CHAPTER VII_Church Bells

_The Care of Bells_

It has already been pointed out that our bells deserve to be treated

with care and reverence as much as any other part of the church

fabric, because they not only have their historic interest, but are

closely connected with our acts of worship and religious rites. I

wish, therefore, in my concluding chapter, to offer a few suggestions

as to their proper treatment. And when we speak of the bells in this

connection we must not forget the belfries also.

Some fifty years ago the Rev. W. C. Lukis, whom I have already had

occasion to quote, called attention to the disgraceful condition of

many Wiltshire belfries, in words which were by no means too strong

for the occasion. He pointed out that the neglect of the bells not only

led to their becoming useless, but also endangered the whole fabric of

the tower, and eventually did mischief to the parishioners also, who

either had to do without their bells or pay for the repairs. Many of

the towers were in so dangerous a state that the bells were forbidden

to be rung, and though this may have been partly due to the vibration

caused by change-ringing, for which, of course, the towers were not

originally built, the evils were, in his opinion, due much more to

neglect on the part of the churchwardens, who were responsible for the

care of the bells.

[Illustration: _Plate 35._

BELL BY JOHN TONNE, A FOUNDER OF HENRY VIII’S TIME (1520-1540).

Ornamented in the French fashion. (See page 108).]

“Bells,” he says, “require very constant attention to keep them in

ringing order.” Therefore it is not the use of the bells, not even

change-ringing of the most violent description, which destroys the

bells and endangers the belfries; but simply neglect or carelessness.

It must be borne in mind that bells are enormously heavy, and are yet

required to move and revolve with perfect ease, and to be hung with

perfect balance and adjustment of all their parts. Any temporary or

amateurish repairs will probably end in doing more harm than good; nor

will an occasional use of oil or new ropes supply all that is wanted.

Above all, the frame-work must be kept clear of the walls of the tower,

or the vibration will inevitably destroy it.

There is another matter to which the same writer calls attention,

which, if not a source of danger to the bells, may often be so to

those who visit them, and which in any case is a disgrace to those who

have the House of GOD in their care. I allude to the condition of the

staircases or ladders by which the bells are approached. “Generally

speaking,” says Mr. Lukis, “the dark, winding stone staircases (when

they have any) leading to them are dirty, worn, and difficult to tread;

and when you have secured your footing, you suddenly come upon a

huge heap of sticks, straws, feathers, and other rubbish, the patient

and laborious work of indefatigable jackdaws. When the towers have

no stone staircases, the bells have to be reached by a succession of

crazy ladders, planted on equally crazy floors. Why should towers be so

desecrated? Are they not as much a portion of the church as any other

part?”

These words, at the time they were written, were doubtless true of the

majority of belfries in the country; but I fear there are still not a

few of which the same may be said. I have been into many a belfry, in

which, on raising the trap-door admitting me to the bells, I have been

forcibly convinced, by the showers of accumulated filth descending upon

me, that they have literally not been visited for years! In justice

it may be said that where proper access to the bells exists this is

seldom the case. At the worst, the bottom of the staircase is made the

receptacle for brushes, dust-pans, and candlesticks, or such-like

necessary articles. But why should not proper access be provided in

_every_ case? Even the solitary tinkler in a small and elevated turret

sometimes requires attention; and even if the casual visitor to a

belfry must not always expect to be considered, it is surely reasonable

that the parish official whose duty it is to care for the bells should

not find obstacles placed in the way of reaching them. There are very

few churches, not reckoning those where the bells are hung outside,

in which a permanent ladder might not be fixed, where there is no

possibility of a staircase. And this, whether of wood or iron, need not

be either an expensive or unsightly object; but it should be stout and

sound if of wood, and always fixed firmly at top and bottom.

[Illustration: _Plate 36._

SPECIMENS OF GOTHIC CAPITAL LETTERS.

Both sets are reduced to about half size. (See pages 32, 49, 109.)]

I have said that, on the whole, the last fifty years have seen a great

improvement in the treatment of bells and belfries; but only so lately

as 1897, a recent writer, a keen ringer and expert in all relating to

bells, had occasion to re-echo Mr. Lukis’ complaints. He points out,

however, that the Central Council of Ringers, then recently formed, is

doing excellent work by its reports on bell-hanging and similar matters.

Some of these remarks of Mr. A. H. Cocks, in his great work on

Buckinghamshire bells, are so admirable and so instructive that I

cannot forbear to quote them. He devotes himself to finding out the

reasons _why bells crack_; and his conclusion is that such a thing

_rarely happens except from sheer neglect_. Further, that while the

sexton and ringers may be entrusted with the actual care and use

of the bells, the real responsibility lies, in the first place,

with the incumbent of the parish, and, in a lesser degree, with the

churchwardens. The incumbent, it should be remembered, has the legal

right of granting or refusing access to the bells, and of saying when

they shall or shall not be rung.

“If all incumbents,” he says, “would remember that bell-hangings

are _machines_, even if not quite so complicated as a steam-engine,

and that all machines want a _little_ attention, the lamentable

and disgraceful state of many of the belfries would cease; and

we bell-hunters would no longer get the almost stereotyped,

semi-apologetic statement, on making our request for the key, ‘I’m

afraid you will find a great mess up there, but, to tell you the truth,

I have never been up to them.’” As he aptly points out, ringers, who

usually visit towers where the bells are ringable and everything in

order, know little of these neglected places; but it is the incumbent’s

duty to know what goes on under his supposed charge; and if he refuses,

the authority of rural deans and archdeacons should step in to arouse

him to his duty.

Let every incumbent, then, who “has never been up,” determine to visit

his bells. He will doubtless find his trouble repaid, if they bear

interesting inscriptions or devices; and if he finds the attempt

attended by risk of life or limb, let him be persuaded to renew worn

steps or broken ladder-rungs. If he finds the belfry or staircase full

of animal and vegetable rubbish, let him take the simple but necessary

step of fixing wire-netting over the windows, and cleanliness, once

attained, should be easily preserved.

[Illustration: _Plate 37._

SPECIMENS OF “MIXED GOTHIC” LETTERING

Used by Henry Jordan of London (1460). Reduced to about two-thirds

size. (See pages 29, 109.)]

And now as to the cracking of bells, and how to prevent it. Bells may

crack either at the top, or “crown,” or at the rim, or “sound-bow,”

where the clapper strikes. The former is usually due to defective

methods of hanging, which cannot be explained without becoming too

technical; but the latter comes from a very simple and avoidable cause.

Moreover, a bell cracked at the crown does not thereby lose its tone,

and may last for years in that condition; but if cracked at the rim

it is immediately and hopelessly ruined. If, again, the cannons, or

metal loops by which the bell hangs from the wooden stock, should be

broken, the bell may be kept sound by boring holes in the crown and

bolting it to the stock. But in making this latter suggestion I do not

wish to commend--rather to protest against--the practice of modern

bell-founders, who do this in all cases, instead of using cannons.

They are supported by the ringers, who say it makes the bell swing

more easily; but it is a barbarous practice, and destroys the whole

appearance of the bell.

Of all dangers which beset our unfortunate bells, by far the worst is

the objectionable, but only too common, practice of “clocking,” as it

is called. Against this, no protests can be too strong. The reason is a

very simple one. “Clocking” consists in tying the clapper to the rope

in order to make the bell sound more easily and with little effort on

the ringer’s part. Now, this gives the clapper very little play, and it

strikes continually on one place at very short intervals. This checks

vibration and prevents the effect of the stroke from spreading, and is

a sure cause of cracking at the rim sooner or later. Yet all over the

country it is constantly being done, and on a recent visit to Essex it

was my experience in tower after tower. Worse than that, I found the

bells in several cases actually hung “dead,” the stocks being fixed to

the frames, so that any swinging was impossible.

“Clocking” is, unfortunately, no new practice, as we hear of it at

Reading three hundred years ago; but would that modern churchwardens

would take the same view of it that the good Joseph Carter,

churchwarden of S. Lawrence and bell-founder, did then. He got the

vicar to draft a resolution that, “Whereas there was, through the

slothfulness of the sexton in times past, a kind of tolling the bell

by the clapper-rope, it was now forbidden and taken away, and that the

bell should be tolled as in times past and not in any such idle sort.”

In London alone twenty-eight large bells in the principal churches

were cracked by “clocking” between 1820 and 1860.

Even the ordinary clock-hammer, striking on the upper side of the rim

of the bell, often has the same effect; and for the same reason. But

in both cases there is a remedy, if put in hand at once and after

consulting a good bell-hanger, namely, that of “quarter-turning,” or

turning the bell round through one quarter of its circumference, so

that the clapper may strike on a place at right angles to the old one,

if that has become worn.

[Illustration: _Plate 38._

PART OF A SEVENTEENTH CENTURY BELL BY HENRY OLDFIELD OF NOTTINGHAM.

The lettering is an imitation of mediaeval types, but the ornament is

characteristic of the later period. (See pages 106, 112).]

If, however, a bell has once become hopelessly cracked, there is no

remedy but recasting into a new one; though it is said that a cracked

bell in Dorset was successfully repaired by a Norwegian artificer

about fifteen years ago, and where he has succeeded, others may yet.

Nevertheless it is only too common for bells to be re-cast when there

is no necessity. Perhaps one bell is broken, or it is desired to

increase the number of the bells, and the founder, with a pardonable

eye to business, suggests that all the old bells should be melted down,

in order to have an entirely new ring, guaranteed in tune with each

other. And thus disappears many an interesting and valuable old bell,

perfectly sound and well-toned. It does not follow that because a bell

is old its tone is inferior to a new one, or that it cannot be fitted

into a new ring. Rather, the contrary is the case, and tone improves

and mellows with age.

But when all else fails, and re-casting is absolutely unavoidable,

let me plead that some faithful record of the old bell may be kept.

At least the old inscription may be preserved, as to their credit was

often done by the seventeenth-century founders, on the new bell. This

practice, I note, is increasing, and deserves every commendation. But

there is an even more excellent way. The inscription may be copied in

exact fac-simile on the new bell (with, of course, an indication of the

new date), as has been successfully done in many instances, notably

by Blews of Birmingham on the old tenor at Brailes, Warwickshire,

and in other cases by Mears and Stainbank and by Taylor (see Plate

19). Or, again, the inscription-band may be cut out and kept in the

church, or used as the ring of a candelabrum. This has been done at

Chester-le-Street, in Durham; West Bergholt, in Essex; and elsewhere.

It at least preserves what is of special interest and beauty. Or,

lastly, the old bell may be kept in its entirety, as a relic of the

past, in some part of the church. This has been done, to the great

credit of the parish authorities at Wingrave, in Bucks; Batcombe, in

Dorset; Barrow Gurney, in Somerset; and Swyncombe, in Oxfordshire. This

may perhaps be a counsel of perfection, as it entails the sacrifice

of the money allowed for the old metal; but it is certainly the most

praiseworthy course, even if it is too much to expect from a poor

parish.

I plead, therefore, in conclusion, first for clean and accessible

belfries; secondly for orderly ringing-chambers; thirdly for due care

and attention to the bells and their fittings; and last, but not least,

for the preservation of all old and interesting bells, not only to earn

the gratitude of the casual antiquary, but to show that their historic

value, and the services they have so long and faithfully rendered,

receive due appreciation.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For an illustration of bells in a frame, see Plate 28.

[2] An early London bell is illustrated on Plate 12.

[3] The belfry of Bruges is shown in Plate 23.

INDEX

Aldbourne, Wilts, foundry at, 112;

bell at, 120.

Alfred the Great introduces Curfew, 98.

Angelus bell, 98.

Bagleys (founders), 37.

Bartlets (founders), 40.

Belfries and bell-turrets, 6, 8, 62 ff.;

condition and care of, 75, 139 ff.;

and see Campanile, Tower.

Bell, Derivation of word, 1.

Bell-founders, 8, 21 ff.;

monastic, 21;

in London, 22, 24, 28, 40;

of 14th century, 24 ff.;

of 15th century, 28 ff., 106;

Elizabethan, 33, 111;

of 17th-18th centuries, 34 ff., 111;

itinerant, 37;

modern, 41, 44 ff., 150, 154, 155.

Bell-founding, see Casting.

Bell-metal, Composition of, 10.

Bells, Introduction into Church, 2;

earliest use in England, 4, 8;

early methods of ringing, 5;

dedication of, 6, 117;

earliest existing, 9;

early dated, 9, 30, 32;

methods of casting, 10 ff.;

decoration of, 14, 28 ff., 49, 50, 52, 105 ff.;

tuning of, 18; foreign, 32;

of exceptional size, 43 ff.;

inscriptions on, 45, 48, 50, 55, 114 ff.;

modern methods of hanging and ringing, 68, 75;

ancient uses of, 81;

modern uses of, 82 ff.;

for Church services, 84 ff.;

for festivals, 89;

for death and funerals, 95;

to mark time, 97;

secular uses of, 101;

proper treatment of, 139 ff.;

cracking of, how to prevent, 148;

preservation of, 154.

“Belleyeteres,” 22, 24.

Bergholt, East, Suffolk, Belfry at, 64.

Beverley Minster bell, 49.

Bird, John, (founder), 50.

Blews (founder), 50, 155.

Brailes, Bells at, 50, 130, 155.

Brasyers, (founders), 30, 111.

Bristol, foundry, 22, 28, 30, 36.

Bunyan, John, 76.

Bury St. Edmunds, foundry, 28, 30, 33, 34;

chimes at, 58.

Cambridge, Ringing at, 60, 61, 101;

chimes at, 64.

_Campana_, 2.

Campanalogy, the science of bell-ringing, 2.

Campaniles, 56, 61 ff.

Canterbury, Bells at, 8, 43.

Carillons, 57 ff.

Carter, Joseph, of Reading, 151.

Casting of bells, 12 ff.

Caversfield, Oxon., Bell at, 9.

Changes on bells, 72.

Change-ringing, Introduction into England, 67;

method of, 68 ff., 75.

Chimes, 57 ff., 97.

Chiming, 5, 70, 84;

at funerals, 97.

Chichester Cathedral bell-tower, 64;

bell at, 125.

Christmas, Bells at, 89.

Chronograms, 136.

Cliburys (founders), 37, 112.

“Clocking” of bells, 150.

Cocks, A. H., quoted, 146.

Colchester, Foundry at, 33.

Cope of bell-mould, 2, 13.

Copgrave, Johannes de, (founder), 26.

Cors (founders), 112.

Corvehill, Sir W., (founder), 22.

Coventry, Bell at, 100.

Cracking of bells, 146, 148 ff.

Crotch, Dr., 61.

Croyland, Bells at, 4, 6.

Culverden, William, (founder), 29.

Curfew bell, 97 ff.

Customs of bells, 81 ff.

Danyell, John, (founder), 29.

Darbie, Michael, (founder), 38.

Dates on early bells, 9, 30, 32.

David playing on bells, 6.

Divine Service, Ringing for, 84.

Ely Cathedral, Bells of, 26.

Exeter Cathedral, Bells of, 8, 44.

Farmer, Henry, (founder), 128.

Festivals, Bells used at, 89, 92.

Fire bell, 103.

Founders, see Bell-founders.

Founding of bells, see Casting.

Foundries, 22 ff.

Gleaning bell, 101.

Gloucester foundry, 22, 25, 26, 38;

bell of Cathedral, 45.

Goring, Oxon., Bell at, 24, 120.

Graye, Miles, (founder), 34.

Hancox, Thomas, (founder), 112.

Hodson, Christopher, (founder), 49.

Idbury, Oxon., Bell at, 88.

Incumbents, Duties of, 146.

Inscriptions, how produced, 14;

on great bells, 45, 48, 50, 55;

mediaeval, 115 ff.;

post-Reformation, 122 ff.;

of 18th century, 130 ff.;

modern, 114, 138, 154;

of historical interest, 135;

importance of preserving, 154.

Jordan, Henry, (founder), 29, 106.

King’s Lynn, Foundry at, 25.

Leicester, Foundry at, 25, 28, 33;

and see Newcombes.

Lettering on bells, 10, 109, 111.

Lincoln Cathedral, Bell of, 46.

Lincolnshire, Early dated bells in, 32.

London (founders), 22, 24, 28, 40;

early ringing in, 8, 74;

bells in, 52 ff., 136.

Loughborough foundry, 41;

and see Taylor.

Ludlow, Bells rung at, 58, 100, 101.

Lukis, Rev. W. C., quoted, 79, 139.

Mearses (founders), 40, 48, 56.

Mears and Stainbank (founders), 41, 52, 155.

Milton quoted, 100.

Monastic bell-founders, 21.

Mot, Robert, (founder), 40, 111.

Moulding of bells, 13.

Newcombes (founders), 33, 46, 128.

New Year’s Eve, Ringing on, 90.

Norris, Tobie, (founder), 122, 127.

Norton, Stephen, (founder), 25.

Norwich, Foundry at, 28, 30;

and see Brasyers.

Nottingham, Foundry at, 25, 28, 33, 34;

and see Oldfields.

Oldfields (founders), 34, 46, 111, 112.

Oxford, Bells and ringing at, 48, 97, 98, 101.

Pancake bell, 93.

Passing bell, 95.

Phelps, Richard, (founder), 40, 53.

Prayer Book, Mention of bells in, 82.

Purdues (founders), 36, 45, 124.

Raven, Dr., quoted, 53, 57.

Reading, Foundry at, 28, 33, 34;