George, Denneoord, Dutch Reformed Church

Abstract

The NGK in Denneoord dates from 1980. The very neat bell hangs in a large open niche on the side of the building. The bell has the traditional beautiful decorations found on bells of the foundry. Below the shoulder one first finds a decorative band with flowers and angels playing the violin. Underneath this figures on one line all around the bell the information about the foundry, the year of founding and the suppliers. GELEWER DEUR SUID AFRIKAANSE ORRELBOUERS (EDMS) BEPERK. SILVERTON. 1984 PETIT & FRITSEN, AARLE-RIXTEL, HOLLAND 11009. Then follow two moulding wires with in between a set of dots and underneath a third decorative band with hanging leaves in ogive form. Above the sound bow one finds a single wire. 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. Often SAOB ordered sets of bells from P&F without giving information on their ultimate destination. This means that, even when we know the approximate date of delivery, it is an almost impossible tasks to try to find out where bells ultimately ended up. Fortunately, the foundry (almost) always put the founding year (here 1984) and the production number (here 11009) on its bells. 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.