Northern Suburbs, Vasco, Dutch Reformed Church

Abstract

Vasco Dutch Reformed Church. The Dutch Reformed Church in Vasco is a flat building with a small turret in the middle of the building. The square tower is on the four sides covered with aluminium layered louvers. On one of the sides one can climb over the roof to reach the tower. However, the louver is fixed so tightly that it was impossible to open it. We only could make a few pictures of one side of the bell that fortunately suffice to gain more information on the foundry. 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. One reads around the bell [+ A.D. 1962 + Petit & Fritsen] Aarle-Rixtel, Holland [????] with only the central part being actually visible. However, there are sufficiently many bells from the same foundry in the Western Cape that we can safely guess the major portion of the unreadable parts. The [????] refers to the number in the order book of the company. We expect it to be around the number 4000. On the side of the bell one can see parts of 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 read the dedication of the bell Gelewer Deur Die Afrikaanse Orrelbouers (EDMS.) Beperk Pretoria. According to information from the archives of Petit & Fritsen in the Regionaal Historisch Centrum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, the weight of the bell is 202 kg. It was ordered at the foundry on 12 October 1962 and shipped to South Africa by m.s. Hadja. The archives also mention that there was a second bell of 54 kg, ordered simultaneously with the one hanging in the tower.