Dennis Townhill

Dennis William Townhill OBE (29 May 1925 – 18 July 2008) was an English organist and composer.

Memorial in St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh

Born in Lincoln, he was educated at Lincoln School and studied under Dr Gordon Archbold Slater at Lincoln Cathedral.

Townhill composed a set of responses for use at Anglican evensong.

In 1970, Townhill became the driving force of a plan not only to safeguard the future of the Choir School of St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh but to transform it into a new and vibrant entity.^[1] In 1972, the school was expanded into a specialist music school on the lines of the Yehudi Menuhin School, with Lord Menuhin becoming patron and referring to it as "my younger sister-school in Scotland".^[2]

He was organist and choir master at:

• St Paul's Church, Burton on Trent. 1942–1943^[3]
• St. Mary le Wigford’s Church, Lincoln 1943–1947^[3]
• St. Mary Magdalene, Bailgate, Lincoln, Lincoln 1947–1949^[3]
• St James Church, Louth 1949^[3]–1956
• Grimsby Parish Church 1956–1961
• St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh 1961–1991

Townhill retired in 1991,^[1] and his autobiographical memoir The Imp and the Thistle: The Story of a Life of Music Making was self-published in 2000.^[4]