Swellendam, Dutch Reformed Church

Abstract

Photographs and information on the church bells of the Dutch Reformed Church in Swellendam. The Dutch Reformed Church, built in the early part of the twentieth century, is a remarkable, eclectic building constructed in different styles and with a baroque steeple. The tower houses two bells that have been painted in silver and that can be seen from the ground. A closer look at the bells shows that they are from different periods. The bell on the left is from the same foundry as the quintet from the Dutch Reformed Church in Bredasdorp. Below a nice band of trumpets we read ED KORFHAGE & SOEHNE BUER 1911. The bell on the right is older but has no reference to a founder. In between two pairs of moulding wires at the top we read the founding year 1821. It is remarkable that this kind of mentioning of the founding date is common in the Western Cape. A statistical analysis might tell us that such bells originate from the same foundry.