*Location:

   St.Aldegondetoren
   Mespelarestraat at Dreef
   Mespelare (Mespelaere),
     Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium
   LL: N 50.99644, E 4.06898

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*Player:

   Lorenz Meulebroek

*Contact:

   (unknown)

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Van Aerschodt keyboard of 1870 was
   replaced by Jef Denyn in 1925, when the
   bells were moved from the spire into
   the body of the tower.  Now five
   (originally 7) bells by Georges
   Du Mery (1770-7); S.van Aerschodt added
   14, of which 9 remain.  Tower also
   holds a swinging bell by Sebastien
   James (1835).  Reports conflict as to
   whether there are 20 or 21 bells.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (baton keyboard) of 21 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C  in the itty-bitty octave
   Keyboard range:     C G#  /    NONE  
   Transposition is up two octaves
   There are no missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   6 bells were recast or replaced in 1993
     by Petit & Fritsen
   Prior history:
     In 1871, the instrument was begun with 21 bells
       by vanAerschodt
       (9 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C G#  /    C G  5
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2012

Descriptive article (in Dutch, with tower photo) from the VBV (Vlaamse Beiaard Vereniging); the description and history are inconsistent about the number of bells in this chime.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the van Aerschodt bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all Belgian chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all Belgian chimes by pitch of largest bell.
Ranking among all Belgian chimes by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in BE/Oost-Vlaanderen.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2012/09/06
   and on technical data last updated on 2012/09/06