went somewhat viral
Mr Battle immediately recognised the organ from the Rightmove images that went somewhat viral | Rightmove

Mr Battle set off on Friday last week (20th May), in a van that he wasn’t sure was big enough, to pick up the famous musical masterpiece and drive it back to Kent. All of this is documented on his Youtube channel, on a new series about the organ and its new journey.

“We were amazed by it, the house is just amazing, but the organ needs a lot of work,” says Mr Battle. “I think the Rightmove images were painted in a nice light! We took it apart very carefully, but you’ll see from the Youtube video that we had to hack the wires to pieces.

“The problem is that the wires will have made sense to Ron and Joan, but the only way to get it going again is to start again with the wiring.”

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Mr Battle tells us that its history, journey and story make it all the more special to him. “There was an amazing amount of people in the local community telling us the story of the organ, about Joan and the house,” he smiles. “We managed to get it out quite quietly, though, so I think some neighbours were sad not to have seen it go!”

The room in the museum will even be decorated like Joan’s houseThe room in the museum will even be decorated like Joan’s house
The room in the museum will even be decorated like Joan’s house | Sam Battle

So, what’s the plan for the organ in the museum? “It’s just an interesting machine from the past that I don’t think people really see much of, and you don’t often see its function or the insides,” he says.

“It will be up and running, although I need to work out exactly how, and it will probably be really loud!”

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To drum up some attention for the museum and to showcase the process of old technology that hasn’t yet been touched on by video, Mr Battle has set up the Youtube series. “It’s hard to say how long it will take but I’m hoping two months and that the series will be about five or six videos,” he says.

Mr Battle tells me that the pressure is on to get it working, and make it good in Joan’s honour and memory. “The more I’ve learnt about Joan, the more interesting the whole process is,” he says.

“It’s Joan’s organ, so we’ve got to conserve that. We’ve just finished painting the room in the same colour as she had it painted and we are trying to find the light fittings she had, too. A couple of people at her church have said about coming over to see it when it works!”

Mr Battle hopes his museum continues to grow, so something like this could make a huge difference - something tells us people might be very excited to see this in situ somewhere else!

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