The Hersteld Hervormde Gemeente is currently building a traditional church seating 1.200 people. The design is by architect Marco Born. Already in 2008 Van den Heuvel Orgelbouw was involed in the plans of the church to get to an optimal acoustic church building.

The organ will have 3 manuals and pedal and includes a 14 stop swell division. The sound will be wealthy, solistic and singing: a real 'Dutch' organ optimal for community singing but also fit for as a solo instrument. The classical organ case designed by Van den Heuvel Orgelbouw will be crafted of first class European oak.

Last picture update: July 12th.

After the construction of a new church for the Reformed Congregation in Dinteloord in 1982, the existing positive of Leeflang from 1976 proved to be too small for the church. The Leeflang company was subsequently commissioned to build a larger organ. Consultant was again Arie J. Keijzer. The architect of church, J. Valk from Soest, designed the façade. The organ was inaugurated on 4 May 1984 with the consultant at the organ.

in 2018 J.L. van den Heuvel Orgelbouw was commissioned for the repair works. Hereby the organ was cleaned, the windsupply was re-leathered, the voicing was corrected and the mechanical action was reworked and re-adjusted. The Sesquialter consisted of a conical Nasard and a Tierce in flute scaling. This stop was split into a separate Nasard 2 2/3 and a Terts 1 3/5 each with its own slider and stop knob.

From Guesthouse to Stedelijk Museum

The central hall of the Stedelijk Museum of Schiedam was formerly used by the Waalse Gemeente. The building was also known as Gasthuiskerk because it was part of the Sint Jacobsgasthuis.

Organ

In 1773 organ builder Hess constructed an organ for the church. It was inaugurated on 9 September 1773. The organ was played by Joachim Hess, organist of Gouda, and Mister Hagen jr.

Recently we restored the organ which was in unplayable condition. Consultant during the works was Arjen Leistra, city organist of Schiedam and also organist of the Grote Kerk of Schiedam. The restoration works included the two large wedge bellows, cracked wind trunks, optimization of the wind supply, metal and wooden pipes as well as the action. The voicing was only corrected where needed. Also a humidifier was installed.

In 2016 the “Hersteld Hervormde Kerk” is building a new 900 seat church. The traditional design of this church is made by the well known Dutch architect Marco Born.

The church committee decided to install a fine pipe organ. Since many churches are closing in the Netherlands the best quality organs are quite often sold to Van den Heuvel-Orgelbouw. Van den Heuvel (trained by Dirk A. Flentrop) bought the last few years, among other organs, 5 important Flentrop organs, and just purchased a well known Flentrop-organ from the Maranatha-church in Amsterdam. The measures of this organ were suitable for the church in Ouderkerk. The customer however requested Van den Heuvel to make important improvements, alterations and to include additional (wider scaled) stops, as well as a completely new traditional organ case design with wood carvings. The organ has to be delivered in 2017.

The Flentrop organ had a traditional winding system with 4 folding bellows. The windsupply is redesigned and includes an additional wind motor and one additional bellow. The Flentrop bellows are re-leathered, also the wind trunk system will be renewed.

Church

Already in 1203 the a church was mentioned in the archives. Todays church dates from the fifteenth century.

The first details of a church or chapel of Scherpenisse date back to 1203. This church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and belonged to the deanery South Beveland and chapter of Old Minster in Utrecht. In the church were three chapels; dedicated to Saint Barbara, the Holy Cross and St. John.

The current Reformed Church of Scherpenisse dates from the 15th century. Around 1462 a new choir was built. The aisles of the church arose probably around 1500. The aim was to build a high church tower. However, it has never been higher as it is now. The construction was halted, possibly related to a lack of funds and the floods in the 16th century as the St. Felix's Flood and the Saints flood.
The transept and the cancel of the church were so dilapidated in the 17th century that the collapse of the chancel into the church threatened the church in 1685. The situation remained poor until the mid-18th century. After stone and lime fell from the walls, the pulpit and the seats were transferred into the nave. Two years later fell debris on the pulpit, Pastor Matthias Janssen wanted to do no more in this dilapidated building. Money for the restoration of the church was missing so the choir and transept were demolished in 1753. A wall at the former separation of nave and choir now closed the church. It was a window until in the 70s of the 20th century when it was bricked. In the church there are many 17th-century objects such as the pulpit and a chandelier. The oldest gravestone dates back to 1441. The oldest of the three church bells was cast in 1484 by bell founder Sijmoen Waghevens Mechelen.
In 1971-1974 the church was restored, followed by the most recent church restoration in 2009.

<p>In 2016 the renovation works on the Pels organ (33/IIIP) in Dendermonde (Belgium) were completed. Besides a complete re-voicing including recomposition of the mixtures and rescaling of some stops the unreliable electric action was renewed. Also the ergonomics of the console were improved and new keyboards, pedal contacts, stopjambs and draw knobs, swells, pistons, displays, combination system and midi recorder were installed.</p>

Petrus van Oeckelen was born in Breda in 1792 as the son of the instrument maker and organ builder Cornelis van Oeckelen and Elisabeth Coenen. Around 1808 he was appointed city carillonneur of Breda. In 1810 he moved to Groningen, where he was appointed carillonneur of the Martinitoren. In 1837 he established himself as an organ builder in Harendermolen, near Glimmen. In that year he also took over the company of the deceased organ builder Johannes Wilhelmus Timpe. Petrus married Joanna Maria Theresia Auwerda on 30 June 1825 in Groningen. Six children were born of this marriage, three of whom, like their father, became organ builders. One daughter married a pupil of her father, the organ builder Jan van Loo, who mainly worked in Overijssel. Petrus van Oeckelen died in August 1878 in Glimmen, two days after the age of 86. Two of his sons, Cornelis Aldegundis (1829-1905) and Antonius (1839-1918), continued their father's business. A third son, Henderikus (Henricus) van Oeckelen (1835-1894), was also an organ builder, but was not part of the family business.

Organ history

On May 32th, 1857, the organist and organ consultant S.W. Trip performed the opening recital on the by the Groningen organ builder Petrus van Oeckelen built “new” organ. Van Oeckelen incorporated parts from older organs in this instrument.

In 1854, Petrus van Oeckelen reconstructed the organ in the Martinikerk Groningen, and during this major work, he constructed a new (larger) sound board for the Great (Hoofdwerk) which incorporated enough space for a 16’ stop. The original sound board, made in 1729 by the employees of Franz Casper Schnitger (Franz Casper died before he could complete the work in the Martinikerk, so Albertus Anthonie Hinz completed the job in 1720) was taken over by Petrus van Oeckelen. In 1857 Petrus delivered a “new” organ in the Wersterkerk in Harlingen. In this instrument he re-used the F.C. Schnitger sound board! At that time the compass still was c-c3 = 49 notes. The sound board of the Bovenwerk is built by another builder. For the organ case he re-used a design he made in 1852 for the church of Usquert. The Westerkerk in Harlingen dates from 1650 and was demolished in 1896 due to dilapidation. At that time the organ was sold to the Reformed church of Oude Pekela. The expansion of the manual compass from 49 to 56 notes was made in the 20th century.

The well known Schnitger specialist/organ builder Bernardt Edskes has thoroughly examined the sound board in the Van den Heuvel workshop in Dordrecht and confirmed that this is the original Hoofdwerk sound board constructed for the famous Schnitger-organ of Martinikerk, Groningen (NL).

The church of Oude Pekela, later named Reformed Church, was founded in 1861 as a Christion separated community. The striking building served until 1978, in that year the church was closed due to dilapidation. A new modern church was build, named Het Anker, and the organ was situated on the ground floor instead of on a balcony as it was before. The carvings at both sides of the organ case disappeared to the attic. Bernard Koch from Apeldoorn carried out the transfer andwhat he mentioned “the restauration”. The organ case was originally painted oak imitation, and was painted white in 1980. The side ornaments of the case however still have the original color scheme.

Download the brochure for more detailed information.

For futher information:
Jan L. van den Heuvel – Orgelbouw bv
Amstelwijckweg 44
3316 BB Dordrecht
T: 078 – 6179540
E:

In 1960 D.A. Flentrop built this 26-stop organ organ for the Reformed church in Bloemendaal. The inauguration took place on December 21st 1960. In 2001 Flentrop restored the instrument. The instrument is well known from the weekly Radio-broadcasting on Sunday. Recently the parish moved to another building.

In 2014 the organ was purchased by J.L. van den Heuvel Orgelbouw b.v. and has found a new good home in the Evangelische Kirche of Siegburg (Germany). The church gallery will be enlarged to accomodate the organ.

The organ was fully restored and enlarged by a Prestant 16' on the pedal. It is placed on new windchests behind the organ with it's own windsupply. Additional offset chest were made for the low 10 pipes of the Subbas. The Fagot was renewed and the Pedal mixtuur replaced with a new Trompet 8'. A complete re-voicing was prepared at the workshop and will be completed on location.

Manfred Schwartz, official organ consultant for the Evangelical Churches in Rhineland, has been appointed as consultant.

The Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Opheusden constructed on the same location as the old church a new church seating 1750 people after the design of Van Beijnum Architects.

The two manual organ by Van den Heuvel was inaugurated in march 2002. It had 29 stops on Great, Swell and Pedal. The organ is be enlarged with a positiv and a open Quintbas 10 2/3' on the Pedal.

The façade was designed for the corner placement of the organ in the former church. The organ will now be placed on a gallery. The width of the new church allows a good view on all sides of the organ case with its three round towers and 12 pipe fields.

Also, the pulpit, the lectern and the font of your own design has been manufactured by us.

The Van den Heuvel organ was originally built for the Duke's Hall in London. Due to a large donation it was replaced by a larger organ and the organ was taken back by Van den Heuvel.

Van den Heuvel organ was purchased in 2014 by the board of the St. Aloysius College in Glasgow.

In spring 2015 the choir gallery in the nave of the beautiful St. Aloysius Church has been enlarged and adapted for the new organ. Also the interior of the church was repainted. Afterwards the installation of the Van den Heuvel organ followed. The organ will be used not only during church services and concerts but also by students of the St. Aloysius College and by students of the Royal Conservatoire.