Trinity Episcopal Parish Carillon - St. Augustine, FL
N 29° 53.522 W 081° 18.765
17R E 469803 N 3306862
The Trinity Episcopal Parish in historic St. Augustine, Florida, USA, has a 28-bell carillon. This is the third carillon that has been donated to the church since 1971.
Waymark Code: WM9XW0
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/12/2010
Views: 18
About the Carillon:
From a St. Augustine Record news story:
Helen Hindry Stephens donated the first carillon in 1971 for the 150th anniversary of the church, in memory of her parents. Her father, Louis Fitz-James Hindry was rector at the church for 32 years. In 1996, for the 175th anniversary of the church, Mrs. Stephens gave another new carillon. Today [November 24, 2003], Mrs. Stephens' children, Malcolm Stephens Jr. and Marilyn Stephens Peyton, donated a new, state-of-the-art carillon in memory of their mother, who died 15 months ago. ...the new carillon has 28 libraries compared to the previous one's four. The chimes of the carillon can be heard every 15 minutes, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with it playing for a half hour at 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.
To hear the carillon in action, check out this YouTube video.
About the Church:
Located in downtown St. Augustine, Trinity Parish was established in 1821, soon after Florida became a territory of the United States. It is the oldest Protestant church in Florida. The first church building was begun in 1830 and services began on June 30, 1831. Constructed of coquina, a local shell stone, the original structure was 36 feet wide by 50 feet long. Bishop Nathaniel Bowen of South Carolina formally consecrated it on June 5, 1834.
Growth was slow but steady in the following years and small additions and improvements were made to the church – many of these paid for by various fairs and fund-raising activities organized by Trinity’s church women. Three stained glass windows were added just prior to the Civil War. Although there was little actual fighting in Florida the war took a terrible toll on the state, the Diocese of Florida and Trinity.
The next half-century saw a slow recovery by St. Augustine and Trinity, with continued work by a committed laity that continued to raise funds and keep the church going through a succession of Rectors. In 1895, with the arrival the Rev. C M. Sturges, it was determined that the church building was outmoded, too small and in bad condition. Thus began a six-year effort to obtain plans and funding to enlarge the structure. Work began in early 1902 and on January 17, 1903 the first services were held in the “new” church, a cruciform structure, neo-gothic in appearance that seated more than 500 parishioners. A new era had begun.