Mercersburg, The Swoope Carillon

The Irvine Memorial Chapel at Mercerburg Academy serves as a reminder of the mission to teach students to approach life thoughtfully and creatively, to develop moral character, to live for something beyond themselves, to value their own spirituality, and to serve others.

The Chapel is the culmination of 30 years’ worth of dreaming, planning, and working by Dr. William Mann Irvine, founder and first headmaster (1893–1928) of Mercersburg Academy, and his wife Camille. Designed by Ralph Adams Cram of Cram and Ferguson, the Chapel was originally dedicated in 1926 to the memory of Mercersburg alumni killed in World War I. It was rededicated at the Centennial Celebration of the Academy in 1993 as the Irvine Memorial Chapel in memory of Dr. Irvine.

From its inception, the chapel housed a carillon, which was a gift of Mr. Henry B. Swoope and his family. The original 43 bells were cast in 1926 by Gillett and Johnston of Croydon. The bells contain bits of historic metal collected worldwide by alumni and friends of the school, including copper coins, metal from Old Ironsides, pieces of artillery shells gathered from the battlefields of France in World War I, a shaving from the Liberty Bell, and bits from Admiral Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar, HMS Victory.

In 1996, the addition of six new upper bells put the carillon into concert pitch. The carillon then contained 49 bells. The six new bells were cast by the Meeks & Watson Company. In 1978, the carillon tower was named Barker Tower in honor of Bryan Baker, who played the carillon for more than five decades. In 2008, a 50th bell was added, a low C#, dedicated to James W. Smith, Bryan Barker’s successor. This bell was cast by Whitechapel.