Melted Bells

St. Phillips Church, Charleston SC.

Lumix GF-1 20mm F1.7 Lens

During the War Between the States, the steeples of St. Philip’s and St. Michael’s, the most conspicuous objects in the city from a distance, served as targets for the great guns with which the city was bombarded. St. Philip’s suffered particularly. Ten or more shells entered its walls. The chancel was destroyed, the roof pierced in several places, and the organ demolished.

It was not until May of 1866, in what appear to be some “catch-up” minutes, that these terse, yet poignant, words appear: “Upon application of the Confederate Authorities, during the War, the Bells of the Church were given to the Ordnance Department to be melted into Cannon, upon the promise that, after the successful termination of the Struggle with the Northern Government, they would be replaced by other bells of the same tone and size. They were taken to Augusta, and with the loss of the Southern cause, all hope of their restoration has expired.”

But the bells, which were cast in Annecy, France, twenty miles south of Geneva, rang out clearly, joyfully, and stalwartly on July Fourth, 1976 after a dedication service attended by some six hundred St. Philippians and friends. The “determined ladies” did not replace all eleven bells, as promised by the Confederacy, but they did replace four of them. The congregation and our neighbors (well, most of our neighbors) took the new St. Philip’s into their homes (no choice) and into their hearts. We are pleased that an old-new Charleston tradition has become part of the heartbeat of our neighborhood, as the bells ring out between the hours of eight in the morning until eight in the evening. The bells ring the Westminster chimes at 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour. The bells will ring joyfully to announce a wedding, occasions of state will set the bells a’ pealing, and they will toll for a service of the Burial of the Dead.

@ 2012 Photo Pro - Jeffrey P. Hopp