*Location:

   Collégiale Notre-Dame
   Rue Notre-Dame,
     off Allée Bristide Briand
   Ville-Franche-de-Rouergue,
     Aveyron, France
   LL: N 44.35236, E 2.03776

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   Paul-Henri Meriau
   E: paulhenrimeriau/@/free DOTfr
   - and -
   Gabriel Birague
   E: gabriel.birague/@/laposte DOTnet

   inaug.1937 Maurice Lenfant
   inaug.2015 Christine Laugié

*Contact:

   Association les Amis du Carillon
   Maison des Sociétés
   Place Bernard Lhez
   12200 Villefranche de Rouergue
   T: 06 17 04 20 76
   E: Webform @ carillon-villefranche.fr

*Schedule:

   Hourly melodies; Angelus

*Remarks:

   Unknown when 1936 keyboard became
   unusable.  Now includes 7 bells (5 still
   swinging, 2 now fixed) cast here in
   1818 by Maurice Dubois (Huille-Court,
   Haute-Marne).  New bells and keyboard
   by Cornille-Havard; keyboard in the
   belfry, not enclosed.  Auto-play on 3
   octaves of fixed bells can coordinate
   with fountain and lights in plaza.
   Also 600kg hour bell in lantern, cast in
   1822 by Cazes & Pourcel for chapel of
   Blue Penitents, transferred here 1920.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 48 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C C 49/    C G 20
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   There is one missing bass semitone
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 2014
     with 17 bells made by Cornille-Havard 
   Prior history:
     In 1971, the instrument was enlarged to 25 bells
       by Paccard         
       (1 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
     In 1940, the instrument was enlarged to 24 bells
       by Paccard         
       (6 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was unknown
     In 1936, the instrument was enlarged
       with bells made by Paccard         
       (17 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
     In 1819, the instrument was begun with an unknown number of bells
       by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (7 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E37   
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                 30 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   30 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:  33 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:   ?%
   Year of latest technical information source is 2018

The GCF page about this carillon has a description and two small photos, which cannot be enlarged.  "1636" should be "1936".

Website of the Friends of this carillon

The French Wikipedia article about the city has photos of the building and a short section about the carillon.

The Website of the friends of the carillon has a rotating series of large photos on the home page, and a great deal of information about the instrument.

Photos of the building (in 3 pages)

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the third phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the fourth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Cornille-Havard 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/Aveyron.

   This page was built from the database on  2-Mar-25
   based on textual data last updated on 2025/02/02
   and on technical data last updated on 2024/01/23