Carillon "Jan Donnes"

*Location:

   Musée des Cloches et des Campanes
   Avenue de la Gare (D18)
     (center of old town)
   LL: N 43.47091, E 3.22248
   - or -
   Espace Vins et Campanes
   Z.A.E. l'Audacieuse
     (west of town)
   Magalas, Herault, France
   LL: N 43.46916, E 3.20656

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

   1992-1996:
     Abbey
   19??-1992:
     Familie Donnes
     Keerbergen, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
   1926-19??:
     Residence of M.Jan Donnes
     Kapelle-op-den-Bos, Mechelen, Belgium

   (unknown)

*Contact:

   Musée de la Cloche
   - or -
   Office de Tourisme Magalas
   34480 Magalas
   T: 04 67 36 67 13

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Originally commissioned by M.Jan Donnes
   after his graduation from the Royal
   Carillon School in Mechelen; was
   exhibited at a trade fair in Mechelen
   before being installed at his home.
   Was inherited by his son and stored in
   Keerbergen.  Bought by M.François
   Granier (bell founder in Hérépian,
   Hérault) in 1992 for this museum, and
   transferred to the city in 1996.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 40 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C# in the treble octave
   Keyboard range:     C F   /    C F   
   Transposition is up 13 semitone(s), i.e., from C to C#
   There is one missing bass semitone
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The whole instrument was installed in 1926
     with bells made by Michiels         
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                  0 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:    2 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:   4 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:  50%
   Year of latest technical information source is 1973

The French Wikipedia article about the ancient village reports that the Office of Tourism invites visitors to discover the bell foundry, but it does not explicitly mention the museum.

A video of the carillon

A blog post from 2014 has photos of the carillon and in the museum.

A tourism page (in English) briefly describes the museum.

City page about the museum

A museum page has the following description, under the names "Espace Vins et Campanes à Magalas dans l'Hérault" and "Musée de l'Art campanaire ou de la cloche" :
  The space includes the François GRANIER museum "The art of Bells", where a unique collection of bells, exhibitions of cowbells, bells and church bells is on display.  In addition, visit of the wine-growing space, promotional showcase of wines and local products.  Free tasting, entertainment all year round.

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Michiels bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all French traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all French traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all French traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all traditional carillons in France.

Index to all tower bell instruments in France/Herault.

   This page was built from the database on  2-Mar-25
   based on textual data last updated on 2025/01/15
   and on technical data last updated on 2022/07/27