A historic church is going to have its organ be put through its paces this autumn by a series of musicians.

The organ at St Swithun's Church in Bridport is usually played every week for church services and for teaching pupils, but now a series of recitals have been organised to show it off to the wider public by having it played by four accomplished musicians.

Mandi Sturrock, from St Swithun’s said, “We are blessed with this wonderful instrument, and we really felt that we needed to get it heard by a wider audience. That is why we set up this series of recitals.”

The first of these recitals will be by Peter Shepherd, the assistant organist at Paisley Abbey and will be taking place at the church on Sunday, October 2 at 3pm.

As a composer, Mr Shepherd has written pieces for choir, solo piano and organ and chamber ensembles. Since 2020 he has been the assistant organist at Paisley Abbey, and previously director of music at Bothwell Parish Church. He was the organist-in-residence at St Mark's Church in Florence from 2016-2017. His first full-length musical was produced in Oxford in January 2016. He is currently midway through writing a song-cycle for tenor based on the poems of John Donne.

The programme is varied, featuring musical pieces from Buxtehude to the Beatles all of which will be played on the recently restored church organ.

This will be followed by three more performances through autumn, all of which also start at 3pm.

The next recital will be by Tim Linsley the Musical Director at St Mary's in Bridport on October 23. It will be followed by Richard Godfrey and Medwin Stephen, senior PipeUp students on November 13. Lastly, Alex Davies the musical director Lyme Regis Parish Church (St Michael's) will take his seat in front of the organ for his recital on December 4.

The organ is a unique instrument, and it takes years to become proficient. St. Swithun's church is an almost 200-year-old Georgian church and features a Conacher brand organ, which is well used at the weekends by students and their teachers.