Barrie Clark

Barrie Clark (1936-2017) was a member of the AIOA almost entirely because of his work with English Heritage (EH); latterly he became an honorary member. Barrie trained as an architect and spent most of his career as an historic buildings architect with the Ancient Monument of the Department of the Environment, which later became English Heritage. His RIBA thesis was entitled The organ in churches. From about 1970 he began to advise EH on matters relating to organs and from 1980 represented them on the Council for the Care of Churches Organs Committee. He also served for many years as an organ adviser for the Southwark Diocesan Advisory Committee.

Barrie had a particular interest in organ cases, lamenting the lack of knowledge about organs showed by too many of today’s architects and also those responsible for so many church buildings in the Victorian era. Such knowledge informed him for projects such as formalising the case design for the transplanting of a J.C. Bishop organ to All Saints, Haslingfield. This helped him in his years as Heritage Adviser to BIOS (2006 to 2014), whom he also served for a long while as a Council member and inspector of organs for an Historical Organ Certificate. He was a practical man, too, building his own house organ.

[The AIOA thanks Melvin Hughes for permission to use material from his Obituary article on Barrie Clark, published in the BIOS Reporter, Volume 41 (4), October 2017].