The church bell in Hedrum gives the wrong tone – NRK Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio

The sound of church bells can mean so much. They notify, among other things, about prayer times, masses, church services, weddings, baptisms and funerals. To mention something.

So also in Hedrum church, one of Norway’s oldest of its kind.

Got the wrong tone

But now a never-so-small mystery has arisen in the historic, red-painted clock tower.

We have to start from scratch.

The church has until now had two church bells.

The old one, which is approaching 1,000 years old, and the “new” one from the 17th century.

In order to spare the oldest bell from wear and tear from future automated ringing, the National Archives recently stepped in and sponsored a brand new church bell, weighing 240 kilos.

So it has been 400 years since the last time.

It was cast at the Olsen-Nauen watch foundry in Tønsberg approx. a month ago. This is Norway’s only remaining company that does this.

During the casting process, a small church service was held in the workshop.

This is called “bell baptism”, and was a common practice in earlier times.

When the clock was to be hung up with a crane last week, something completely inexplicable happened.

Changed tone

The clock would set the tone cisbut for some reason it has become a regular c.

This is a semitone lower than ciss

This may not sound so sensational, but in the context of church bells it is simply inexplicable.

The bells always get higher in tone when they are cast and polished down to the tone they should have.

In this case, however, the tone was lower after casting, something which according to the experts has never happened before.

The watch should actually have been 40 kilos heavier and 4 cm wider to give a c, according to all physical laws.

Morten Olsen-Nauen, general manager at the clock foundry that bears his own surname, scratches his head. The professionals do not understand the berry.

– We have been at it for 180 years. A slight variation occurs when we cast the bells, but it is always over what should be the correct tone in the end. This one ended up a whole note too low. We have never experienced that before, he says.

The experienced watchmaker has gone through the entire technical process carefully. It is exactly the same as hundreds of times before.

– It is completely inexplicable. We have been through all the parameters and processes in the course. We cannot find any physical explanations for this, he says.

Not relevant for complaints

But there is also a bit of luck in accidents.

Because even if the tone was not quite as desired in the first place, the parish priest and the parish council do not complain about the “defective product”.

It turns out that it resonates very well with its two (much) older bell sisters.

The reason for the tone mystery is still unclear.

Now Olsen-Nauen wonders if higher powers are the cause of the inexplicable, and parish priest Thorir Thorsteinsson keeps the possibility open.

– Shouldn’t we always hope for the best, and think divine thoughts?, he smiles slyly.

The clock is to be inaugurated on the first day of Easter, and by all accounts will remain hanging without adjustments, either in one direction or the other.