Andover Stories: Bells toll for Phillips Academy boys lost in World War I

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July 15, 2010

Andover Stories Gail Ralston Andover Historical Society

Approaching the Phillips Academy campus, the first image most people see looming in the distance is the Memorial Bell Tower. The tower was originally named for Samuel Fuller, class of 1891, who donated $75,000 for its construction. It stands as a memorial to the 85 Phillips Academy men who died in service to the United States during World War I.

Architect Guy Lowell designed the bell tower in 1919, based on the steeple of Boston's Old South Meeting House. The original idea had been to place it on the west side of Main Street, where the main academy buildings were first constructed. When 5rustees decided in 1921 to design for the campus on the east side, where the Andover Theological Seminary once stood, the tower location was moved to its present spot. This is notable as the site of the Old Training Field where the young men of Andover prepared for some of the nation's early battles, including the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The cornerstone was laid in a special ceremony following commencement exercises on June 16, 1922.

Over the years, many in Andover fondly recall Sunday afternoon carillon recitals, and then summer concerts, at which families would bring a picnic supper and sit on the Great Lawn. Lucky ones even participated in "open tower" sessions, at which time intrepid souls braved the 112 riser-less wooden stairs to the keyboard level.

In contrast to its physical beauty, the engineering flaws of the original tower forced a full restoration in 2005. Built originally of steel encased in brick, water easily penetrated the porous brick, and the steel began to rust and crack. A $5.15 million campaign provided the funds to rebuild the structure, brick by brick, from the ground up. The entire campus and town community watched the process with great interest.

Part of the effort turned its attention to the tower's beloved carillon. Originally, the memorial tower was to hold a set of bells to chime the hours, not a carillon. But during construction, school officials had traveled to Gloucester, England and were so taken with the Gloucester carillon, they decided to add one to Andover's tower. Andover's 37-bell carillon, completed in 1926 and one of the largest in the country, was produced by John Taylor Bellfoundry of Loughborough, England.

The restoration project involved the cleaning and tuning of the English carillon bells, the addition of another series of bells from the Netherlands and the installation of an electronic carillon system with remote keyboard. Today's carillon combines 19 of the Taylor bells and 30 bells cast by the Royal Eijsbouts foundry in Asten, The Netherlands.

At noon on May 3, 2006, the bell tower sang out to the community after being silent for over a decade. While the old carillon rang the familiar Westminster chimes on the quarter hour, a campus committee selected the Parsifal chimes for the sense of newness it would bring the "new" tower in a new century.

"Andover Stories" is a weekly column about interesting local people, places and events, told in anticipation of the Andover Historical Society's 100 anniversary in 2011.