Bell tower

The bell tower was erected by Persberg Mining Joint Stock Company in 1929 and is now owned by the Church of Sweden. The inauguration was held on New Year’s Eve 1930, and the inaugural speaker was Karl Brunnberg, the manager of the Persberg mines.

In the cold winter night, Brunnberg read these lines by the light of torches and flares:

Rise, hallowed sound, over forest toward blueing heights. Out over ore-rich lands to those who build and dwell. Awaken the people of Bergslagen to work, devotion, and joy. Consecrate them at life’s end to the peace of eternal bliss.

The following inscription is found on the bell:

Facing west (Image 3): PERSBERG MINING JOINT STOCK COMPANY RESOLVED AT THE COMPANY MEETING ON 12 JUNE 1828 TO PROCURE THIS BELL ON THE PROPOSAL OF ITS BOARD CABINET CHAMBERLAIN AUG. HERLENIUS MANAGER ERNST ODELBERG AND MANAGER K.G. BRUNNBERG. BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF KARLSTAD WAS THEN J.A. EKLUND PARISH VICAR OF FÄRNEBO CONGREGATION HJALMAR LYTH CAST BY K.G.M. BERGHOLTZ, STOCKHOLM. THE LORD HOLDS THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH IN HIS HAND. PSALM 95:4

Facing east (Image 4): TO THE LORD’S PRAISE I AM FASHIONED FROM THE NOBLE ORE OF THE DEEP. TO THE MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN I BEAR A MESSAGE: THAT WITH PRAYER AND HYMN HE SHALL WORSHIP GOD THE LORD MOST GREAT, WHOSE KINGDOM IS HEAVEN AND EARTH, OUR GOD WHO, IN THE POET’S WORDS, DWELLS IN THE DEPTHS AS IN THE HEIGHTS.

In the summer of 1852, the mining assembly resolved to apply for permission to establish a burial ground in Persberg. Already during this meeting, the lands of Skavnäset were considered suitable.

It was also decided to procure a bell tower in the form of ”two steel bell triangles” to be used both for funerals and for announcing church services.

The burial ground is said to have been completed the following year, 1853, and the assembly minutes from March 8 state that ”bell-ringer’s wages” were paid. This presumably means that the bell tower with the two bell triangles was also completed that year.

Tora Öberg’s drawing, image 6, shows the first bell tower with its associated bell triangles. As you can see, there were two triangles, of which one is preserved, image 7.

In the Nordic Museum and Skansen yearbook of 1956, it is told how people in different parts of Sweden were called to church gatherings. It happened that smaller congregations encountered financial difficulties before the church was completed, and a bell was a major expense. If they could not afford a bell, they had to find other solutions. At Värskär’s fishing chapel, a church drum was used; at another place, a horn was blown. In the village of Ås in Jämtland, they had neither bell, drum, nor horn — there the ”bell-ringer” went out onto the church hill and called in the churchgoers.

According to the book, there are only 13 places in Sweden where it has been established that triangles were used to call people to church gatherings, of which Persberg is one, and only three triangles have been preserved for posterity — two in museums and one at a local heritage farm. This means that the triangle preserved in Persberg is the fourth in the country, making it quite unique. Many thanks to the Sandvall family at Persberg Manor, who donated the triangle to the Community Hall Association ”Vi i Persbergsbygden” (We in the Persberg Area). The triangle was re-inaugurated on Högberget Field Day on May 20, 2023, at Skavnäset Chapel. It is now on display at the Community Hall, Yngsvallen.