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Finally! Welcome to the top floor of the bell tower!
Things are a bit crowded up here (I wouldn't want to try to fit more than about four people at a time, and even then a certain amount of fancy maneuvering is required), due to the space necessary for ten bells and the machinery needed to operate them.
We sometimes come up to see the bells after we finish playing at five o'clock Friday afternoons. You wouldn't want to be this close to them when they are ringing!
The high G (see the image to the right), the smallest of the bells, was added the most recently, in 1941. The other nine bells have been in the bell tower since 1879.
For more historical information, see Diana's history of the bells.
Note: Thanks to Mark Rich '98 (who re-sent me the information after I lost it the first time), I now know who is responsible for these fantastic photos. The photographer was Sarah Heidt '97. The arms in the photo to the right belong to Allison Sladek '98 and that's Mark in the background.
Unfortunately, the bells are no longer quite as beautiful as in the pictures above. Winters in Gambier are very cold, and pigeons find the bell tower an irresistably tempting refuge. Pigeons and bells do not make a very good combination, as you can see clearly in the photograph to the left. Fortunately, screens are now in place to keep out unwanted winged guests and prevent further damage.
Still, a close-up look at the bells is a sight not to be missed, pigeon residue and all. I highly recommend a real-life visit.
At this point in the tour, there are choices. You may either head back down (enjoying the sights along the way), look at more photographs of the bells, or examine the fascinating mechanism that allows us to play bells weighing hundreds of pounds from two stories below:
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