*Location:

   St.Paul's Episcopal Cathedral
   (originally St.Paul's Episcopal Church)
   Pearl & Church Streets
   Buffalo, New York, USA
   LL: N 42.88274, W 78.87632

Site locator map

*Player:

   (unknown)

*Contact:

   St.Paul's Cathedral
   128 Pearl Street
   Buffalo, NY  14202-4075
   T: 716-855-0900   F: 716-855-0910
   - or -
   Dr. Dale Adelmann, Organist/Choirmaster

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Reports of the original chime being
   destroyed by fire are incorrect; the
   bells survived an explosion and fire
   that destroyed the body of the building
   in 1888, & were not rehung until 1926.
   The original bells were the only
   Meneely/Watervliet set ever hung for
   change-ringing.  After the first
   enlargement, the chiming mechanism was
   above the ringing room, so it must
   have been Ellacombe-style.  Electric
   keyboard by Verdin added in 1987
   without removing chimestand.

*Technical data:

   Electric-keyboard chime of 14 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is E  in the middle octave
   Transposition is unknown
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   The arrangement of tones and semitones is unknown.
   The present keyboard was installed in 1987
     by the maker cited in Remarks above
   Prior history:
     In 1924, the instrument was enlarged to 14 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt
       Transposition was up  1 semitone(s)
       Keyboard range was:     D#--  /    ----  
     In 1857, the instrument was enlarged to 10 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt
       Pitch of heaviest bell was D# in the middle octave
       Transposition was nil (concert pitch)
       Keyboard range was:     D# F  /    ----  
       There was one added semitone
     In 1856, the instrument was begun with  9 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt
       Keyboard range was:     ROPE  /    NONE  
   Auxiliary mechanisms: C     
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2000

The Cathedral's extensive Website once included an excellent History section with fine old photos and detailed floorplan.  Current (and color) photos of the building were scattered throughout the Website in unexpected places.  But there is no mention of the bells outside of the History. More recently, it was found that the Website hasn't been updated since 2006; the History section has been revised; some of its links are broken, and the remainder have no information about the bells.

A modern photo (259KB) by George Dawson.

A report of a visit and subsequent research by George Dawson.

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

Why the original installation at this site was a milestone in North American chime history (1856).
Ranking of the original bells among all North American rings by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in NY.

   This page was built from the database on  4-Nov-23
   based on textual data last updated on 2007/08/01
   and on technical data last updated on 2010/09/08