*Location:

   Basilique Saint-Gervais-et-St-Protais
   Rue des Chapeliers / Rue Saint-Gervais
     at Rue Saint-Anselme
   Avranches, Manche, France
   LL: N 48.68647, W 1.35868

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Player:

   (None)

*Contact:

   (unknown)

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Bourdon anonymous 1762.  Bollée cast 23
   in 1899; Cornille-Havard added 9 in
   Nov.1982; last 3 in 2008.  Trebles were
   played from non-standard baton
   keyboard; basses (G,C,D,E,G) were
   played from electrified pedalboard.
   (The original tracker action was
   too heavy!)  Now all-electric.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard carillon of 35 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell (excluding sub-bourdon) is C  in the treble octave
   Transposition is unknown
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   The arrangement of tones and/or semitones
     is non-standard; see Remarks above.
   The instrument was enlarged in 2008
     with  5 bells made by Cornille-Havard 
   Prior history:
     In 1982, the instrument was enlarged to 30 bells
       by Cornille-Havard
       (5 bells remain from that work.)
       Transposition was up one octave
       Keyboard range was:     C C 25/(G) C G  5
     In 1901, the instrument was begun with 25 bells
       by Bollée      
       (22 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     C F 18/(G) C G  5
   Auxiliary mechanisms: E     
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2023

The GCF page about this carillon has a description and two photos, but the keyboard ranges do not match the number of bells.  The photo of bells can be opened for a larger version.

The French Wikipedia article about the building has a section about the bells, but refers elsewhere for a complete description. 
The description that it does give is inconsistent, so this place is a mystery awaiting a detailed inspection to confirm the number and dates of all existing bells.

Photos of the building

YouTube video (1:33) with a melody on the carillon before 6 pm hour strike; the last few seconds are a plenum on swinging bells.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Bollée bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Cornille-Havard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Cornille-Havard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all French non-traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all French non-traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all French non-traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in France/Landes.

   This page was built from the database on  8-Sep-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/09/04
   and on technical data last updated on 2024/03/30