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This is pretty much what you may find in a one bell tower.

There are often two ropes coming from the ceiling above.

The thick rope swings the bell back and forth, moving the clapper alternately to both sides of the bell
(FYI) I have read that the swinging motion exerts a horizontal pull of 40% of the weight of the bell.

The thin rope is connected to the tolling hammer and is used for funeral tolls, 4-6 seconds apart.
This is often done when the hearse is arriving, leaving or the body is entering or leaving the church.
It rises from resting in a flat position below the bell in an arc to ring it.

In the old days, the toll was rung the number of times of the age of someone when they just died.
This alerted the community to start cooking for the bereaved family.
Those were the days when bells were a means of communication.

If you see a square wood cutout section under the bell(s), This is where the bell was hoised thru, into the tower.
The frame supporting the bell is most often an A-frame, notice the angled supports.............

Going into the tower can be an adventure, a piece of cake, dangerous, or impossible.
Make sure you have permission and someone below to track your progress, danger or need for help.
This was not a normal place for people to roam and often was designed for no-one to go into.
Some can only be reached from the roof.

If you must, get a primer on the dangers you may encounter upon climbing a tower, in another section.

If you intend to call ALLCHIMES for more information -
1. go to the research/buy/sell section and get as much 1-19 info as possible
2. make sure to get the Meneely name and location correct. They were competing foundries.
they were TROY, WEST TROY and WATERVLIET, NY
3. if TROY, NY foundry, you can look up the bell records in the KEHN book excel file, at the bottom of that section.

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Last modified: 02/21/10