Bell Tower Restoration Repair Maintenance Specialist ǀ by CIS Steeplejack

CIS Nationwide Steeplejack @ www.steepleusa.com/contact.htm for all of your bell tower restoration, repair and maintenance projects. CIS provides 25 years of knowledge and experience in bell tower repair restoration and maintenance. CIS Steeplejacks is licensed and insured in all 50 states. Feel free to contact us. To speak with a specialist please call: 330-461-6251 6am-6pm est. Thank you. Helping to save costs in high places!

A bell tower (also belfry) is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in the usa, it is often named "belfry". Elsewhere, the term "belfry" refers strictly to the part of the tower which contains the bells. Thus some bell towers have no belfry. The occasional free standing bell tower may also be referred to by its Italian name, campanile. Old bell towers may be kept for their historic or iconic value, though in countries with a strong campanological tradition they often continue to serve their original purposes as well.

Historic belfries exist throughout Europe, from Ireland to Russia. Bruges, Ypres, Ghent, Lille, Tournai and Douai have famous examples. Not all are on a large scale; the "bell" tower of Katúň in Slovakia, is typical of the many more modest structures which were once common in country areas. In the Middle Ages, cities sometimes kept their important documents in belfries.

In 1999 thirty-two Belgian belfries were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. In 2005 this list was extended with one Belgian and twenty-three French belfries and is since known as Belfries of Belgium and France. Most of these were attached to civil buildings, mainly city halls, as symbols of the greater power the cities in the region got in the Middle Ages; a small number of buildings not connected with a belfry, such as bell towers of—or with their—churches, occur also on this same list.

Archaic wooden bell towers survive adjoining churches in Lithuania and as well as in some parts of Poland.

FOR ALL YOUR BELL TOWER RESTORATION AND REPAIRS - Call a Specialist

CIS Steeplejack
http://www.steepleusa.com/
Michael Hardin
(P) 330-461-6251
Email: info@steepleusa.com

Clock Tower Restoration Painting and Repairs ǀ by CIS Steeplejack

CIS Nationwide Steeplejack @ www.steepleusa.com/contact.htm for all of your clock tower restoration, repair, painting and maintenance projects. CIS provides 25 years of knowledge and experience in clock tower repair and restoration and is licensed and insured in all 50 states. Feel free to contact us. To speak with a specialist please call: 330-461-6251 6am-6pm est. Thank you. Helping to save costs in high places!

A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more (often four) clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building. These 'false' clock towers should not be confused with true clock towers but are still significant buildings.

The mechanism inside the tower is known as a turret clock. It often marks the hour (and sometimes segments of an hour) by sounding large bells or chimes, sometimes playing simple musical phrases or tunes.

Although clock towers are today mostly admired for their aesthetics, they once served an important purpose. Before the middle of the twentieth century, most people did not have watches, and prior to the 18th century even home clocks were rare. The first clocks didn't have faces, but were solely striking clocks, which sounded bells to call the surrounding community to prayer. They were therefore placed in towers so the bells would be audible for a long distance. Clock towers were placed near the centres of towns and were often the tallest structures there. As clock towers became more common, the designers realized that a dial on the outside of the tower would allow the townspeople to read the time whenever they wanted.

FOR ALL CLOCK TOWER RESTORATION & REPAIR - Contact a Specialist

CIS Steeplejack
www.steepleusa.com
(P) 330-461-6251 / 6am-6pm est.
Email: info@steepleusa.com / 24-7