*Location:

   Dudley Field Memorial Tower
   (also called "Children's Chime Tower")
   on the Village Green
   West Main Street (Rte.102) at Rte.103
   Stockbridge, Massachusetts, USA
   LL: N 42.28367, W 73.31978

Site locator map

*Player:

   (Mrs.) Claire G. Williams
   4 Larrywaug Crossroad (Box 101)
   Stockbridge, MA  01262
   H: 413-298-4857

*Contact:

   Town of Stockbridge
   50 Main Street
   Stockbridge, MA  01262
   T: 413-298-4170   F: 413-298-4344
   E: admin@townofstockbridge.com

*Schedule:

   Daily 1730-1800, May thru September,
   or "apple blossom time until frost."

*Remarks:

   Tenor swings.  Reports of 9 bells
   expanded to 10 are wrong.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (chimestand) of 11 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is E  in the middle octave
   Transposition is unknown
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   There is one added semitone
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The instrument was enlarged in 1973
     with bells made by an unknown maker
   Prior history:
     In 1878, the instrument was begun with 10 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt
   Auxiliary mechanisms: nW1   
   Tower details: 
     Height of console:                  7 meters above ground
     Height of lowest level of bells:   20 meters above ground
     Height of highest level of bells:  20 meters above ground
     Belfry openness:  95%
   Year of latest technical information source is 2001

The Town Website has a photo of the tower in the rotating series of photos at lower left.  But there is no further information about the chime.

On the Chamber of Commerce Website, the tower is pictured at the top of the home page, and described briefly on the Main Street section of the Tour.

A combined biography of David Dudley Field, father and son (and equally famous brothers) does not mention the chime but does show clearly the fame of the donor (which is presumed to have been D.D.Field the younger).

A waymarking page describes and pictures the tower, which was built by David Dudley Field to honor his grandchildren.

Wikimedia photo

Another tourist page has two photos of the tower.

Wikipedia photo of the tower, from a 1908 postcard

Flickr photo of the tower Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Watervliet) bellfoundry.

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 MA.

   This page was built from the database on  4-Nov-23
   based on textual data last updated on 2014/10/22
   and on technical data last updated on 2014/10/22