[Bell Historians] Fort Augustus Monastery

[Chris Pickford]

Looked into this a couple of months ago, as it happens, after someone else had spotted details of the present use of the buildings. With a further search, you’ll find some photos of the bells online – including the separate bell in the 1890 chapel, and at least one 1880 bell unhung.

 

The main chime was supplied by Gilletts in 1880 (not sure which style of company name was used). There seem to have been eleven bells in all, but from the records (I have the details from Alan Buswell and I've also seen the order book entry) it’s not entirely clear what went where. Dove, of course, shows nine bells in the chime. So some of the bells supplied may have been put in other buildings on the site. The musical notes aren’t given in the records, so it’s not easy to work out which bells would make a chime sequence. Also, it looks as though a couple of bells supplied in 1878-9 may have been returned to the foundry and replaced.

 

The chapel was built later in 1890 and has a biggish bell of its own – about which I've been unable to find anything definite. It’s not a Gillett or Taylor bell though.

 

It really needs someone to go and look at what remains in order to disentangle this satisfactorily, but I've certainly explored the accessible documentary sources already. It will probably make sense once we can correlate between what’s there and what the records show.

 

Chris Pickford

4 Walmsley Court, High Street, Kinver, DY7 6HG

Tel: 01384-878435 or 07811-453525

E-mails (interchangeably – use either)  <mailto:c.j.pickford at talk21.com> c.j.pickford at talk21.com or  <mailto:c.j.pickford.t21 at btinternet.com> c.j.pickford.t21 at btinternet.com 

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