*Location:

   St.Mary's Cathedral Basilica (RC)
   Spring Garden Road at Barrington Street
   Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
   LL: N 44.64422, W 63.57312

Site locator map

*Player:

   Georgie Ward

*Contact:

   St.Mary's Cathedral Basilica
   1559 Brunswick Street
   Halifax, NS  B3J 2G1
   T: 902-429-9800   F: 902-425-0997
   E: stmb@hfx.andara.com
   E: cathedral/@/halifaxyarmouth.org

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   McShane supplied 5 bells to match 3
   existing bells.  Some of the original
   bells were cracked by the great Halifax
   explosion of 1917.
   Added semitone is flat 7th.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard chime of 11 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is F# in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  6 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C E   /    NONE  
   There is one added semitone
   The present keyboard was installed in 1970
     by an unknown maker
   Prior history:
     In 1920, all bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Gillett & Johnston
       (11 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C E   /    ----  
     In 1879, the instrument was begun with  8 bells
       by McShane     
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       There were no added semitones
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2000

NOTE:  McShane actually made only five bells, "to harmonize with 3 old Bells which they now have, and form a chime of 8 Bells.  [McShane] to furnish Chime Frame, Music Rack &c for the complete chime."  McShane received the order from Rev. E. F. Murphy on 4 Nov. 1879; the pattern weight of the largest bell was 1600#, and it was inscribed with the bishop's name and was hung to swing.

The Cathedral Website includes a History page (under About) with a paragraph about the bells.

The English Wikipedia article about the building has a photo of it, but the bells are not mentioned.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the McShane bellfoundry.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Gillett & Johnston bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American chimes by weight (pitch).
Ranking among all North American chimes by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in NS.

   This page was built from the database on  4-Nov-23
   based on textual data last updated on 2022/01/29
   and on technical data last updated on 2008/11/13