INFAMOUS BELL BACK AT SCHOOL
IT’S BACK: CONTROVERSIAL BELL RETURNED TO SCHOOL
THE Bell Post Hill bell has been returned to the Kardinia International College, more than a decade after it was stolen from the school.
And the school will now reach out to local Wathaurong people to see how the bell can best be used for reconciliation following recent discussions around its history and use as a warning device which led to driving off indigenous people in the area, and their possible killing.
The bell, stolen from the school in 2009, reappeared in an online for sale ad last week, with Hamilton 27-year-old Milos Durovic offering the item he said he had discovered in the dried out Cowies Creek as a teenager.
The sale prompted Kardinia International College principal Catherine Lockhart to call for its return to the school, if it was the same bell stolen in 2009.
After learning of the bell’s theft, Mr Durovic said he now believed he must have found it a couple years later than he originally remembered, and handed the item back to the school on Wednesday.
“I didn’t know it had been stolen, which is why I put it up,” he said yesterday. “I saw a snippet of a story from the Addy in 2009 about its theft and I thought ‘ oh no’. I thought it had been in the river for ages.
“I’m pretty happy about the result.”
Kardinia International College thanked Mr Durovic for “very willingly” returning the bell this week.
“The means by which the bell was removed from the college in 2009 remains a mystery, but after Milos found the bell in Cowie Creek many years ago, the school is very pleased that he was prepared to return it to the school with no payment, but our gratitude,” Ms Lockhart said.
“The bell, recognised by Heritage Victoria, has been part of the Morongo Estate, on the site which is now Kardinia International College, since 1837.”
The school will now explore what to do with the item, following discussions around its history of being used by settlers to warn of approaching indigenous people — who were then either scared off, chased or killed, according to differing historical accounts.
“Given the recent discussions about the suburb name Bell Post Hill during Reconciliation Week, we feel that it is the perfect time to reach out to the local Wathaurong people to see how we can use the return of the bell to Morongo House to move towards some healing or reconciliation,” Ms Lockhart said.
“We would hope to find a way to recognise the bell as a significant part of the history of the area, but also recognise that there are also negative parts of our history that we need to acknowledge.”
Mr Durovic had offered to donate the bell to the Heritage Council of Victoria in February, before posting it for sale on Gumtree.