Samuel Lester Fuller Carillon

*Location:

   Memorial Bell Tower
   (World War I Memorial)
   Phillips Academy
   Route 28 at Salem Street
   Andover, Massachusetts, USA
   LL: N 42.64579, W 71.13262

Site locator map

*Player:

   (none)

   1923-71 (unknown)
   1971-91 Sally Slade Warner (1932-2009)

*Contact:

   Phillips Academy   (Su)
   180 Main Street
   Andover, MA  01810
   T: 978-749-4000  [main switchboard]

*Schedule:

   Parsifal quarters.
   (Originally Westminster quarters.)

*Remarks:

   For disposition of 18 Taylor trebles
   removed in 1966, see
   DAYTON - BW,  USA - OH
   in 'Chimes' section.
   Bells silenced in early 1990s because
   of structural problems with the tower.
   It was razed in 2004-5, and rebuilt
   exactly as the original, but with only
   automatic play of the entire expanded
   range; partial provision was made for
   future addition of manual action if
   funds can be found to add an elevator,
   lavatory and other items apparently
   needed to comply with local codes for
   human use; but new 4th octave has no
   internal clappers to support that.
   Disposition of 18 P&F trebles and the
   manual keyboard removed in 2004-5 is
   unknown.
   Original practice keyboard by Taylor,
   formerly in Graves Hall, went to the
   late Suzanne Magassy in Australia;
   current location unknown.

*Technical data:

   Electric-automatic carillon of 49 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is E  in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  4 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C C   /    NONE  
   There are no missing bass semitones
   There is no practice console
   The instrument was enlarged in 2005
     with 30 bells made by Eijsbouts    
   Prior history:
     In 1966, 18 bells were replaced
       with bells made by Petit & Fritsen
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C C   /    C G   
     In 1926, the instrument was enlarged to 37 bells
       by Taylor      
       (2 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
     In 1923, the instrument was begun with 30 bells
       by Taylor      
       (17 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C G   /    C G   
       There were two missing bass semitones
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2005

Academy page about the tower, with photos, audio tracks, etc. A Bell Tower status page offers five mostly-different slide shows (of varying sizes, with varying numbers of photos) of the process of deconstruction of the tower.  Only the largest one includes photos of the removal of the bell frame.
As of Jan.2006, no news of the completion of this project could be found on the Academy Website.

A news article from July 2004 discusses the Academy's decision to downgrade the carillon from a musical instrument to an automatic device.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Taylor bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Taylor bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the third phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Eijsbouts bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by weight.
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in MA.

   This page was built from the database on  4-Nov-23
   based on textual data last updated on 2012/10/21
   and on technical data last updated on 2007/01/22