Dead Ringers Replace Old Mission Bells

After eight months of silence, the famous bells of Mission San Juan Capistrano regained their voice Wednesday.

Workers mounted the last of two new bells cast to replace the mission’s originals, made in 1806.

For generations those bells, mounted on a wall near the site of San Juan’s great stone church, stood at the center of mission life, summoning residents to worship, announcing meals and conveying important news to the community. In recent years they have been used primarily to greet the return of the birds at the mission’s annual Swallows Day celebration.

The decades, however, took their toll, causing the bells to crack and lose their tone. Last June they were shipped to the Netherlands, where they were used to create molds for the new replicas, each made of bronze and weighing 1,200 pounds. Two smaller bells were refurbished.

For several weeks, workers have been battling inclement weather to mount the new bells in time for this year’s Swallows Day celebration, which begins March 17. On Wednesday they finally completed the task, hoisting the last bell to its perch in the wall.

“They look like they’ve hung there forever,” said Sandy Wheeler, a mission spokeswoman. “We wanted to make sure that they’re ready for another hundred years or so.”

The original bells, she said, are still en route by ship to the mission, where they will be put on permanent display.