Holy Trinity Anglican Church bell still ringing after 150 years

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This article was published 09/11/2015 (3713 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The bell in Headingley’s Holy Trinity Anglican Church still rings out every Sunday after 150 years.

Church member Ray Colley said the bell’s peals signal the start of the church service.

“It’s a unique part of our church,” he said.

According to church member and local historian Jean Ammeter, the bell arrived in Headingley in 1865. A gift of Bishop Anderson, it weighed 276 pounds and was cast by the A. Fulton company in Pittsburgh. The Anglican church parishioners paid the bell’s freight from St. Paul, Minn. to Headingley.

The Anglican Church’s mission started in Headingley in 1853 and the first church was built in 1854. The bell hung in the centre of the church’s straw roof.  

This roof failed to keep out the rain and over the years this church became dilapidated. A new, larger church was built in 1876 and the bell was moved to the new building. However, a fierce cyclone destroyed the church in the fall of 1884.

The church was rebuilt again in 1885 without a steeple, so the bell was housed in its own tower beside the church. A steeple was built in 1909 and the bell was hung, but in 1919 a storm destroyed the steeple and a stronger tower was built.    

In 1951, the Anglican church with its bell tower was moved from the church’s cemetery south of Portage Avenue to its current location at 5335 Portage Ave.

Colley said the bell’s rope hangs inside the church’s entrance. At times, children attending church are able to pull the rope to ring the bell.

“We encourage them to ring it,” he said.

The bell is also rung following a wedding service when the newly married couple is leaving the church.

“It is a sign of joy,” Ammeter said.

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