INVERARAY'S BELL TOWER

and
ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Inveraray's All Saints Episcopal Church dates from 1886, George John Douglas Campbell (1823
- 1900), The 8th Duke of Argyll, persuaded by his second wife, Amelia Maria, daughter of the
Right Reverend Thomas Claughton, the first Bishop of St. Albans and widow of Lieutenant-
Colonel Augustus Henry Archibald Anson V.C., he a son of The 1st Earl of Lichfield, to grant a
feu for the church's erection, the town's Episcopal church services until then held in the old
parish school, today the site of the community hall, the old school demolished in 1903.

Thanks too to his second wife, The 8th Duke was persuaded to gift Iona Abbey to The Church
of Scotland on the condition that it be returned to a place of worship, the abbey re-
consecrated in 1899.

Inveraray's All Saints Episcopal red granite church, with a large vestry and an organ chamber
on the north side, consecrated in September 1886, was designed by Edinburgh architects
Wardrop and Anderson, the church served by successive rectors until 1952, it then becoming
a 'cathedral mission' and served by itinerant priests and then becoming an 'independent
congregation' served by the Rector of Lochgilphead and Roman Catholic services too being
held in the church building since 1965, they otherwise having to travel some twenty-odd miles
to Lochgilphead to worship at St. Margaret's Roman Catholic Church.

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All Saints Episcopal Church owes much to the generosity of Niall Diarmid Campbell (1872 -
1949), 10th Duke of Argyll, who took great interest in both the worship and the business
affairs of the church, his gifts including several beautiful sets of vestments, the tabernacle,
sanctuary lamps, candlesticks, an oak settle and many other of the church's furnishings, the
church's font of ancient origin and coming from the old church at Kilmalieu, about a mile to
the north, one Parson MacVicar, at the time of The Reformation, contriving to hollow out a
second basin on the underside of the font, for the christening of the "new fangled
Protestants", MacVicar asserting that 'it was only Christian charity to widen the scope of entry
to the distinctly narrow Gates of Heaven'.

Following his inheritance, from his uncle, John Campbell, The 9th Duke of Argyll, in 1914,
Niall Campbell became Honorary Colonel of The 8th Battalion of The Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders and, war ended, he commissioned architects Hoare and Wheeler to design, what
is now a Category 'A' listed building, a memorial tower to commemorate The Clan Campbell
dead, the original idea being to link the new tower to the 1886-built church but, hampered by
funding problems, the construction of the tower, begun in 1921, not completed until the
autumn of 1931, Niall Campbell himself, something of an eccentric in that he hated
telephones and motor cars and would e.g. greet tourists with recitals from Italian operas and
actually laboured on the building himself to get it finished.

Even before the structural design detail of the four-storied tower was completed, the ground
floor's chamber giving access to a small circular stairway, in the in the narrow side turret to
reach 'the ringing chamber', that giving way to 'the silence chamber' on the next floor, it
necessary to moderate the sound in 'the ringing chamber' and above 'the silence chamber',
the great 'bell chamber' with its seven huge louvre windows of freestone tracery, partially
lined with brickwork and wooden shutters for sound and weather control, the bell founders,
John Taylor and Company of Loughborough, they established in 1780 and today one of the
only two remaining bell founders in Britain, were set to work to calculate their needs, the set
of ten bells the the second heaviest ring of ten bells in The World, only those in Somerset's
Wells Cathedral heavier, the first of their bells hung around 1220, just after the cathedral's
central tower was completed and the others added later.

The plans and details agreed, the bell founders began casting the peal, the ten bells weighing
nearly 8 tons, around 80% of the weight copper, the balance in tin and, though it would be
indeed years before the new bell tower would be sufficiently complete to hang the peal, a
wooden slatted annexe was built nearby to house the bells when they arrived at the end of
1921 and, the bells, hung inside till the tower could be completed, made playable by a
keyboard.

The bells' delivery by road from Loughborough not without incident, five of the bells and their
iron framework leaving Loughborough on, appropriately enough, All Saints Day, November 1,
1921 and the lorry then breaking down at Coppull, in Lancashire, the load transferred to a
second lorry and then all going reasonably well until, on November 24th, the load reached
'The Little Rest', at the lower part of the old Rest and Be Thankful road in Glen Croe, the
lorry's driver lucky enough to get some help there to unload the treble bell and the ironwork
framework and, continuing to struggle to reach the worst part of the climb, came to a stand
again and was again lucky in getting help to part with a second bell before managing to get
over the summit and reach Inveraray some time after 7 o'clock in the evening.

The two off-loaded bells and the iron framework were retrieved next day, Taylor's agent in
Inveraray writing "I am not surprised at the lorry getting stalled now that I have seen the road.
On some parts of the climb, patches of clayey stuff are more prominent than road metal and
anywhere on the road is rough. There was only the driver with the lorry so he was pretty lucky
in getting enough help to assist him in unloading the two bells".

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The total cost of the ten bells in January 1922, the bells themselves costing £ 2,422.17.6d,
added to which was the cost of their lettering, the iron framework, their delivery, temporary
mounting, setting and tuning, came to an even then massive £ 4,276.3.6d, and the building
costs of the 126-foot high tower, eventually completed and the bells finally hoisted into place
in September 1931, adding another £ 16,988.12 shillings, the total project cost just over £
21,000 and that in the middle of The Depression, many of The Duke's friends donating
towards the completion of the bell tower.

In his later correspondence, The Duke wrote noting that, "On Christmas Eve the church was
packed. We had all the tower lit up with long burning night lights in every chink and two
candelabras lit in the 'ringing chamber' and we had a great bell display both before and after
service", a further note in his correspondence, written in 1937, recording that, "The Belfry
was gradually built to contain the fine peal of bells which are the finest north of The Tweed,
each bell bears the name of one of the old Celtic Saints".

World War Two silenced the bells and, on November 28, 1944, the tower's stonework and
windows were damaged when the structure was struck by lightning, the damage only at last
repaired in recent years and then, in 2007, the peal's chiming mechanism was fully restored
and a new cabinet constructed so that all 10 bells can now be 'chimed' from the ground floor
by a system of wires and hammers to play hymn tunes, carols etc. on what many
campanologists consider to be one of the finest rings of bells ever cast, the wonderful tones
of the bells brought out by the, some would say, the exceptional design and construction of
the tower.
THE GREAT RING OF BELLS

On Niall Diarmid Campbell, The 10th Duke of Argyll's memorial, the final sentence, ' . . .
commemorated by the peal of bells which he caused to be set up in this place To Sound The
Praises of God over Loch and Glen".

Inveraray - All Saints Episcopal Church

Bells
Bel Weight Nomin Not Diamet Ca Founder Cano
l Cwts Qtrs al e er st ns
Lbs
1 6-0-14 1307.0 E 29.00" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
2 6-1-26 1163.0 D 30.50" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
3 7-1-6 1037.0 C 32.75" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
4 8-2-2 978.0 B 34.50" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
5 10-1-5 871.0 A 37.50" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
6 13-0-8 777.0 G 41.00" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
7 17-0-22 692.0 F 45.50" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
8 20-1-21 653.0 E 48.25" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
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 9 28-3-0 582.0 D 54.25" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co
10 41-2-8 518.0 C 60.38" 192 John Taylor & F
0 Co

THE GREAT RING OF BELLS' INSCRIPTIONS WITH TRANSLATIONS

The bells are inscribed in Latin in Lombardic characters, the Gaelic Saints referred to on the
bells belonging to 'The Age of St Columba' and all having their own churches in the area at
that time, these succeeded in some cases by today's Presbyterian parishes.

No l SANCTE MALUAG ORA PRO NOBIS

Pray for us Saint Maluag

No 2SANCTE COLUMBA ORA PRO NOBIS

Pray for us Saint Columba

No 3MUNDI PRO MERITIS MEREAMUR GAUDIA COELI

By the grace won by St. Mundus, May we earn the joys of Heaven

No 4TERRAE VELIFICATE VIAS BRENDANE BEATAE TU NOBIS PARTIER PANDE SECUNDUS ITER
O Brendan who didst sail the land of the Blest Do thou, by thy favour, to us also open,
the pathway

No 5PRO NOSTRIS ORES: QUOTIES DABO PULSA SONORES TE COLQ TUQUE MEUM SANCTE
MAELRUBHA DEUM
Pray for our people Saint Maelrubha whenever I am struck and ring I give you worship
and you also worship my
God

No 6 SANCTE BLAANE ORA PRO NOBIS

Pray for us Saint Blaane

No 7SANCTE MARIA MARIS SUCCURRE PIISSIMA NOBIS

Most Blessed Mary, Star of the Sea, hasten to our aid.

No 8SANCTE MURDOUCHE ORA PRO NOBIS

Pray for us Saint Murdouche

No 9SANCTE BRIGIDA ORA PRO NOBIS

Pray for us Saint Brigida

No 10FERT LUCEM PRAE SE FERT ARDOREMQUE MOLAISE FLAMMA VELUS VENTO VOTIS
ARDERE
MEMENTO VOTIS ARDE IGNIS PRO NOBIS SANCTE BENIGNIS
Light and Fire Saint Molaise bears as his banner. Remember to blaze with prayers as the
flame blazes in the wind.
O Holy Fire blaze with kindly prayers for us.

ALL SAINTS BELL TOWER, THE AVENUE, INVERARAY, ARGYLL

Scottish Charity No. SC 025646

Open Daily (May - September) from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm

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There is a free exhibition about bell ringing and a small selection of souvenirs for sale on the
ground floor but there are Admission Charges to View The Upper Floors and Roof

Adults £4 - Children (aged 5 - 15) £2 - Senior Citizens £ - Family Ticket £8

Please Note that there are 176 steps up narrow circular stairs to the roof top AND No Smoking
is allowed in the tower or on its roof.

The tower is a registered War Memorial built by The 10th Duke of Argyll to the dead of Clan
Campbell and thanks are given here to The Scottish Association of Change Ringers for their
assistance in maintaining the tower, the bells and the exhibition.

An excellent descriptive booklet, giving a lively account of Inveraray's All Saints Episcopal
Church's history, particularly of the relationship between various incumbents and Niall, 10th
Duke of Argyll, has been written by Inveraray headmaster Donald MacKechnie, a friendly
Presbyterian elder, he too, in collaboration with Norman Chaddock, also producing a similar
booklet about Inveraray's Bell Tower.

ABOUT CAMPANOLOGY

There are three main types of bell installations -

(1) Ringing Peals of up to twelve bells. When rung by means of ropes and wheels each bell
swings a full circle to and fro, the bell being stuck once at the end of each swing by the
central clapper (or tongue).

(2) Carillons, i.e. groups of 25 or more bells fixed rigidly and played from a keyboard by
one person.

(3) Chimes of Bells, i.e. smaller groups of bells than Carillons but with simpler
mechanisms, enabling them to be played by one person or mechanically.

The basic differences between a chime of bells and a ringing peal are -

When a set of bells is chimed the bells do not move but are struck by hammers operated by
cords which pass over pulleys to the operating device (or clavier) in a room below the bells. It
is not necessary for the operator to be able to read music since tunes can be written out in
numbers instead of notes.

Although sweet and attractive because of the well-known simple melodies played, the range
of sound of a chime is limited and the full beauty of the tone of the bells is not brought out.

In contrast, the sound of bells rung in full peal carries for miles and the full beauty of the tone
of the bells is fully brought out. In a well-designed tower this can be done without the bells
being excessively loud in the immediate vicinity. It is not
possible to "ring" tunes on a ringing peal because of the time of the swing of the bells.

The art and science of ringing changes has therefore been developed. A ringing peal requires
one person for each bell, to control the movement of the rope by means of which the huge
wheel to which it is connected is made to swing the bell.

By the addition of extra apparatus, a ringing peal may also be used as a chime and the bells
of Inveraray have this property. Accordingly, they may be chimed gently to pleasant

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melodies or be rung in full peal by ten ringers, sending out a cascade of glorious sound over
loch and glen.

It is quite commonplace for ringers to ring more than 5,000 changes non-stop. On Inveraray
Bells these "True and Complete Peals" take almost four hours to ring.

Change ringing is practised only in The British Isles, a few parts of The Commonwealth and
U.S.A. Elsewhere, especially on The Continent, carillons and chimes are more common.

There are 18 Bell Towers in Scotland of 6 or more bells -

ABERDEEN Cathedral Church of St Machar

Cathedral of St Mary of The Assumption

ALLOA St John The Evangelist

DUNBLANE Cathedral

DUNDEE Old Steeple

Cathedral Church of St Paul

DUNKELD Ruined Cathedral of St Columba

EDINBURGH Fettes College Chapel

St Cuthbert

Cathedral Church of St Mary

St Andrew's and St George's

COLINTON St Cuthbert's

GLASGOW Cathedral Church of St Mary

HADDINGTON St Mary's Collegiate Church

INVERARAY All Saints Episcopal Church

INVERNESS Cathedral Church of St Andrew

PAISLEY St James

STIRLING Church of The Holy Rude