Swartland, Malmesbury, St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church

Abstract

Photographs and information on the St Francis de Sales Catholic Church and its bell in Malmesbury, South Africa. The St Francis de Sales Catholic Church lies close to the centre of Malmesbury. The attractive building is painted in a soft yellow colour apart from a brick bell tower that sticks out on the left side of the church. In the tower hangs an attractive British bell with the usual decorations: Two pairs of moulding wires below the shoulder, three above the knee and two more on the lip. In between the moulding wires one reads T MEARS LONDON ME FECIT 1831. The use of Latin in the inscription illustrates that this bell is one of the oldest British bells in the Western Cape.