Death knell for bells

Certainly from the earliest times on the tower there was at least one bell which was supposed to announce the closing of municipal gates when the night fell or to signal a danger for the town and its residents. Afterwards they used to ring the bell not only in order to signify the expiry of time but also on various special occasions. The first information about the bells on the tower, which preserved, comes from  1528 when, while describing the fire of the tower we can also learn about the destruction of clock bell. It is not known precisely since when the tower had two bells, probably it was as early as in the 16th century. Nevertheless, the fact is that in the fire of 1716 a new huge bell was hung on the tower renovated a year later (on the 21st July) and a small bell (which survived the fire) the major objective of which was to announce the closing of the gates. Both bells were destroyed a half-century later when the Austrian bullet hit the tower during the Seven Years' War. New bells, during the renovation of the tower of 1765, were moulded in Legnica by  Johann Gescheidt the bell-founder and were equipped with the following inscription: „GOS MICH JOHANN GESCHEIDT ANNO 1765”.
Both large hour bell and a smaller one – quarter bell - survived the disaster and were secured in the Museum of Old Commerce. On one of the photographs preserved taken just after the disaster it can be seen that a large bell (and probably  a smaller one) did not tear away from the cupola's structure and collapsed together. However, their renewed assembly was made impossible by the functionality of the new Town Hall Tower changed.

Source: Marek Furmankiewicz - „Historia i plany odbudowy wieży ratuszowej”, „Rocznik Świdnicki 1998”, Heinrich Schubert - „Szkice z historii miasta Świdnicy”, iconography made available by Mariusz Barcicki.