Payson Memorial Chimes

*Location:

   South tower
   Chapel
   Bowdoin College
   Campus Road
   Brunswick, Maine, USA
   LL: N 43.90837, W 69.96206

Site locator map

*Player:

   Don Borkowski, Facilities Management
   T: 207-725-3947
   E: dborkows@bowdoin.edu

*Contact:

   Bowdoin College
   Brunswick, ME  04011
   T: 207-725-3000  [switchboard]
   - or -
   Information Center
   T: 207-725-3375

*Schedule:

   Cambridge (Westminster) quarters
   at 5pm

*Remarks:

   An older bell by Blake of Boston,
   formerly in north tower, is now in south
   tower but not connected to chime.
   Chimestand disconnected but not removed
   (as of 1996).
   Towers rebuilt 2003-04, with bells
   removed to temporary storage;
   reinstalled Aug.2004.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard chime of 14 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is G  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   Transposition is unknown
   The arrangement of tones and semitones is unknown.
   The instrument was enlarged in 2004
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen
   Prior history:
     In 1923, the instrument was begun with 11 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt    
   Auxiliary mechanisms: EQ4H  
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2004

The college Website has no information about the bells and hardly any information about the chapel, beyond the fact that it was built in the late 1850s.  A 2003 news article about the restoration pictures the chapel's twin towers shrouded in scaffolding.  (A restoration of the interior, some time in the mid-90s, apparently did not address exterior needs.)

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

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 ME.

   This page was built from the database on  4-Oct-25
   based on textual data last updated on 2025/09/30
   and on technical data last updated on 2025/09/30