Northern Suburbs, Ysterplaat North, Dutch Reformed Church

Abstract

Ysterplaat, Dutch Reformed Church. The Dutch Reformed Church in Ysterplaat North has a straight concrete tower with three vertical openings on the four sides. From the ground one can see a bell that is attached to the ceiling of the tower. The position of the bell made it impossible to make measurements so that we had to restrict our work to an acoustical recording and a number of pictures. Fortunately, we already had some prior information on the bell that was acquired from the archives of Petit & Fritsen in the Regionaal Historisch Centrum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The weight of the bell is 198 kg, and it was billed to the South African Organ Builders on 25 January 1959. The bell has been made by the Petit & Fritsen foundry from Aarle-Rixtel in Holland. Below the shoulder figures a broad decorative band with angels playing musical instruments. Below is a smaller band with hanging leaves. In between the two bands one finds the text that often appears on bells of the founder. Comparing it with other bells from the same period we expect the text to be + A.D. 1959 + Petit & Fritsen Aarle-Rixtel, Holland [????] where only a small part of the text was actually readable. The [????] refers to the number in the order book of the company. We expect it to be around the number 3000. On the side of the bell one can see the emblem of the foundry that shows a seal with three bells 1 and 2 in between the branches of a tree. Above the sound bow in between a pair of moulding wires we expect the dedication of the bell Gelewer Deur Die Afrikaanse Orrelbouers (EDMS.) Beperk Pretoria. A set of three more moulding wires on the lip complete the decorations on this well-kept bell.