We had a grand chat yesterday with Mr. Garland Bailey about one of our Registered Heritage Structures, St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Old Bonaventure. Garland and his local committee are working on a plan to see the building find new life in the community.
One plan is to see the re-use of a historic bell, from the old church in the now resettled community of Ireland's Eye, Trinity Bay. The bell was cast at the Meneely and Co. foundry at Troy, NY in 1892.
We've written about the interesting history of the Meneely foundry in an earlier blog post, and there are several Meneely bells in churches across the province. This one is interesting as it shows it was donated/paid for by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and lists the two churchwardens of the day.
It's great to see one being saved, and we will be following the Old Bonaventure project as it unfolds. Photos of the bell below, with an archival image of what the old St. George's Church in Ireland's Eye looked like circa 1950.
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St. George's Anglican Church, Ireland's Eye, c1950, Maritime History Archive, PF-317.855 |
