*Location:

   Ste.Walburgatoren (or St.Walburgis)
   Markt at St.Walburgastraat
   Oudenaarde (Audenaerde),
     Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium
   LL: N 50.84253, E 3.60250

   City Hall

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   Lode Schijnkel
   E: lode.schynkel/@/scarlet DOTbe
      lode.schynkel/@/telenet DOTbe

   Aimé Lombaert, stadsbeiaardier (d.2008)

*Contact:

   (unknown)

*Schedule:

   Sunday 1130 and 1615, late June thru
   August.

*Remarks:

   First clavier, installed 1510 on a set
   of existing clockwork bells, was the
   earliest known anywhere.  Bells of 1556
   by J.Waghevens, Mechelen; extended
   in 1698 by d'Aubertin of Mechelen.
   Replacement by Barbieux in 1751-7 was
   rejected.  A.J.vdGheyn carillon of 1759
   may have included one older bell.
   Causard added 3 bells when carillon was
   relocated.  22 VandenGheyn bells
   destroyed by bombardment in WW I.
   Restored/expanded after war, including
   3 swinging bells by van Aerschodt/1875,
   1 undated Michiels.  12 surviving
   vdG bells went to city museum in 1967.
   Sep.2012: Existing P&F keyboard modi-
   fied by Clock-O-Matic to VEMA system
   (Van Eyck Manual Adjustable).

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 49 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is A# in the bass octave
   Keyboard range:     C C 48/    A#G   
   Transposition is nil (concert pitch)
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The whole instrument was installed in 1967
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen
   Prior history:
     In 1926, the instrument was enlarged to 47 bells
       by Michaux     
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was C  in the middle octave
       Keyboard range was:     C C   /    C G   
     In 1894, the instrument was enlarged to 40 bells
       by Causard     
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was unknown
     In 1759, the instrument was begun with 37 bells
       by vandenGheyn 
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1556, a complete instrument of 16 bells was installed
       with bells made by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: W4    
   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)

Page in Dutch with 5 photos of the building and bell tower - all clickable for much larger versions.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Van den Gheyn bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the third phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Causard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the fourth phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Michaux 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 traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all Belgian traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all traditional carillons in BE.

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