St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in DeLand just wants Harriet’s clapper back

PHOTO COURTESY BARRY MACCOY
There were bells all around — But this one at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church hasn’t been ringing. Someone stole its clapper.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Jul 23, 2009 - 9:09:04am

A few months ago, vandals broke into Canterbury House, the social hall at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in DeLand.

They sprayed some valuable paintings with a fire extinguisher and wrote graffiti on a door.

The vandals apparently got into the hall through its bell tower.

“We thought that [minor damage] was all they did,” explained Senior Warden Barry MacCoy.

That is, until church members went to ring the bell.

An electric carillon installed in the tower is used to make music for Sunday services and routine services. Use of the historic 124-year-old bell is reserved for special occasions.

A bell-ringing occasion came up recently. When the bell-ringer pulled on the rope, however, nothing happened. “It turns out the vandals had stolen the clapper,” MacCoy said.

He and other church members just want the clapper back.

The bell and its clapper were installed in the tower when Canterbury House was built in 1958. They were a gift from Helen Hankal, in memory of daughter Harriet. The bell is called “Harriet.”

The bell dates back to 1885. MacCoy believes its previous home was a school that existed in DeLeon Springs at the turn of the 20th century.

He told The Beacon he is making a plea for the return of the bell’s clapper.

The cast-iron clapper is 16 inches long, and looks like a Q-tip with a ring on one end of it, MacCoy said.

If the culprits will return the clapper, there won’t be any trouble, he said.

Mark Shuttleworth, owner of Florida Victorian Architectural Antiques in DeLand, said the clapper has next to no cash value. It likely was taken in the same spirit in which the vandalism was committed.

If anyone has seen what might look like a 16-inch cast-iron club with a ring on one end of it, MacCoy wants to know, he said, adding, “We might even come up with a reward, somehow.”

Call the church office at (386) 734-1814.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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