The Campanologists
The bells are rung for Church services, and also weddings and funerals when requested. We also ring for community occasions such as Anzac Day and the Thursday Markets during school holidays. We have a weekly practice session to maintain and improve our bell ringing skills.
CHIMING:
Sundays, 8:00–9:00am: Service ringing
Thursdays, 9:00–10:00am: School holidays only
PEALING:
Mondays, 5:30–7:00pm: Practise
Visitors are always very welcome! When we are ringing, the bells and the ringers can be viewed from the ground floor of the tower by CCTV. (If the door is closed, please knock – loudly!).
If you are interested in learning to ring, please contact the Tower Captain for more information and to arrange a time to come and have a try at bell ringing.
History
The Tower and Bells were dedicated in 1888. The set of nine movable bells was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in England, and shipped to Maryborough; the Tower was constructed locally. The entire project was financed by prominent pioneer settler Edgar Aldridge, in memory of his wife Maria (who had died in 1886); Edgar himself died seven weeks after the dedication. Bells 6 & 7 are named Maria and Edgar in their memory.
Thursday 17 March 2011 marked the 125th anniversary of Maria’s death. Bellringers came from Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth to ring a full peal on the following Saturday. For pictures, see Events Archive 2011.
This full peal was the last for quite some time, because the bells and associated fittings were in need of significant maintenance. A preliminary report (under the auspices of ANZAB, the Australia New Zealand Association of Bellringers) indicated this would necessitate their return to Whitechapel. Their total absence was expected to approximate six months. In fact they were uplifted Monday 16 April and returned Monday 10 September, an absence totalling 21 weeks. Fr Jim McPherson, priest in charge of Maryborough Anglican Parish at the time, wrote a poem about their absence, which was published in the Spring issue of ANZAB’s magazine “Ringing Towers”.
The pictures below (from the preliminary Report) show some of the damage of the years.
The parish launched a public appeal to raise the $150 000 needed for this refurbishment. The Tower is a significant Maryborough landmark, and the Bells enrich our community life in many ways. The appeal was officially launched by the Archbishop at a dinner hosted on 30 July 2011.
Archbishop Phillip Aspinall with Fraser Coast Mayor Mick Kruger (2011)
David Smith (ANZAB Executive) with the Archbishop
Catholic priest Fr Paul Kelly and Lutheran priest Pastor Sam Davies with the Archbishop
The bells were successfully restored to the tower on Monday 10 September 2012, and fitting and installation are now complete. The Fraser Coast Chronicle has a photo gallery which has some wonderful shots of a wonderful day – click here.