For Whom the Bell Tolls

We don’t know where the chapel bell is or when it was removed. Was it taken down when the cemetery closed to new burials – or was it stolen by vandals?

A tolling bell was once a significant feature of death and funeral rituals. Traditionally a bell was run to warn of an impending death to alert the curate his services were required. A death knell was rung immediately after death when the number of pulls were significant, two for a woman with a pause and three for a man. A solemn toll was rung at the time of the funeral.

The Radnor Street Cemetery Chapel was designed in the Gothic Revivalist style by popular local architect W.H. Read. The bell tower is surmounted by its own set of mythical beasts, grotesques* that once guarded the now missing bell.

In 1881 when the Burial Board published the cost of a burial in the new cemetery it included –

For tolling Chapel bell if required 1s

For tolling Chapel bell above one hour extra, and so on in proportion 1s

Today the silent bell tower has been adopted by the cemetery pigeons who enjoy their very own room with a view.

*gargoyles redirect rain water – grotesques have no spout.