Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CHURCH STEEPLE BELL

Date Range From

1912

Date Range To

2003

Materials

IRON

No. Pieces

2

Height

60

Length

56

Diameter

5

Description

CAST IRON STEEPLE BELL WITH CLAPPER. CAST IRON MOUNT AND CORD HOLDING MOVEMENT WHEEL (SEPARATE PCE) FOR BELL OPERATION. ROPE ATTACHED TO ARM OF MOUNT. RD PAINT CAN BE SEEN ON INTERIOR OF BELL THROUGH WEAR OF METAL. BELL IS VERY RUSTED.

Subjects

CEREMONIAL ARTIFACT

Historical Association

RELIGION

History

BELL WAS USED UP TO THE CLOSURE OF THE ST. MARY'S CHURCH IN 2003. IT WAS RUNG BEFORE EACH SERVICE TO SUMMON THE FAITHFUL. THE BELL DOES NOT HAVE A MUSICAL SOUND, AND IT IS SAID THAT THE BELL CAME FROM THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVE USED IN THE LETHBRIDGE COLLIERY. AS MANY OF THE EARLY PARISHIONERS OF ST. MARY'S WERE MINING FAMILIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE NUMBER 3 MINE, IT IS A VERY PLAUSIBLE STORY. THIS STORY HAS BEEN REPEATED IN A NUMBER OF PRINTED ARTICLES, SOME OF WHICH ARE IN THE ARCHIVES IN CALGARY. ST MARY’S ANGLICAN CHURCH BEGAN EARLY IN THE 1900S. THE EARLIEST ARCHIVAL RECORD IS A STATEMENT MADE IN JANUARY, 1906 THAT A GROUP OF PROMINENT MEMBERS OF ST. AUGUSTIN’S PARISHIONERS AGREED TO COVER A DEFICIT IN THE OPERATION OF ST. MARY’S MISSION UP TO $300. APPARENTLY, ST. MARY’S EXISTED BEFORE THIS DECISION, BUT IT IS UNKNOWN FOR HOW LONG. A FORMAL ORGANIZATION MEETING FOR ST. MARY’S MISSION WAS HELD ON APRIL 20. 1908. THE SEPARATE PARISH OF ST. MARY’S WAS ESTABLISHED ON FEBRUARY 1, 1910. THE “NEW” CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1912, AND USED BY THE PARISH UNTIL IT CLOSED IN 2003. THE NORTH SIDE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP THEN RENTED THE BUILDING UNTIL 2006, WHEN THE PROPERTY WAS SOLD TO A PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL. THERE WERE AT LEAST EIGHT RECTORS (PRIESTS) AT ST MARY’S BETWEEN 1910 AND 1944, INCLUDING SOME PERIODS OF TIME WHEN NO PRIEST WAS AVAILABLE (OR AFFORDABLE). IN 1944, ROBERT COWAN ARRIVED AND SERVED ST. MARY’S FOR THE NEXT 37 YEARS UNTIL 1981, A TERM UNPARALLELED IN THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF CALGARY. IT WAS DURING THIS TIME THAT ST. MARY’S BECAME KNOWN HAS ST. MARY THE VIRGIN. CANON COWAN RETURNED TO ST MARY’S AS A PARISHIONER FOR A FEW YEARS LATER, AND REMAINED UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1999. MICHAEL EBSWORTH SERVED AS RECTOR FROM 1981 UNTIL 1994, WHEN HE RESIGNED DUE TO HEALTH REASONS. FATHER EBSWORTH REMAINED A RESIDENT OF LETHBRIDGE, OFTEN SERVING AS A “VISITING” PRIEST, AND HE TOOK PART IN THE FINAL SERVICE AT ST. MARY’S HELD ON AUGUST 14, 2003. IN THE FINAL DECADE OF ST MARY’S EXISTENCE, FIVE OTHER PRIESTS SERVED THE PARISH, INCLUDING TWO FEMALE PRIESTS WHICH SOME FOUND SURPRISING DUE TO ST. MARY’S TRADITIONAL LITURGICAL PRACTICES. THE CHURCH CLOSED AND AMALGAMATED WITH THE ANGLICAN PARISH OF ST. AUGUSTINE. OTHER OBJECTS AND ARCHIVAL MATERIALS ASSOCIATED WITH ST. MARY'S OPERATION WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF CALGARY. AT THE TIME OF ITS CLOSURE, ST MARY'S WAS THE LONGEST OPERATING OF ANY LETHBRIDGE CHURCH IN THE CURRENT PREMISES. FOR COMPLETE HISTORY SEE PERMANENT FILE P20060021001.

Catalogue Number

P20060021007

Acquisition Date

2006-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail