SCITUATE : USA - MA

*Location:

   The Lawson Tower 
   (originally Observatory Tower, 
     Dreamwold, Egypt) 
   First Parish Road near Country Way 
   Scituate, Massachusetts, USA

*Player:

   Lenae Badger 
   43 Marion Road Ext. 
   Scituate, MA  02066-2721 
   H: (617)545-5840 
   E: lenaebdgr@aol.com

*Contact:

   Scituate Historical Society 
   43 Cudworth Road / PO Box 276
   Scituate, MA  02066 
   T: (617)545-1083

*Remarks:

   Temporarily out of action--bells 
   removed from tower during restoration. 
   Tower & belfry built to conceal a water
   tank (now disused) for Dreamwold, 
   the estate of Thomas W. Lawson, in the 
   village of Egypt, now part of 
   Scituate.
   Keys numbered 1-6,7flat,7#,8-9; 
   the added semitone is flat 7th.
   Cambridge (Westminster) "quarters" at 
   6pm only; simple hour strike the rest 
   of the day.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (chimestand) of 10 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D  in the middle octave
   Transposition is up  2 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C D   /    NONE  
   There are two added semitones
   There is no practice console
   The whole instrument was installed in 1902
     with bells made by Meneely/Wvlt
   Year of latest technical information source is 1996

*Links:

The consulting firm involved with plans for restoration of the tower provides a photo, history and description, and structural drawings of the tower, bell frame, etc.

A photo page from a collection of water towers seems to suggest that the tower is made of stone (as the original German model was). Actually it is of wood shingles and trim over a steel frame, independent of the 70-foot standpipe inside it.

A huge photo (208KB) by a genealogist shows the keyboard room (at left) and the stairway entrance (at right) at the base of the tower.

The Scituate Historical Society does not mention Lawson Tower, since the Society does not own it; they only maintain it for the Town of Scituate.

To see a locator map, click here: or here: or here:
Also check our own Map Use Hints.

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Meneely (Watervliet) bellfoundry.

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

Index to all tower bell instruments in MA.

*Status:

   This page was built from the database on 18-Aug-04
   based on textual data last updated on 2004/08/09
   and on technical data last updated on 2000/05/15

Explanations of page format and keyboard range are available.

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