Robert Deegan has been making harpsichords since 1969 and was previously a graphic designer. He works in a converted eighteenth century quayside warehouse in the City of Lancaster, England, with two assistants, and personally attends to each stage of the demanding process of making a hand crafted keyboard instrument. In 1977 he won a Churchill Scholarship and travelled to the USA where he studied instruments in the major collections as well as visiting other makers. Due to this opportunity and visits to European collections he has inspected, collected data on, and (where possible) played all the originals of the instruments offered here.

The materials used in our instruments are carefully chosen, air dried and well seasoned. All our instruments are supplied with wooden jacks as standard, although the customer can specify high-quality delrin jacks for instruments that may be subjected to climate extremes. The workshop has tended to specialise in instruments from the Flemish, French and North German traditions, as can be seen in the online catalogue. In addition to these instruments, many others have been studied and documented, some copied. We aim to ensure that the client’s individual requirements are fulfilled, so if you are seeking a certain type of instrument we would be pleased to discuss it with you, Visitors are always welcome to the workshop, preferably by appointment, where some instruments can be seen and played. Alternatively, most models can be examined elsewhere by arrangement.

Tonnage Warehouse

CURRENT NEWS

Now available, restored Flemish Single Manual harpsichord, also Flemish Virgiinals, almost new - see 'Used Instruments'

At present we are making new instruments after,

Goermans/Taskin 1764/1784 French double-manual - unallocated.

Moermans 1584 Flemish single manual 2 x 8' - click here for more info.

Single Manual English Harpsichord after William Smith, London, c1720, made for the National Trust, Wordsworth House, Cockermouth, the Lake District (2007)