Our Faith Rings Out Across The Land
The Story of Our New Bells
If you are anywhere near the Irvington Presbyterian Church on the quarter hour these days, you will hear something that hasn't been heard in almost fifty years - chimes from a bell hung in the church steeple. There has been a bell in that steeple for over a hundred years, but it fell silent in 1959 when it was replaced by an electronic carillon that was used to sound the hours, and to play music at certain times of the year. That carillon served the church for more than forty years, until it was rendered inoperable by age and wear in the mid 1990s. Since that time, the steeple has been silent.
Almost as soon as the carillon went out of commission, the church session began thinking about a replacement. The donors of the original carillon offered to replace it, but the session, while grateful for their generosity, came to the conclusion that it wanted to explore the use of real bells again. Various bell manufacturers were contacted, and the session decided to retain the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, in London, for the job. Whitechapel is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as Britain's oldest manufacturing company, having been established in 1570 (during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I) and being in continuous business since that date. Among the famous bells they have cast are Big Ben, in the Parliament Building, and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia (they didn't crack it!).
The bell that had been in the steeple all along was cast in Troy, New York, in 1875, and installed in the church in 1876. In January of 2007 it was removed from the tower and shipped to Whitechapel, where it was scheduled to be reconditioned. At the same time, the church embarked on a fundraising effort to pay for four additional bells, which would allow us to ring the familiar Westminster chimes on the quarter hour. Within a few months the funding was raised, and Whitechapel was commissioned to make the bells. In due course all five bells arrived in the US, and were stored in a warehouse while the steeple was made ready.
Since the four bells are about two and a half times as heavy as the original, a new frame, steel instead of wood, had to be built by Whitechapel. Below is a picture of the bells on their frame at the Whitechapel factory. The original bell is the largest one, closest to the camera.
In addition, the tower itself had to be cleaned and refurbished before installation could begin. One requirement was bird netting over the louvers, to keep our feathered friends from making a home in our expensive investment. Finally, all was ready, and in December, 2007, the bells were delivered. Below is a picture of the crane unloading them from the shipping crate.
In the picture below you can see the bells laid out for a dedication, with, from left to right, Architect Walter Sedovic, Minister David Harkness, and Crew Chief Jay Fiebich celebrating the big day.
Once the frame was installed in the tower, the bells could be winched into place. Below are Walter Sedovic and a crew member guiding one of the bells to its new home.
After several hours of careful lifting and bolting, the bells were all in place. The picture below shows them firmly attached, with the tower walls and louvers behind them.
All that remained was to install and wire the clappers, so the bells could be rung electronically. Below are the new bells ready to toll the quarter hour (from 8:00AM to 8:00 PM), and to ring peals on special occasions.
