In 1873, vestry rooms were added, as were rooms for the rector and choir, and the chancel was enlarged by sixteen feet.Montgomery, History of Berks County in Pennsylvania, p. 784. That same year, according to Montgomery, family members of the late Isaac Eckert, a former congregant at Christ Episcopal, presented church leaders with a gift of "a full chime of ten bells" in memory of Eckert, who had died on December 13, 1873. The chimes were subsequently installed in the church's Gothic spire.Montgomery, History of Berks County in Pennsylvania, pp. 834-836.Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania: Embracing a Concise History of the County and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families, Vol. I, p. 346. The bells, which were manufactured by Maneeley of Troy, New York, weighed 5,600 pounds, and were operated by a system of pedals."The Christ Church Chime: Its Arrival Expected Here in Time for the Easter Services." Reading, Pennsylvania: Times and Dispatch, March 13, 1874, front page (subscription required).
