*Location:

   St.Michael's Anglican Church
     (formerly Episcopal)
   Broad and Meeting Streets
   Charleston, South Carolina, USA
   LL: N 32.77632, W 79.93071

Site locator map

*Ringers' contact(s):

   C.J.Cantwell, Tower Captain
   4 St.Michael's Alley
   Charleston, SC  29401-2532
   H: 843-577-2333   W: 843-723-1706
   E: cantwellcj@aol.com

      Verify the current ringers' contact(s) at the NAGCR Website.

*Contact:

   St.Michael's Church
   14 St.Michael's Alley
   Charleston, SC  29401-2596
   T: 843-723-0603   F: 843-723-7578
   E: office@stmichaelschurch.net

*Schedule:

   Practice Thursdays 1731-1931;
   service Sun 0950-1020 (except no
   Sunday ringing in Lent).

*Remarks:

   Cast in 1764 by Lester & Pack
   (Whitechapel).  Taken by the British in
   1782, returned in 1783 after Mears &
   Chapman (Whitechapel) recast 2 which
   had been cracked in transit; 2 recast
   in 1828 (or 1830) by Eubank and Cordes
   after breaking; all recast in 1866
   after war damage; tenor recast in 1879
   or 80 after cracking in use as a fire
   alarm.  Unringable for over a century
   except by chiming apparatus (the first
   chimestand in North America, made
   locally in 1805); original clock by
   Ainsworth Thwaites of London restored
   and bells retuned, rehung and restored
   for ringing 1992-3; rededicated & first
   peal rung on 4 July 1993.
   Clock strikes quarters with pattern
   Do-La-Ti-Sol, repeated incrementally at
   each quarter (double ting-tang);
   supposedly this was modelled on the
   long-vanished second clock chime of
   the Royal Exchange, London, England.

*Technical data:

   Ring of  8 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D# in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     ROPE  /    NONE  
   Transposition is not applicable
   There are no added semitones
   The bells were re-tuned in 1993
     by Whitechapel      
   Prior history:
     In 1866, all bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by Whitechapel     
       (8 bells were added in and/or remain from that work.)
       Pitch of heaviest bell was F  in the middle octave
     In 1764, a complete instrument of  8 bells was installed
       with bells made by Whitechapel     
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
       Keyboard range was:     ROPE  /    NONE  
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1993

The church Website once had extensive information (with photographs) about the tower, the bells and the ringers; fortunately, that page is retrievable from an archival in 2007.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American rings by pitch/weight.
Ranking among all North American rings by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American rings by year of completion.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).

Why this ring was a milestone in North American chime history (1837).

Index to all tower bell instruments in SC.

   This page was built from the database on 10-Mar-26
   based on textual data last updated on 2026/03/01
   and on technical data last updated on 1994/01/11