Temporary, relocated or defunct
tower bell instruments of Asia and the Pacific Rim

Some carillons and chimes in Asia and the Pacific Rim region were installed temporarily in expositions or fairs of various kinds.  Some of these were later reinstalled elsewhere.  Other instruments were relocated from their original places of installation for various reasons.  And some have been destroyed or stolen, and were not replaced.  This page summarizes those events.

The lists below present, in appropriate orders, the original locations of such instruments, without distinction between traditional and non-traditional mechanisms. 

EXPOSITIONS:

Instruments known to have been part of various exhibitions or expositions in this region before relocation are listed in approximately chronological order, with links to their current locations:

International Exhibition (1879), Sydney, Australia
In 1878, Mears & Stainbank (now Whitechapel) made a fully chromatic 20-bell chime of hemispheric bells, which was displayed here.  After the exhibition ended, it was installed in Newtown, New South Wales, where it remains.

(Expositions outside this region are not listed here, but may be mentioned on the relevant site data pages for the current location of such instruments.)

RELOCATIONS:

Chimes which have been moved from their original city of installation to another place are listed in order by city name, with links to their current locations when known:

Bonsel Jewellers, West Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
In 1980, Petit & Fritsen provided 14 bells for a lightweight automatic chime on the façade of this shop in the Henderson neighborhood.  After the shop closed in 2002, the bells disappeared for a while, but eventually reappeared on the grounds of the Ons Dorp Retirement Village in the same town.

DEFUNCT:

Carillons which were installed in this region but no longer exist are listed in order by city name:

World's Fair (1970), Osaka, Japan
In 1969, Eijsbouts made a lightweight 28-bell automatic carillon which was displayed at this Fair.  Afterwards it was sold, but the destination is unknown.

Chime-sized instruments which were installed in this region but no longer exist are listed in order by city name:

Church, Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia
Some time in the 1800s, while this was still a convict community, a set of 8 bells was locally cast for the church.  By the 1990s, the bells were long gone (though most were later retrieved for display), and the church was derelict.

Nagasaki Holland Village, Seihi-cho, Nagasaki prefecture, Honshu Island, Japan
In 1985, two years after this tourist entertainment center opened, Eijsbouts provided 18 small bells as part of an astronomical clockwork (indoors).  The original report implied the use of tower bells, basis C3; but later reports have suggested that handbells were supplied instead.  The clockwork has since been disassembled and the center closed (in 2001); the disposition of the bells is unknown.
NOTE:   Other Eijsbouts bells reported as being installed at Nagasaki Holland Village (in 1991 or later) are actually at Huis ten Bosch, a much larger entertainment facility at Sasebo-cho, Nagasaki prefecture.

Return to Indexes to tower bell sites in Asia and the Pacific Rim.

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This page was created on 2006/11/15 and last revised on 2025/05/25.

Please send comments or questions about this page to csz_stl@swbell.net.