When Anthony Hicks returned to Australia after World War I, he wanted to find a way to commemorate those from his hometown who hadn’t made the journey back alongside him.
His efforts would lead to the construction of one of just three carillons in Australia, at Bathurst, in central-western NSW.
A carillon is one of the largest instruments in the world, consisting of dozens of bells, suspended inside a building, that are struck by clappers connected to a keyboard.
Today the Bathurst War Memorial Carillon is marking 90 years since it was formally opened on November 11, 1933.
Nine decades later, the building is not the only legacy Mr Hicks has left behind.
His granddaughter Denise Garland has trained as a carillonist and is often the one behind the sound of bells ringing throughout the city.
“[My grandfather] came back from the war and like the other young men, felt that something needed to be in place,” Ms Garland said.
“It was this carillon that they’d heard overseas in European countries that became the final building that they chose.
“They felt that it was such a lovely thing to hear the bells ringing.”
Mr Hicks was involved in raising funds for the building and organising the bricks that would make it up.
When the carillon was opened, seven years after construction began, he was made the first custodian of the building.
“[My grandfather] was very committed to being able to share the joy of the building and to have it opened every weekend,” Ms Garland said.
“He and my grandmother would come down, have it cleaned at the base and opened, so that the people of Bathurst could come and look at what this wonderful tower was that the city had built.”
Ms Garland hopes that by playing the instrument, she can carry on the legacy of her grandfather and those the carillon commemorates.
“I feel that part of my inheritance and part of my family ties are continuing on with me being able to give back to the community,” she said.
Memorial built by the community
Besides Bathurst, there are just two other carillons in Australia — the University of Sydney War Memorial Carillon and the National Carillon in Canberra.
In Bathurst, the carillon’s construction involved more than 210,000 bricks, all of which were paid for by the city’s people.
“They said that everybody in Bathurst should be able to contribute towards it, even if you could just donate a penny,” said Jan Page, president of the Friends of the Bathurst War Memorial Carillon.
“For two pennies, you could buy a brick, you could buy six bricks for a shilling or a thousand bricks for eight pounds.
“It was built in stages, so as the money was raised, the tower went up.”
The building was finished just before Anzac Day in 1933, after which bells, shipped over from England in 1927, could be taken in through the base and wound up to the top of the carillon.
‘Wonderful’ memorial a drawcard
Ms Page said the funding and building of the instrument, although slow in the post-war and Depression eras, shows the dedication of the Bathurst community to commemorating the soldiers it lost.
“It is so much a tribute to the community of Bathurst as they acknowledge all those who served and paid the supreme sacrifice, not only in the First World War, but all wars and peacekeeping operations since.”
For Ms Garland, the time and funds that the community poured into the carillon add to its worth.
“Every time I walk in the building, I’m reminded of the importance of the Bathurst people who put together this wonderful building and leave it today as a wonderful war memorial,” she said.
It’s a sentiment she believes all those who walk by the building share.
“People come here, walk past it all the time. You see them looking up, you see them listening, often in awe.”
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