*Location:

   Beffroi (Tour Église Saint-Eloi)
   Rue Clemenceau at Place du Beffroi
   Dunkerque (Dunkirk), Nord, France
   LL: N 51.03559, E 2.37617

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   Alfred Lesecq
   E: Alfred.Lesecq/@/wanadoo DOTfr

   Adalbert Carriere

*Contact:

   Mairie de Dunkerque (Service de Fêtes)
   - or -
   Office du Tourisme
   4 place Charles Valentin
   59140 Dunkerque
   T: 28 26 27 27
   - or -
   Paroisse Saint-Eloi
   2 Rue Clemenceau
   59140 Dunkerque
   T: 03 28 66 56 59

*Schedule:

   Saturday 1600-1645
   Visits possible in July and August.
   Auto-play at the quarters, 0800-2000
   daily (except Thursday from 1000).

*Remarks:

   Detached tower.
   Carillon of 1852, chiefly by
   van Aerschodt, destroyed 1944.
   Previous instruments date back to 1531
   or earlier.
   Bourdon "Jean Bart", 5 tonnes; four
   largest swing as church bells.
   2009: totally restored, after 12 years
   of silence; new keyboard has dropped
   bass C# key, carbon fiber transmission.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 50 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell (excluding sub-bourdon) is C  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range: (G )A#C   /(G )A#G 21
   Transposition is up  2 semitone(s), i.e., from C to D 
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 2009
     with  2 bells made by an unknown maker
   Prior history:
     In 1962, the instrument was begun with 48 bells
       by Paccard     
       Keyboard range was: (G )C C   /    ----  
       Transposition was nil (concert pitch)
     In 1852, a complete instrument of 36 bells was installed
       by vanAerschodt
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was unknown
   Auxiliary mechanisms: S4    
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2024

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 much wider view.

The French Wikipedia article about the tower has a photo of it, as well as one of the associated church of St.Eloi.  The carillon is mentioned, but not described in detail; weight given as 5 tonnes.

The foundry has an article on the 2009 restoration.

Photos of the building

The ARPAC Website (archived 2019) presents much more detail than we can here, though it is all in French.

A Waymarking page for these bells has 8 photos of the tower.

PDF about the inauguration in 2009

Where the initial stage of this work lies in the sequence of output of the vanAerschodt bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Paccard bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of unknown bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.

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

Where the bass bell of this carillon ranks among all great bells in Europe.

Index to all traditional carillons in France.

Index to all tower bell instruments in France/Nord.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/09/04
   and on technical data last updated on 2024/04/07