*Location:

   Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
   Pennsylvania Avenue & N. Rodney Street
   Wilmington, Delaware, USA
   LL: N 39.75418, W 75.56201

Site locator map

*Player:

   Rosemary H. Bradley
   392 Hobart Drive
   Greenbridge,
     Newark, DE  19713-1619
   H: 302-738-6678
   E: violin1@aol.com

*Contact:

   Westminster Church
   1504 West 13th Street
   Wilmington, DE  19806-4223
   T: 302-654-5214   F: 302-654-5706

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Gift of an anonymous donor
   (actually W.G.Mendinhall).
   Original added semitone flat 7th.
   P&F bells added 1978, 1979, 1980.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (baton keyboard) of 20 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D# in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     E C#  /    NONE  
   Transposition is down 1 semitone(s), i.e., from C to B 
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 1980
     with 10 bells made by Petit & Fritsen
   Prior history:
     In 1912, the instrument was begun with 10 bells
       by McShane     
       Keyboard range was:     D#F   /    ----  
       Transposition was nil (concert pitch)
       There was one added semitone
   Auxiliary mechanisms: nW1   
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1992

The church Website no longer has a picture of the building, and this chime is barely mentioned.

Local newspaper articles about the chime and its dedication: clip 1 from The Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE) 3 Oct 1912, Thu, p9, reports dedication plans; clip 2 from The Evening Journal (Wilmington, DE) 5 Oct 1912, Sat, p11, lists the inscriptions on all ten bells; clip 3, from The Morning News (Wilmington, DE) 5 Oct 1912, Sat, p7, is a longer version of the same article, and provides some technical specifications.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the McShane bellfoundry.
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.

Index to North American baton-keyboard chimes.

Other chimes which qualify as mini-carillons.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American chimes by weight (pitch).
Ranking among all North American chimes by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in DE.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2021/08/15
   and on technical data last updated on 2021/08/15