*Location:

   Trinity Parish Church (Episcopal)
   Broadway at Wall Street
   New York, New York, USA
   LL: N 40.70793, W 74.01194

Site locator map

*Player:

   (unknown)

   1850s? James E. Aloff
   c.1860-1910 A.Meislahn, Jr. (d.1910)

*Contact:

   Trinity Church
   74 Trinity Place
   New York, NY  10006-2008
   T: 212-602-0800   F: 212-602-9648

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Original octave by Thomas (I) Mears.
   The 1845 recastings (#1,2,4,7 of 8),
   by C&G Mears, were installed in 1846;
   the 1846 (or 1848?) recasting of the
   tenor was possibly installed in 1849,
   along with new flat 7th semitone.
   Treble recast in 1909; was accompanied
   by a modern chimestand to replace
   a much older crude one.
   Until Aug.2006, the original bells (and
   their replacements) were hung in
   their original change-ringing fittings,
   though without wheels, and so were
   deemed "unringable", though they could
   be played by electric chime system.
   Aug-Oct.2006: restored (by McShane) as
   a pure chime, augmented with a new
   sharp 4th semitone, and relocated above
   the new ring of 12 in the same tower.

*Technical data:

   Electric-automatic chime of 11 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D  in the middle octave
   Transposition is not applicable
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   There are two added semitones
   The instrument was enlarged in 2006
     with  1 bells made by Taylor      
   Prior history:
     In 1909,  1 bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Meneely/Troy
       (1 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       There was one added semitone
     In 19__, the instrument was enlarged to 10 bells
       by an unknown maker
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1849, the instrument was enlarged to  9 bells
       by Whitechapel 
       (1 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
     In 1848,  1 bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Meneely/Wvlt
       (1 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       There were no added semitones
     In 1845,  4 bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Whitechapel 
       (4 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
     In 1797, the instrument was begun with  8 bells
       by Whitechapel 
       (3 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: nRnC  
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2006

The church Website is very extensive, but does not seem to have any information about this chime.  In the Photo Gallery can be found a photo of Trinity Church before the destruction of the World Trade Center.

See a composite historical summary for details of how we have pieced together the story of these bells.

A Waymarking page for these bells has 4 photos of the tower.

A New York Times article about the project to install a new ring of 12 includes a photo of the old bells and mentions them briefly.  Alternate URL here

A London Webpage is primarily about the new ring of 12, but includes a photo of the tower (viewed from Wall Street) and a list of these bells.

The church bell of St.Paul's Chapel of Trinity Church, cast in 1797, may be one of the original bells from Trinity.  From this photo, it appears to have been rehung with 19th-c. American canon-retaining cast-iron yoke and cast-iron uprights, with counter-balanced internal hammer and pusher solenoid action.

A photo of the church accompanies the report of a visitor.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the third phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Watervliet) bellfoundry.
Where the fourth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the fifth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Troy) bellfoundry.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Taylor 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 rings by year of completion.

Why this ring/chime was twice a milestone in North American chime history (1848, 1849).

Index to all tower bell instruments in NY, including the newer 12-bell ring (TC/2) in the lower belfry of the same tower.

   This page was built from the database on  4-Nov-23
   based on textual data last updated on 2019/03/03
   and on technical data last updated on 2019/03/03