Hannah More Bell Will Ring Again at St. Timothy’s

The 142-year-old bell that once hung in the chapel at Hannah More Academy isn’t just getting refurbished, it’s getting some extra pizzazz.

The bell, which St. Michael’s Church purchased in 1869 from Baltimore-based bell foundry Joshua Regester & Sons, will have chimes and an electric hammer added after it is refurbished. St. Michael’s Church operated out of what is now known as the Hannah More Chapel, which St. Timothy’s School still uses once a year.

Come fall 2012, the bell will hang in a new tower at St. Timothy’s School, a private Episcopal school for girls in Stevenson. The school’s head, Randy Stevens, said it should bring back some fond memories for alumni who graduated from Hannah More Academy before the schools merged in 1974.

“We have not had a lot of Hannah More traditions because St. Tim’s was already here,” he said. “It’s something the women from the '60s remember very fondly about their experience there.”

The bell is being refurbished in Georgia, undergoing a four- to five-month process that will fix cracks and scratches on the bell, to get it ready for next fall. The 395-pound bell most recently sat outside the Reisterstown Senior Center, where it was since at least 1983, according to senior center director Michael Schneider.

Senior center members, as well as Schneider, thought the when they arrived at the senior center on Tuesday, Sept. 6, after Labor Day weekend. Stevens said it was tough to know who the school should notify since the space at Hannah More is overseen by several organizations, including Baltimore County Recreation and Parks, the Maryland Historical Trust as well as The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, which owns the chapel.

“We’re certainly sorry if we created any concern,” he said.

The bell will start and end each school day at St. Timothy’s like it used to at Hannah More Academy.

“It’s going to be in the center of the new academic building,” Stevens said. “We’re basically gutting our current academic building and building an addition.”

The school is trying to raise $12 million for its new building, and was able to get started on final drawings for the permitting process thanks to a recent $1.5 million gift. The school hopes to start construction in November, Stevens said.

In addition to a tower holding the bell, the new building will house the school’s science center, library and lecture hall, and will have flags of the 192 United Nations hanging for its International Baccalaureate program.

“Hopefully some of [the alumni] will be able to come see [the bell] again, and see it function like it used to, as opposed to sitting on the ground locked up,” Stevens said.