YOU may have enjoyed a band from the pews or laughed at a comedian from the gallery – but you won’t have seen the Union Chapel’s unique water-powered organ.

Now the venue in Upper Street is offering monthly tours of the historic chapel – and it includes a behind- the-scenes peek at the fully working, 150-year-old hydraulic music machine.

The tours – taking place on the first Wednesday of each month – are run by guides from Islington Guided Walks and give a backstage glimpse to the listed venue that has hosted the likes of Amy Winehouse, Elton John and Adele.

The organ, built by instrument maker Henry “Father” Willis, dates from 1877 and was commissioned for the building. It is considered one of the finest there is.

Tour guide Nigel Smith told the Tribune: “I suspect a lot of the people who come will have been here before to see a gig – and there is something brilliant about the way the chapel was built that you get to enjoy at a concert. It was a non-conformist chapel built by James Cubitt, who was a radical.

“The design was not like traditional churches. He passionately believed everybody in the congregation should be able to clearly see and hear the service. In traditional churches, the rich were down the front, the poor at the back, and there were pillars that blocked views. Cubitt didn’t want any of that – and this radical innovation is to the benefit of everyone who goes to the chapel today to be entertained.”

The Union was the second non-conformist chapel on the site, after one built in 1806 with a capacity for 400 worshippers.

It had been founded by believers who had previously attended St Mary’s in Upper Street, but instead formed a union with other non-conformists to build their own space – hence the name, Union Chapel. By the mid-1800s the demand was such, they built a larger church.

The chapel has not always been charmed: it was hit by bombs in the Blitz, and faced the wrecking ball in the 1980s before being restored.

Congregations were also known for being members of the Temperance Movement – so it may be somewhat surprising the Union Chapel had close links with Islington pubs.

In 1948, innkeepers raised funds to replace war-damaged windows – and their generosity was noted by the minister, the Rev Roland Taylor.

Mr Smith said: “The chapel had been running Britannia Row Medical Centre off Essex Road – destroyed by a landmine in 1940.

“Here, minister Ronald Taylor discovered the goodness of the pub landlord of the Old Britannia of Britannia Row who was very helpful – as the Rev Taylor revealed on 11 November 1948, at a plaque unveiled by the Mayor of Islington.”

The Rev Taylor said at the time that “as long as I live, I shall always be indebted to the members of the licensed houses. Bombs or no bombs, they allowed me a freedom which it is impossible to describe.”

He added: “There was nothing mercenary about this; it was pure goodness.”