*Location:

   Christ Church (Episcopal)
   North 2nd Street (American Street) at
     Church Street
   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
   LL: N 39.95070, W 75.14402

Site locator map

*Player:

   (unknown)

   1978-99 Douglas Gefvert   (C)

*Contact:

   Christ Church
   20 North American Street
   Philadelphia, PA  19106-4592
   T: 215-922-1695   F: 215-922-3578

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   The second ring in North America, and
   site of the first peal rung outside
   of the United Kingdom (1850).
   Had a means of playing tunes as early
   as 1779.  Tenor recast in 1835.
   Now unringable--ringing room floor
   removed c.1939 to make way for organ
   pipes; later an alteration of the organ
   allowed installation of present
   floor and two-octave keyboard (unused
   treble keys dropped, but not the
   unused semitones).
   Two bells added as memorials of WW II,
   prior to 1953 when they were recast
   along with one of the original set
   (#5 in chime order, #4 in ringing order);
   and another was added.
   Added bells are sharp 4th, flat 7th,
   and treble (9th).  Also a service bell,
   cast in 1695, swung electrically.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (baton keyboard) of 11 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is F  in the middle octave
   Transposition is unknown
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    NONE  
   There are two added semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 195?
     with  1 bells made by Paccard      
   Prior history:
     In 1953,  3 bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Paccard     
       (3 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
     In 19??, the instrument was enlarged to 10 bells
       by an unknown maker
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1835,  1 bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Whitechapel 
       (1 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       There were no added semitones
     In 1754, the instrument was begun with  8 bells
       by Whitechapel 
       (6 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: S1nR8 
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1994

The church Website has a painting of the building on the home page.

The Philly Ringers have an illustrated page about these historic bells includes a photo of the keyboard.

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 unknown bellfoundries, 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 Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Index to North American baton-keyboard chimes.

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.
Ranking among all North American rings by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in PA.

   This page was built from the database on  8-Sep-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2019/02/27
   and on technical data last updated on 2024/09/04