Gasson Hall Tower, Boston College - Chestnut Hill (Boston and Newton), MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 20.154 W 071° 10.241
19T E 321173 N 4689353
The landmark bell tower on Gasson Hall within the Boston College main campus is a gothic-style design that has four bells that toll the time.
Waymark Code: WMG03T
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 12/26/2012
Views: 2
In the neighborhood of Chestnut Hill that is within the municipalities of Boston, Brookline, and Newton, is the Boston College main campus, where a large gothic-style bell tower rises from Gasson Hall.
The tower is located off College Road, which is a few hundred feet north of the road intersection of Hammond Road, College Road and Beacon Street. I'm not familiar enough with the campus to know if there is on street parking available. A parking garage is not far away on Campanella Way.
Gasson Hall, with the bell tower, is a prominent building on campus - possibly the tallest structure on it. The tower is square and rises from about the center of the building. There are clock faces on at least two walls - north and south - just below the belfry.
According to an online article about Gasson Hall in 2002, the way to the bells involves going up an elevator to the third floor, then through a locked and unmarked door to a wooden ladder, then four stories of winding stairs wide enough for one person at a time. The four bells are all actively used, chiming on the hour and parts of the hour. Bell 1 (do-F) has the name, Ego Sum Ignatiu ("I am Ignatius"). Bell 2 (fa-B flat), is named Francis Xavier; Bell 3 (sol-C) is Aloysius Gonzaga, and Bell 4 (la-D) is John Berchmans, all Jesuit Saints. The chamber could easily hold more bells. But the original budget was for four bells, and the number has not been added to, since.
The article states that Gasson Hall, with the tower, was built in 1913. The article stated that this was built on purpose to have a prominent Catholic tower overlooking Brahmin Boston to show that Catholics, and the Jesuits in particular, had made it in Boston. The building was part of an ambitious plan for Boston College to include more buildings of the same gothic style. Gasson Hall remained as the only building on this campus until 1924, when Devlin Hall was built.
The article indicated that tours were possible - though they might have been on an ad-hoc basis. I did not see anything else that indicated that tours were available, so 'Unkown' was selected below.
Source:
Boston College Magazine (Gasson Confidential, Fall 2002):
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visit link)