Occasional Magazine Vol.2 No.3 (April 1917)
Musical Gleanings from the Churchwardens’ Books by C. F. Abdy Williams. With engagingly gentle humour the author finds in the Milford Churchwardens’ Account books what part music has played in the parish church’s history. The earliest book is dated 1714 and many references thereafter are to the expense of the copious quantities of beer needed by singers and bell-ringers. A regular body of singers was in existence by 1753 (and probably earlier) and a teacher for this choir had to be engaged between 1786 and 1793. They sang from a gallery, first mentioned in 1773. Purchasing of instruments is recorded, a bassoon in 1777, augmented by 1800 with a clarinet, a violin and a cello. An organ superseded the musical instruments in the early 19th century; it was soon moved from the gallery to the North Transept and in 1883 to the North Chapel. A new one purchased about 1890 was reconstructed and enlarged in 1910. Much expenditure throughout the 19th century was for cleaning and tuning the organ. A far-sighted decision in 1848-54 was to buy an extensive library of organ music.
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