Carillon Tower

Discussions about having a carillon tower in Canberra began in the 1940s and centered around the carillon being a memorial to those who fell in the Great War 1914 - 1918. Unfortunately this project fell through. A few years later the idea for a carillon tower was resurrected, this time to mark the bi-centenary of Captain Cook landing in Australia, on 26th April 1970.

The design of the tower was decided upon by holding an architectural competition in which architects from around the world entered designs. The winners were Messrs Cameron, Chisholm and Nicol from Perth, Western Australia. The design for the tower can be seen in the photographs section. The tower is 160 ft tall and is situated on Aspen island in Lake Burley, Griffin, Canberra.

Part of the funding for the project was a £200,000 gift from the British Government. This was announced in the House of Commons on 14th February 1967 by the Rt Hon Harold Wilson.

The bass bell, 120-1-0cwt in F#, was cast in December 1968 and this was reported in magazines and newspapers in Canberra and across the UK. When cast the bass bell was the largest and deepest toned bell in Australia, this is still the case today.

On August 15th 1969 the foundation stone of the carillon tower was unveiled by the Governor General of Canberra, Sir Paul Hasluck.

The carillon was assembled in the foundry and a ceremony was held on 5th November 1969 at which the bells were played both manually, on keyboard and clavier, and automatically. Guests at the ceremony included Mr R W Boswell - Acting High Commissioner for Australia, the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, the Chairman of Leicestershire County Council and the Mayor of Loughborough. After this the carillon was dismantled and shipped to Australia aboard the SS Cedric, to arrive on Feb 5th 1970.

The automatic playing equipment was manufactured by Messrs Ed. Korfhage & Sohne from Germany. The carillon was provided with three rolls of automatic music which had around 23 tunes on them including God save the Queen, Waltzing Matilda, and Greensleeves.

On 26th April 1970, Mr Evan Lund, Parliamentary under secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, hosted the opening ceremony where Queen Elizabeth II, as reigning monarch of Australia, accepted the carillon from Sir Charles Johnston, British High Commissioner. The carillon was played at the opening ceremony by Mr John Gordon, carillonneur at Sydney university, he was later appointed part time carillonneur at Canberra.

The top 28 bells of the carillon were replaced last year due to the requirements of the repertoire having changed considerably in the last thirty years and demanding a more powerful and tonally precise treble register.

Inscriptions

Bass (1): PRESENTED BY BRITAIN TO THE CITY OF CANBERRA IN
COMMEMORATION OF THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE FOUNDING
OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL OF AUSTRALIA, 12 MARCH 1963

Bells 2 - 25 (shoulder): JOHN TAYLOR & CO *FOUNDERS* LOUGHBOROUGH *ENGLAND* 1969

Bells 26 - 53 (waist): 19(logo)69