WILLIAMSBURG— In celebration of the 250th of Virginia’s Independence Resolution, Bruton Parish Church will be ringing the Tarpley Bell every hour on the hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 15.
The Tarpley Bell, also explained by the church to be called the Virginia Liberty Bell, has been more than just a church bell for years. The bell served historically as a way to alert the community whenever there was an emergency, such as a fire or accident.
“It was rung for some very significant events leading up to the Revolutionary War. The most important one was when the House of Burgesses passed their Declaration of Rights. We were the first colony to physically, literally declare our independence,” said Alice Erickson, one of the parishioners as well as a member of the property committee. She also worked with Bill Watson, the Interim Rector, to help coordinate some things while he was away.
The date of May 15 is significant. According to the official Colonial Williamsburg website, the delegates of an elected convention of Virginia leaders, known as the Fifth Virginia Convention, met in the Williamsburg Capitol. They voted unanimously to instruct Virginia’s delegates to the Continental Congress, which was meeting in Philadelphia, “to declare the United Colonies free and independent states absolved from all allegiance to or dependence upon the crown or parliament of Great Britain.”
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