In the Churchwardens' accounts of Ecclesfield parish, the following
entries occur:--
"1527. It. paid to James Frodsam for makyng of iiij bell
collers, xiiijd.
"----. It. paid to Robert Dawyre mendyng a bell
wheyll, iijd.
"1530. It. for festnynge a gogon in ye belle
yocke, jd."
The foregoing extracts are quoted with a view to ascertaining at how
early a period the framework, now employed for suspending bells in
churches, was in use. It would appear that in 1527 the bell-_wheel_ was
known, and the bell swung on gudgeons ("gogon"), as it does now; but it
may be doubted whether it was the same full wheel which we have. In a
paper on Bells, read before the Bristol and West of England
Architectural Society, Dec. 10, 1849, by the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, and
which has since been published in that Society's Report, I observe that
two interesting plates of the bell-wheels are given: one being the old
half-wheel, as still to be seen at Dunchideock in Devonshire; and the
other the present whole wheel, which Mr. Ellacombe considers was a new
thing in 1677.
Supposing that only the half-wheel was known in 1725, still the leverage
which it afforded in raising the bell was the same as is given by its
modern substitute. What then was the still earlier way of obtaining the
momentum necessary to peal-ringing? A drawing of an ancient campanile
turret which I have, exhibits a short piece of wood stuck at right
angles into the beam to which the bell is fastened; and from the end of
this, the rope depends, and would, of course, when pulled, easily swing
the bell on its axle.
Observation in old belfries, or illustrations in old books, would
possibly throw light upon my Query, which is, What were the modes of
hanging church bells for ringing, prior to the invention of the
bell-wheel?