So picking up now where we left off …
After our Dumbarton disappointment things started to look up again as we met Rev James McNaughtan at St Marnock’s church, Kilmarnock during the afternoon which houses the only Whitechapel carillon in the UK.
St Marnock’s was opened in 1836 and was built as a ‘chapel of ease’ i.e. to take the overflow congregation from the main Parish Church. At the end of this month the church is going to be renamed St Andrew’s and St Marnock’s as it forms a union with Howard St Andrew's in the town.
It was quite a strenuous climb up the 111 steps to the clavier with just a short ladder from the clavier room leading up to the 30 bells making them, therefore, the closest to the clavier that we have seen so far. This 30 bell carillon was installed in 1955 in memory of Peter Wills and daughters, Maggie and Mary.
Caroline again described the clavier as ‘quirky’ – some batons require a particular knack to make the bells sound but this gives the clavier an interesting individuality and character.
The sound in the clavier room was very distinctly different from the other places we have visited. The bells sounded dampened somehow and less resonant although that is not how they sounded from the outside – it’s an intriguing instrument in that respect.
We’d like to thank Rev McNaughtan for kindly meeting us and showing us around the carillon and the bells and for his patience as we attempted to find a suitable vantage point for recording the bells outside … and then it started to tip it down!
Read more about the church at:
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