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St. Vital church bell tolls for the last time

Jul 7, 2016 | 5:00 PM

Even though St. Vital’s bronze bell has been sentenced to a lifetime of silence, it has also been offered an opportunity to become immortalized as a part of local history.

In the tower overlooking the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, the bell sounded its last toll on July 5. Members of the Battleford community then dismantled the bell from the church in hopes to save it as a memento to be displayed as part of a historical feature.

Bernadette Leslie, director of the Battleford Fred Light Museum spoke to battlefordsNOW about the upcoming exhibit in which the St. Vital bell is to become one of the main showpieces.

She said the bell will be put on display at the local museum along with two other church bells – that of the St. George’s Anglican Church and the Gardiner Presbyterian Church.

“It was actually the people from the Anglican church who approached us to ask us whether or not we’d be interested in displaying the bells,” Leslie said, explaining how the concept of the exhibit manifested. “Now, as it turns out we’ll have all three on display.”

Leslie explained why displaying the church bell would be beneficial to the community. It is a local artifact of history which holds vital significance to the town. She said the bell illustrates the history of St. Vital Parish which began in November of 1877, on the original site of Battleford overlooking the South Bank of the Battle River. But due to threats of flooding as well as the tumultuous rebellion, the church was moved to its present location and opened on November 2, in 1883.

The bell is stamped with the year 1884 which indicates it was installed the following year.

As for when the actual exhibit will be up and running, Leslie said it would be nice to have the exhibit open for public viewing early next year.

“We’re hoping to pour a cement pad later this month. It won’t be until towards the end of August. I think we’ll have a little unveiling of all three bells and information to come with it sometime next year,” Leslie said. “It depends how much we can all get done if we can get the forms filled for it.”

Leslie also said the museum plans to hold an opening ceremony with members of the religious community coming to commemorate the bells by saying a few words.

“It was one of the first churches in Battleford,” Leslie said. “It’s overlooking the river, and it’s a piece of historical significance.”

 

 

Colleen A.J. Smith is battlefordsNOW’s education, First Nations and arts and culture reporter. She can be reached at colleen.smith@jpbg.ca or tweet her @ColleenAJSmith. Concerns regarding this story can be addressed to News Director Geoff Smith at 306-446-6397.