The organ at St Mary Magdelene's Church has been in the past both beautiful to look at and beautiful to play, as well as being regarded very highly by organ historians and players. Due to lack of funds to carry out important restoration work, it is now in a virtually unplayable condition, with only approximately less than 1/3rd of its mechanism now working.

The organ was originally built in 1814, the last church organ of important English organbuilder George England who died the following year in 1815. It remained virtually untouched until the 1860s, when Henry Willis became organist at the church. Father Willis was one of the leading and most inventive of Victorian organbuilders, and also built the organs which still remain at the Royal Albert Hall, St Paul's Cathedral, Alexandra Palace and St George's Hall Liverpool. In addition, he built or rebuilt countless other large cathedral, town hall and parish church organs, including some of the largest organs in the world.

Willis made some alterations to the Mary Magdelene's organ in 1867, bringing it 'up to date' and suitable for the congregation of a large church. The story goes that he enjoyed playing this particular organ so much that he would travel back from wherever he was around the country to play it whenever possible on Sundays. As late as 1942 The Organ magazine praised its 'glorious tones'.

The organ is well-known to organ historians and "may be numbered among the most important in London" (Ian Bell, professional organbuilding advisor). It should not be seen as a relic, but as a valuable and important part of the church's life, for services, potentially for concerts and as a part of organ and church history.

In 1947 the organ was restored again, and provided with new mechanism, which possibly due to the inadequacies of post-war materials, has not aged well. Apart from the new mechanism, however, it was left largely unchanged, and is still very much the organ that Willis knew and enjoyed.

When surveyed in Summer of 2002, the organ was found to be in a very highly gone state of disrepair: "The mechanical deterioration will make it unplayable before long" (report July 2002). All three of the companies that were asked for advice agreed that it would be most advisable to return it to 1860s state, keeping the Father Willis connection while also recognising its importance as an earlier instrument. All three commented on its historical importance, the beauty of its tone and the loss it would be to our church and to music if it were not restored.