*Location:

   Chester United Baptist Church
   84 King Street
   Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada
   LL: N 44.54, W 64.2414

Site locator map

*Player:

   Gail I. H. Smith
   E: gsmith /@/ district.chester DOTns.ca

   1954-74 Dr.M.Allen Gibson, pastor
   [1975-2005 disused]

*Contact:

   Chester United Baptist Church
   84 King Street
   Chester, NS  B0J 1J0
   T: 902-275-3434
   E: chesterubc@ns.sympatico.ca

*Schedule:

   Every Sunday

*Remarks:

   Chromatic minus lowest one and highest
   two semitones.  Action reassembled in
   2005 by church members, under the
   leadership of Hume Smith (1966-2005);
   rededicated in his memory Dec.18, 2005.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (baton keyboard) of 14 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is A  in the treble octave
   Keyboard range:     C E   /    NONE  
   Transposition is up 21 semitone(s), i.e., from C to A 
   There are four added semitones
   The presence or absence of a practice console is unknown
   The whole instrument was installed in 1954
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen 
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2005

The church Webpage has a grainy photo of the building.  These little bells are in the small octagonal turret atop the low entrance tower.

Historical Note from the present chimer: 

"Hume Smith was my son.  In January, 05 he undertook the restoration of the bells that had not sounded for 30 years.  In fact he at 38 could not recall ever hearing them.  He devoted many hours to the task and on July 20, 2005, estimated he had 6 hours of work remaining to completion. That afternoon he suffered a heart attack and died the following morning.  I was determined to see his work completed and that was accomplished on November 11.  The bells were rededicated in his memory on December 18, 2005, his 39th birthday.  I have played them every Sunday since.  I had played them when they were first installed and now I'm still able to climb and play again to the Glory of God and by His grace."
/s/ Gail. I. H. Smith, Chimer

Where 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.

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 NS.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2008/08/02
   and on technical data last updated on 2005/04/19