The 100-year-old organ in Cornwall going free to a good home - if you can move it

A 100-year-old church organ in Cornwall is available for free to anyone who can dismantle and reassemble it.

The 16ft-tall organ belonged to organist Charles Harding, who gave it a new life after the closure of a church.

Hilary MacKay, an auctioneer at Beech Auctions, said it was originally commissioned in 1910 for the Calstock Methodist Chapel. But in 1990, the space was converted into a community arts centre.

That was when Mr Harding stepped in to dismantle and reassemble the organ in his barn in Callington. He even raised the roof to accommodate it.

After Mr Harding's death, Beech Auctions found the organ in a house clearance.

It is now being offered completely free for anyone who has space.

The organ was built by Alfred Moss of London and installed in The Old Chapel in Calstock in 1910. Credit: Beech Auctions

Hilary MacKay, from Beech Auctions, said: "We are really hoping it can find a new home where it'll be preserved and used, and kept in this remarkable, playable condition.

"They are going to need a lot of space but fingers crossed we can find somewhere - whether that place is in another church, a museum, stays in this country or moves abroad."

Janet Harding believes her late husband Charles would be "over the moon" if the organ finds a new home.

She said: "He saved it 30 years ago and he put so much love and care into it - assembling it and dissembling it. He had a few organ recitals at the very beginning and he just loved playing it.

"He would be so pleased that we are trying to find a new home for it."

Beech Auctions has set a deadline of the end of May for people to come forward. If not, the organ will be sold in parts for reclamation purposes.