THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a decade of silence, the British-era tubular bell of the CSI Church, Palayam, is being heard once again.
Set in the top-most floor of the bell tower, the bell was repaired in connection with the 150th anniversary celebrations of the church.
Church officials say it could be the only one of its kind in the country.
To see it, you go up an iron staircase hugging the outside of the bell tower. Through a narrow window with a pointed arch, you enter the first floor, where there is a conventional bronze bell. It is old.
The inscription on it reads ‘PW Workshop 1874.’ Originally tolled to mourn the dead, this bell began to be used for regular services when its tubular cousin fell silent.
The four-piece tubular chime is in the floor above, fixed to a large wooden frame.
The tuned metal rods of differing lengths chime when the hammers fall. ``The bell dates back to 1915,’’ says vicar Rev Daniel George. Tuned in E flat, the chimes accompanied the choir. Donated by ‘Mr and Mrs Hunt’ in 1915, they were brought from London.
Hunt was High Court judge here and lay trustee of the church committee. The bell was consecrated in June 1915. A similar Tubular Chime can be seen at the Christ Church, Kent, UK, according to the Travancore- Cochin Diocesan Report. The chimes fell silent ten years ago when a worker accidentally painted them over, dulling the sound.
Now everything has been fixed, and small rubber parts connecting the hammers have been replaced with steel springs.