Rochester wins Twitter 'cathedral organ World Cup'
Published: 14:36, 31 January 2020
Updated: 19:16, 31 January 2020
A cathedral has beaten off 55 others in the country to win the world cup of organs.
Rochester Cathedral topped the public votes to storm through the group stages of the Twitter competition to face off against Durham in the final.
The results were revealed this afternoon with Rochester getting 53.5% of the vote compared to Durham's 46.5%, with 1,784 people voting.
The competition - dubbed the world cup of cathedral organs - was started by user Dan Soper, a former cathedral organist.
Rochester beat off York in the quarter finals and Gloucester in the semi finals.
The organ at the Boley Hill site dates back to 1791, but has been modified several times, with the last major rebuild in 1989.
There are now 88 stops and 3,808 pipes. The 14th century cathedral has two full-time professional musicians and a choir.
The organ at Canterbury Cathedral did not make it through the group stages.
Simon Lace, the cathedral's chapter clerk said: "It's excellent news, it was just a bit of fun.
"There's no real world cup of cathedral organs, it was just some organ enthusiasts who started it.
"It's great for us because we need to raise the cathedral's profile and we genuinely do have one of the country's best organs, and it is the size of a small house.
"To be up against Durham Cathedral which is just gigantic and has a Twitter following is amazing. "
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Katie May Nelson, local democracy reporter