Carillon Bells Ringing Again

On any given day as you travel through the Highlands Historic District you might hear the wonderful sound of bells being played. The ability to play the amazing carillon bells is a dying art which is part of the reason the bells fell silent for a few years.

Luckily for Ascension the Highlands Historic District a talented young man, Noah Carpenter, came to the rescue and has filled the skies with his beautiful music. Noah studies music at Wright State University and was profiled by the university along with the bells at The Episcopal Church of the Ascension.

CLICK HERE to read the wonderful article.

We are so thankful to Noah and Wright State University for allowing us to share the video and article.

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The Carillon

The I T Verdin Company in Cincinnati coordinated the specifications and installation of the bells. The 35 bells were cast in bronze by the Petit and Fritzen Company in Holland, which also produced the steel cradles. The bells arrived in America via the Port of New Orleans and were shipped upriver to Cincinnati for installation in the tower. Verdin, known as “the bell ringers of America”, has been in business since 1849.

The musician playing the bells is called a carillonneur. The carillon has a range of three chromatic octaves and can be rung by a manually system of hand levers, pedals and wires that make up the clavier in the tower below the bells. Fourteen bells can also be played by a keyboard inside the church or electronically by a computer program..

The Bells and Bell Tower

The Reverend Sidney Case McCammon, rector of the Church of the Ascension from and resident of 406 The Alameda from 1950 until his death in March 1963, had envisioned a set of swinging peal bells since his first days in Middletown. Peal bells are tuned to the first, third and fifth steps of a major chord; the Sidney Case McCammon Memorial Carillon’s peal is in the key of E flat major.

In 1961 Donald Driscoll started to bring the vision to life by commissioning a bell in memory of his wife Elizabeth. This bell hung over the entrance to the church (now the entrance to the church offices) until the installation of hte complete carillon. This bell became the middle bell of the three bell peal.

The heaviest bell in a musical instrument such as the carillon is known as the bourdon. The bourdon in the Sydney Case McCammon Memorial Carillon weighs 2,750 pounds. It is the bass bell in the three bell peal, and can also be rung by itself. It’s the bell that strikes the hour. It was donated by the Hook family in memory of Charles Ruffin Hook, who lived in the Highlands Historic District until his death in 1958.

The third bell in the peal is a combination memorial given by the Henry family for Dr. William Henry, and by Mrs. F. H. McGraw for her daughter Dorothy Maxson.

In January 1963 the congregation began exploring the idea of expanding the church. There was some talk of a bell tower, including a twelve bell chime. The Colin Gardner family funded the bell tower as part of the addition. The final $210,000 project, which also included a glass cloister to join the bell tower and nave, began in the summer of 1963.

After the death of Mr. McCammon in March 1963 the Arthur Harvey family started the carillon campaign by funding 24 bells in his memory. Eight additional bells were given in memory of Mr. McCammon by Ruth and Arthur Harvey, Marian and James Martin, Marabelle and John Robertson, Judith and John Truitt, Patricia and John Watson and contributors to the S. C. McCammon Memorial Fund. Other residents of the Highlands also contributed toward the purchase of the bells and have bells dedicated to them. The electrification of the carillon was given in memory of Arthur and Ruth Harvey.

The Sidney Case McCammon Memorial Carillon was officially dedicated on December 24, 1964.

The Millan Bell

An additional bell hangs over the door to the church offices. It was originally the ship bell on the Calvin Verity, a steam powered tow boat used to push barges on the Ohio River. Until 1961 it hung over the church entrance, calling the faithful to service. When the first peal bell, the Driscoll bell, arrived, the little ship’s bell, hanging it at his home on Thorn Hill Lane. With the completion of the tower carillon, the ship’s bell is back in service, once again over the door to the church.