George, Blanco, Dutch Reformed Church

Abstract

The bell at the NGK in Blanco has a prehistory. Before the current bell, there was a predecessor that was hanging in the church hall. That bell was cast in London in 1842 and installed in 1843 in the Mother church of George. However, a crack occurred and use of the bell was terminated in 1905. In 1951 at the start of the congregation in Blanco, it was repaired and given to this daughter church. There it was used until 1973 when it returned to the horseshoe tower in George. There is a plaque that mentions: IN 1951 IS DIE KLOK AAN DIE DOGTERGEMEENTE BLANCO GESKENK WAAR DIT IN GEBRUIK WAS BY DIE KERKSAAL TOTDAT DIE GEMEENTE IN 1975 ’N KERKGEBOU GEKRY HET. The current bell hangs in a narrow detached tower that is filled up with appliances for telecommunication. Thanks to a good set of binoculars and appropriate cameras, we could convince ourselves that the bell came from the foundry of Petit & Fritsen through the services of the Suid Afrikaanse Orrelbouers. Moreover, its production year was 1973. It is well possible that this bell has been specifically forged for the church in Blanco as occasionally happened with the foundry. However, this can only be supported by documents from the church. From the early fifties of last century onwards, the Suid-Afrikaanse Orrelbouers (SAOB) started intensive business with the foundry Petit & Fritsen. Apart from the Western Cape, the foundry had a lot of business with other areas in South-Africa like Transvaal and the Pretoria region. While most orders came from the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, also orders from churches of other denominations have been registered. The Royal Bell Foundry Petit & Fritsen is the third oldest family business in the whole of the Netherlands. It started operations in 1660 and remained one of the main bell founders in the world. In 2012 it was amalgamated with the Koninklijke Eijsbouts in Asten, also in the Netherlands.