Chapel
Our daughter was moved to Barnard Castle School because she had been continually bullied at her previous school. She is so happy, settled in from day one without a backward glance, which makes us very regretful that we didn't move her at the first signs of trouble.
Mr and Mrs N Hardy
Gracefully positioned at the heart of the campus, the Chapel is a place of daily and weekly prayer, a focus of affection for Old Barnardians and witness to all the moods of community life - from the packed end-of-term assemblies, to reverent observance of Remembrance Sunday, annual confirmation service and Christmas celebrations.
Chapel spirituality reflects the dictum that "the glory of God is a human being fully alive", and that belief and doubt lie alongside intellectual rigour in the search for truth and meaning.
If a pupil takes issue with a sermon, finds beauty in an organ voluntary, is touched by a prayer, weeps at a leaving service, feels exhilarated by 'house shouts' or is prompted to give generously to local or national charity - then he or she becomes more human. We are glad of a Chapel, Chaplaincy and Charity Committee which present the opportunity for such reflection to all our pupils whether overtly religious or not.
To view the Chapel calendar for Autumn term 2011 please click the following document Chapel Music Autumn 2011 
(152Kb).
Chapel Organ
The organ was originally built in about 1860 by the celebrated organ builder Henry “Father” Willis. The organ (with the same case) was a 26 stop three manual and pedal instrument built for the home of Willis’ chief patron, Sir James Tyler of Hertford. When Sir Tyler died in 1890 the organ was acquired by All Saints Church Hertford (c1895) as a “stop gap” until their new instrument was completed by Willis. All Saints new organ was ready in 1899 and the Sir James Tyler Organ was then stored at Hertford Castle until 1911 when it was purchased by Frederick Jennings, a coal-mining manager, music teacher and organist from Darlington. The organ was too large to fit in Mr. Jennings’s house in Darlington, so he built himself a larger house to accommodate it. In 1912 the organ builders H. J. Nelson & Co., of Durham installed the organ into the new house and also enlarged the instrument by eleven stops. Mr. Jennings died in November 1920 and the organ was sold to North Eastern County School by Mr. Jennings’s Son, Arthur who was an Old Boy.
Rumour has it that the organ was not very successful in the School Chapel because of the dry acoustic and because the instrument had been voiced as a house organ and not a church organ. Altogether, the organ was too quiet at accompanying a large public school hymn sing; plus it lacked wind. In 1956 the Governing Body debated over scrapping the organ and putting in an electronic instrument. However, this did not happen and £2770 was spent on rebuilding the organ. At this time the organ was reduced to two manuals. In 1961 another stop was added and in 1967 the instrument was cleaned and overhauled costing £564.10.
By 1983 the organ was proving most unsatisfactory. The organ builder Nigel Church from Stamfordham near Hexham won the contract to build a new instrument of two manuals and pedals of 23 speaking stops incorporating some Willis pipework, (and re-using and restoring the original ornate casework).
After 22 years of service the instrument was in need of an overhaul. Much of the pipework (i.e. the new pipes of 1986) needed proper voicing. The new pipework of 1986 was voiced along the lines of the experimentations and practices adhered to by those following the twentieth century German Organ Reform Movement. The old ranks retained from the 1860 Willis organ were voiced in a Victorian manner and those added from the redundant organ of St. Hilda’s Darlington were voiced in an early Edwardian manner. Tonally the organ left a lot to the imagination. The organ also suffered from serious tuning problems due to unsteady wind and lack of pipe regulation.
The organ was restored by Principal Pipe Organs York. This firm look after the organ in York Minster. The organ was removed in July 2008 (to York & Leeds) and returned February 2009. The organ was dedicated on Sunday March 1st. During this time, Mr. Atherton most generously loaned the school his three manual Ahlborn AG3200 digital organ.
Now restored, the appearance of the organ is unaltered. The ornate casework is claimed to have been exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. The case pipes have been re-painted gold, the organ console has been restored and all worn parts such as manuals (keys), pedals and stop heads have been recovered / replaced; resulting in a fine console. The sound of the organ is a vast improvement and the opening up of the side case panels has also helped the sound projection. The congregation can now feel the vibrations from full organ. The organ is a pleasure to play. Congratulations to Principal Pipe Organs.
