Donated

In 1928 Mrs Noyes who funded the building of All Saints Church donated a further 650 Pounds to complete the unfinished Campanille. It was built by a Perth builder, Mr Allwood to a height of 19.814 metres. In the same year Mrs Dorcas Lillico (a miner’s widow) donated a set of eight tubular bells in honour of her husband Andrew Lillico. Andrew was born in England in 1872 but worked in mines in South Africa before coming to Western Australia. By 1900 Andrew was working in Collie’s coal mines and by 1910 he was the Underground Deputy. Andrew married Dorcas in or around 1910 at St George’s Cathedral Perth.

In 1951 Mrs Dorcas Lillico willed approximately 100 Pounds to the Bunbury Diocesan Trustees so that the interest could be used to maintain the bells.

Built

The 8 tubular bells are made of brass and are between 1.524 and 2.134 metres long. They are thought to be made by the Harrington, Latham & Co of Coventry, England who shipped their bells all over the world. Harrington’s of Coventry constructed most tubular bells between 1890s and the 1920s using their patented design. It is thought that John Harrington developed and patented the design as early as 1884. The quality and tone of the chimes earned him a gold medal at the 1885 Paris World Fair. For further information see towerbells.org.au

Installed

Traditionally bells (regardless of their style) are played by a number of bell ringers. But in approximately 1821 the Revd. Henry Thomas Ellacombe from the Parish of Bitton, (located between Bristol and Bath in England) devised a mechanism so that all the bells could be rung by one trusted person.  This mechanism is known as the Ellacombe frame (see below) and is still in use in many churches today. However, All Saints Church Collie has a keyboard style arrangement to play the bells and is known as a Clavier. Not much information is available on the history of this mechanism and very few Claviers remain in Bell Towers today.