Index to carillons and chimes by van Aerschodt

The van Aerschodt foundries, the last of which closed in 1943, provided bells for various carillons and chimes throughout the world.  See the bottom of this page for additional historical notes.

The sites are listed in order by the year of casting, which may be different from the year of installation.  Following the year is an indication of the founder's contribution to the instrument:

Finally, there is an indication of the type of instrument:
  trad      - carillon with traditional keyboard
  non-trad  - carillon with non-traditional mechanism
  non-trad* - carillon with non-traditional mechanism now,
              but with traditional keyboard when originally installed
  chime     - chime (any mechanism)
  [...]     - instrument is defunct; link is to "sites that are no more"
At present, the products of the two van Aerschodt foundries are intermingled in this index.

van Aerschodt, Leuven (Louvain), Belgium

HERENTALS                     : BELGIUM      1843 F  trad
   Stadhuistoren (Belfort)
NAMUR                         : BELGIUM      1857 F  trad
   Cathedrale St.-Aubin
LEUVEN - STG                  : BELGIUM      1857 I  trad
   Sint-Geertruikerk  (Abdij)
BOSTON - 1                    : ENGLAND      1867 C  [non-trad]
   St.Botolph Parish Church  ("Boston Stump") 
MESPELARE                     : BELGIUM      1871 F  trad
   St.Aldegondetoren
CATTISTOCK                    : ENGLAND      1872 F  [trad]
   SS.Peter & Paul Parish Church
HERTOGENBOSCH - STJ           : NETHERLANDS  1874 C (trad)
   Sint-Janskathedraal
     (Sint-Jansbasiliek)
TOURNAI - B                   : BELGIUM      1875 I  trad
   Belfort (Beffroi)
ROMA                          : ITALY        1876 C  non-trad*
   S.Paulo intra Muros 
   (St.Paul's within the Walls, 
     American Episcopal) 
KORTRIJK - STM                : BELGIUM      1880 C  trad
   Sint Maartenskerk
PHILADELPHIA - HT             : USA - PA     1883 C  trad
   Holy Trinity Church (Episcopal) 
WIGTON                        : ENGLAND      1884 C  [chime]
   Highmoor Bell Tower
HILLEROD                      : DENMARK - S  1886 C  non-trad
   Slot (Royal Castle)
ABERDEEN - STN                : SCOTLAND-AB  1887 F  trad
   Municipal Carillon
   St.Nicholas' Church 
LERWICK                       : SHETLAND IS  1887 F (chime)
   Town Hall 
UTRECHT - D/2                 : NETHERLANDS  1888 R  trad
   Upper belfry
   Domtoren
CATTISTOCK                    : ENGLAND      1899 E  [trad]
   SS.Peter & Paul Parish Church
EATON HALL                    : ENGLAND -CH  1900 C  non-trad
   (Seat of the Duke of Westminster)
   Chapel Tower
ANTWERPEN                     : BELGIUM      1904 I  trad
   City carillon (stadsbeiaard)
   O.L.V. Kathedraal
LERWICK                       : SHETLAND IS  1906 R (chime)
   Town Hall 
LOS ANGELES - CLA             : USA - CA     1931 C  non-trad*
   Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (RC)
   *  The original installation, at a different site,
      had a traditional keyboard.

Historical Notes:

Three van Aerschodt brothers were grandsons of the last van den Gheyn bellfounders, and two of them became bellfounders themselves.  One foundry was operated by A.L.J. van Aerschodt (1814-1888), as a continuation of the work of his grandfather, who died in 1833.  The other foundry was begun in 1851 by Severin van Aerschodt (1819-1885), and carried on by his son Felix (1870-1943).  Both foundries regularly produced beautiful and excellent castings which were both famed for their sonority and deplored for their lack of tunefulness.

Source: A.Lehr, Register of [Dutch-related] bellfounders (in Dutch only)

Return to Indexes to bellfoundries.

This index page was built from the database on 13-Oct-01 and last updated on 12-Feb-10.

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