PLAINFIELD : USA - IL

*Location:

   Plainfield United Methodist Church
   Chicago & (North) Illinois Streets
   Plainfield, Illinois, USA
   (Illinois Street has been renumbered,
   changing "North" to "South".)
   LL: N 41.60767, W 88.20383
Site locator map or [ MapQuest map ]
Also see our own Map Use Hints.

*Player:

   Kelly L. Markwell
   24961 Ambrose Road
   Plainfield, IL  60544-6703
   T: (815)439-3538
   E: bells@plainfieldumc.com
   - and -
   Church members and youth

*Contact:

   Plainfield Methodist Church
   *parcel:
     15115 South Illinois Street
      (renumbered from 600 N. Illinois St)
     Plainfield, IL  60544
   *postal:
     PO Box 55
     Plainfield, IL  60544-0055
   T: (815)436-9651   F: (815)436-9764
   E: pumc@plainfieldumc.com

*Schedule:

   Original dedication Dec.1907;
   rededication Sun. 9 Dec. 2007,
   by Tim Sleep.

*Remarks:

   Original added semitone was flat 7th.
   Independent electric action added in
   1971 did not last long.  Installation
   of new bells, including conversion of
   chimestand to batons, by ChimeMaster.

*Technical data: 

   Traditional chime (baton keyboard) of 18 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is F# in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  6 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C G   /    NONE  
   There is one missing bass semitone
   There is no practice console
   The instrument was enlarged in 2007
     with bells made by Eijsbouts   
   Prior history:
     In 1906, the instrument was begun with 10 bells
       by Meneely/Wvlt
   Year of latest technical information source is 2007
Additional information on the technical history of this instrument can be found in a database printout.

*Links:

The church Website has a photo of the building.  The previous version of the Website had a History page with more photos, and a long section about the chime; but these seem to have been abandoned.

Photos © 2001 by Carl Scott Zimmerman:
The tower (75KB) at evening.
The chimestand (137KB) is on the middle level of the tower.
The music rack (146KB) still reads "West Troy," though the town had been renamed "Watervliet" ten years before Meneely made this chime.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Watervliet) bellfoundry.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of the Eijsbouts bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American chimes by size (number of bells).

Index to all tower bell instruments in IL.

*Status: 

   This page was built from the database on 27-Dec-07
   based on textual data last updated on 2007/12/26
   and on technical data last updated on 2007/11/23

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

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