Loyola College put out public call for return of missing school bell
It’s an enigma that’s spanned four decades, and now Watsonia’s Loyola College needs your help to solve it. Their campus bell was once a symbol of daily life for Jesuit priests but it’s been missing since 1978. HAVE YOU SEEN IT?
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Watsonia’s Loyola College is asking for help to track down a bell that's been missing for more than 40 years.
The school community is about to celebrate its 40th anniversary and wants to return the bell to its rightful home.
The college used to be a training school for Jesuit priests, and was known as The Jesuit House of Studies, Novitiate and Retreat Centre.
The bell is estimated to be 60cm high and was housed in a 30m high metal tower, before it disappeared around 1978.
The school does not have any photos of it.
Loyola College Principal Joseph Favrin said there were many rumours about who took the bell.
“Someone might’ve taken it as a keepsake, God only knows where it’s gone,” Mr Favrin said.
The seminary opened in 1934 and operated for 40 years before it was sold to the State Government in 1974.
Father Bill Uren remembered the bell from his time at the seminary from 1954 to 1959.
“It used to wake us up at 5.25 every morning and it governed our day,” Fr Uren said.
“It's a link with the past, I just wish it would come back.”
For the six years before Loyola college opened in 1980, the grounds were used to train prison officers.
“It would've been a major operation to take,” Fr Uren said.
The school has undertaken numerous restorations in an attempt to return the campus to its original state.
And the bell is final piece.
“Help us find our bell, we promise we won’t upset the neighbours too much if it’s returned,” Mr Favrin said.
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“It completes the building, it’s the last bit that’s missing and it’s very symbolic and connects us to the history,”
Greensborough Historical Society president Noel Withers had his own theories about who took the bell.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jesuits themselves took it,” Mr Withers said.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact Loyola College on 9434 4466.
courtney.beaumont@news.com.au