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Prior to the building of St. Paul's, the medieval Parish Church of Honiton was St. Michael's, situated at the top of Church Hill, somewhat distant from the developing town. By the early 1830's it was felt that there was need for another church in the centre of the expanding community. Consequently the foundation stone of St. Paul's was laid on October 28th, 1835 and the building erected on the site of the old All Hallow's School chapel. This had been made available by the school whose buildings surrounded the new church. At Easter 1838 it was consecrated by Bishop Henry Philpotts of Exeter.
The church was built on a north/south axis and not east/west as usual. This is significant when considering the problems to be encountered by the second organ.
The first instrument was installed for the opening of the church. It cost £350 and was built by Messrs. Robson & Son, 10, St. Martin's Lane, London. A newspaper report says ''....a magnificent instrument, possessing great richness of tone, ...... with fullness and power".
2 rows of keys, Great organ GG to f. Swell to tenor F
Great
Open Diapason
Stopt Diapason
Dulciana
Principal
Twelfth
Fifteenth
Sesquialtera 3 ranks
Trumpet
Swell
Open Diapason
Stopt Diapason
Principal
Flute
Hautboy
Unison Pedal pipes to GG 1 1/2 octaves
Swell and Pedal Coupler
(Taken from the Sperling Notebooks, vol . 11, p. 71).
Another report in Sept. 1849 says that ‘‘...the organ is about to be removed from its lofty position to the [newly enlarged] gallery underneath". A further note in Nov. 1849 says " ...the removal of the organ is an improvement, but it was far from finished [...] owing to the havoc made by the damp state of the church".
(Water has often featured in the history of this church!)
Probably for reasons of fashion more than anything else, the organ was superseded after a mere 35 years. Its fate is unknown except that Michael Farley (see note later) has suggested that some pipes could have been used in the next organ. He points to similarities with several ranks in the organ at Ottery St. Mary, known to have had the attention of Robson, if not actually built by him, around 1842.
(There is another [altered] Robson organ, with delightful 'Gothick' case, dated 1841, just a few miles away at Uffculme Parish Church).