The Project Gutenberg eBook ofChurch Bells

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofChurch BellsThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Church BellsAuthor: H. B. WaltersRelease date: July 13, 2014 [eBook #46273]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Peter Becker and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHURCH BELLS ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Church BellsAuthor: H. B. WaltersRelease date: July 13, 2014 [eBook #46273]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Peter Becker and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)

Title: Church Bells

Author: H. B. Walters

Release date: July 13, 2014 [eBook #46273]Most recently updated: October 24, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Peter Becker and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHURCH BELLS ***

The Arts of the Church

Edited by the

REV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.

The Arts of the ChurchEdited by theREV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.16mo. Profusely Illustrated. Cloth, 1/6 net.

1.THE ORNAMENTS OF THE MINISTERS.By the Rev.Percy Dearmer, M.A.2.CHURCH BELLS.ByH. B. Walters, M.A., F.S.A.3.THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.ByA. G. Hill, M.A., F.S.A.

1.THE ORNAMENTS OF THE MINISTERS.By the Rev.Percy Dearmer, M.A.

2.CHURCH BELLS.ByH. B. Walters, M.A., F.S.A.

3.THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.ByA. G. Hill, M.A., F.S.A.

OTHERS TO FOLLOW

Frontispiece.King David playing on hand-bells.From a manuscript Psalter in the British Museum. This subject was often selected for the heading to the forty-sixth Psalm, as here. (See page6).

Frontispiece.

King David playing on hand-bells.From a manuscript Psalter in the British Museum. This subject was often selected for the heading to the forty-sixth Psalm, as here. (See page6).

King David playing on hand-bells.

From a manuscript Psalter in the British Museum. This subject was often selected for the heading to the forty-sixth Psalm, as here. (See page6).

The Arts of the Church

BYH. B. WALTERS, M.A., F.S.A.Author ofGreek Art, &c.

WITH THIRTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS

A. R. MOWBRAY & CO.Ltd.London: 34 Great Castle Street, Oxford Circus, W.Oxford: 9 High Street

First printed, 1908

The little volumes in theArts of the Churchseries are intended to provide information in an interesting as well as an accurate form about the various arts which have clustered round the public worship ofGodin the Church ofChrist. Though few have the opportunity of knowing much about them, there are many who would like to possess the main outlines about those arts whose productions are so familiar to the Christian, and so dear. The authors will write for the average intelligent man who has not had the time to study all these matters for himself; and they will therefore avoid technicalities, while endeavouring at the same time to present the facts with a fidelity which will not, it is hoped, be unacceptable to the specialist.

Acknowledgements must be expressed to the following persons who have assisted in supplying photographs or other materials for the illustrations to this book: to the Rev. W. H. Frere, Mr. A. Riley, and the Committee of the Alcuin Club for permission to reproduce in plate4a page of a MS. Pontifical; to Dr. Amherst D. Tyssen and the Rev. Dr. Jessopp for blocks; to W. Watson, Esq., of York, and Miss Wilson of Idbury for photographs; to Messrs. Wills and Hepworth of Loughborough, Messrs. Mears and Stainbank, and Messrs. Taylor and Co. of Loughborough for blocks, negatives and photographs.

CHAPTERPAGEI.Early History and Methods of Casting1II.The English Bell-founders21III.Big Bells; Carillons and Chimes; Campaniles43IV.Change-Ringing67V.Uses and Customs of Bells81VI.The Decoration of Bells and their Inscriptions105VII.The Care of Bells139Index157

PAGEKing David playing on hand-bellsFrontispieceSaxon Tower, Earl’s Barton3A performer on hand-bells7Tower or Turret with Bells11Blessing two bells newly hung15Late Norman bell-turret at Wyre19Inner moulds for casting bells23Outer moulds for casting bells27Moulds ready for casting31Forming the mould35Running the molten metal39The Mortar of Friar Towthorpe42Bell by an early fourteenth-century founder47Blessing the Donor of the bell51Stamps used by London Founders54Bell by Robert Mot of London59A ring of eight bells63The 9th bell of Loughborough Church66Tenor bell of Exeter Cathedral73“Great John of Beverley”77The great bell of Tong83“Great Paul”87The old “Great Tom” of Westminster91The Belfry of Bruges94The Campanile, Chichester Cathedral99The old Campanile of King’s College, Cambridge102The “Bell House” at East Bergholt107Diagram showing method of hanging a bell110Peal of eight bells, Aberavon Church113Ringers at S. Paul’s Cathedral119Ringing the Sacring bell123Sacring bell hung on rood-screen126Ancient Sanctus Bell129Tower of Waltham Abbey Church133Symbols of the Four Evangelists137Bell by John Tonne141Gothic Initial Letters, etc.145Gol„lic Ini„ial Let„149Part of a seventeenth-century bell153

The Arts of the Church

CHURCH BELLS

The origin of the bell as an instrument of music is, one may almost say, lost in antiquity. Its use is, moreover, widely spread over the whole world. But I do not propose to enlarge on its early history here, or on its employment by all nations, Christian or heathen. Space will not permit me to do more than trace its history and uses in the Christian Church, and more particularly in the Church of England.

The word “bell” is said to be connected with “bellow” and “bleat” and to refer toits sound; the later Latin writers call it, among other names,campana, a word with which we are familiar, not only as frequently occurring in old bell inscriptions, but as forming part of the word “Campanalogy,” or the science of bell-ringing. The French and Germans, again, call itclocheandglockerespectively, the words being the same as our “clock”; but that is a later use, and they really mean “cloak,” with reference to the shape of the bell, or rather of the mould in which it is cast. Modern bell-founders, it is interesting to note, speak of the mould as thecope, which again suggests a connection with the form of a garment.

It is not known exactly when bells were introduced into the Christian Church; but it is certain that large bells of the form with which we are familiar were not invented until after some centuries of Christianity. The small and often clandestine congregations of the ages of persecution needed no audible signal tocall them together; but with the advent of peaceful times, and the growth of the congregations, some method of summons doubtless came to be considered necessary. Their invention is sometimes ascribed to Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, in Italy, aboutA.D.400; sometimes to Pope Sabinianus (A.D.604), the successor of Gregory the Great. At all events, from the beginning of the seventh century notices of bells of some size become frequent. The Venerable Bede in 680 brought a bell from Italy to place in his Abbey at Wearmouth, and mentions one as being then used at Whitby Abbey. About 750, we read that Egbert, Archbishop of York, ordered the priests to toll bells at the appointed hours. Ingulphus, the chronicler of Croyland Abbey, mentions that a peal of seven bells was put up there in the tenth century, and that there was not such a harmonious peal in the whole of England; which implies that rings of bells were then common. If any doubt on thematter still remained, it would be dispelled by the existence to this day of some hundred church towers dating from the Saxon period, and evidently, by their size and construction, intended to hold rings of bells (Plate1).

Plate 1.Photo by][C. Law.Saxon Tower, Earl’s Barton, Northants.A tower built in the first half of the eleventh century and intended to contain bells. (See page5.)

Plate 1.

Photo by][C. Law.Saxon Tower, Earl’s Barton, Northants.A tower built in the first half of the eleventh century and intended to contain bells. (See page5.)

Photo by][C. Law.

Saxon Tower, Earl’s Barton, Northants.

A tower built in the first half of the eleventh century and intended to contain bells. (See page5.)

I speak of “rings of bells”—and that is a more correct term than “peal,” which refers to the sound they make—but it must be remembered that in those days bells were not rung as in modern times. At best they were “chimed,” i.e., sounded without being rung up; but change-ringing, which implies the full swinging round of the bell through a complete circle, so that the clapper strikes twice in each revolution, was only introduced in the seventeenth century, and moreover has always been peculiar to this country.

Plate 2.A performer on hand-bells.From a MS. Missal in the British Museum.(See page5.)

Plate 2.

A performer on hand-bells.From a MS. Missal in the British Museum.(See page5.)

A performer on hand-bells.

From a MS. Missal in the British Museum.

(See page5.)

Several ancient manuscripts have pictures which throw light on the use of bells in early times, as, for instance, one which depicts a performer on a row of small “hand-bells” suspended from an arch,which he strikes with a hammer (Plate2). Another portrays King David engaged in a similar act (Frontispiece); and others give representations of church towers or turrets with bells hanging in them, apparently without wheels or ringing arrangements (Plate3). In the Bayeux tapestry there is a representation of the funeral of Edward the Confessor, in which the corpse is accompanied by two boys, each ringing a pair of hand-bells.

Plate 3.From a manuscript in the British Museum.Two bells hung in a church tower or turret; the method of hanging not shown. (See page6.)

Plate 3.

From a manuscript in the British Museum.Two bells hung in a church tower or turret; the method of hanging not shown. (See page6.)

From a manuscript in the British Museum.

Two bells hung in a church tower or turret; the method of hanging not shown. (See page6.)

Ancient bells were invariably dedicated with elaborate ceremonies, and were baptized with the name of the saint or other person after whom they were named (Plate4). The bells at Croyland, just mentioned, were named Pega, Bega, Turketyl, Tatwin, Bartholomew, Betelin, and Guthlac. There is, however, much disputing as to the exact ceremonies employed, some authorities maintaining that bells were neither baptized nor even “washed,” but merely blessed and consecrated, so as to be set apart from all secular uses.

In the Norman and early Plantagenet period the use of bells must have been generally recognized. In London we hear of one Alwoldus, acampanarius(1150), which can only mean “bell-founder.” And as early as the reign of Richard I the Guild of Saddlers were granted the privilege of ringing the bells of the Priory of S. Martin-le-Grand on the occasion of their bi-weekly masses in the church. The priory was also entitled to claim the sum of 8d.for ringing at the funeral of deceased members of the Guild. Some of the bell-cotes of our smaller parish churches, as at Northborough in Northants and Manton, Rutland, appear to date from the Norman period (Plate5). In the twelfth century Prior Conrad gave five large bells to Canterbury Cathedral, and in 1050 there were seven at Exeter; to ring the former no less than sixty-three men were required!

But these are all mere historical records, and it may be of more interest to know whether any bells of this remote date stillexist in England. With one or two exceptions, bells did not begin to bear inscriptions until the fourteenth century, and even then we do not find dates upon them. The only early-dated bells in England are at Claughton, in Lancashire (1296), and Cold Ashby, Northants (1317). There are, however, here and there bells of a peculiar shape which it is possible to assign to a period previous to the fourteenth century. They are long and cylindrical in form, with hemispherical or square heads, and usually very unpleasing in tone, as the straight sides check vibration. One such bell, formerly in Worcester Cathedral, and now in the possession of Lord Amherst of Hackney, must belong to the ring put up by Bishop Blois in 1220 in honour of ourLordand His Mother. Even more remarkable is a bell at Caversfield in Oxfordshire, dedicated “in honour of S. Lawrence,” a long inscription on the edge showing that it was given by Hugh Gargate, Lord of the Manor in the reign ofKing John (about 1210), and Sybilla his wife. Such an inscription is very rare at this early date; and it is interesting to note that it is in plain Roman or Saxon capital letters, whereas all the later inscribed bells have what are known as Gothic or Lombardic letters, which came in about the end of the thirteenth century. Most counties possess examples of these long, narrow bells; they are specially common in Shropshire and Northumberland.

The earliest bells were probably not cast, but made of metal plates riveted together, like the modern cow-bell. Not a few bells of this kind have been unearthed at different times, but they are all mere hand-bells of very remote date, i.e., before the Norman Conquest, and the process of casting must have been introduced in very early times into England.

Bell-metal is a compound of copper and tin, in varying proportions, but usuallythree to four parts of copper to one part of tin. The former metal adds strength and tenacity to the bell, the latter brings out its tone. The popular superstition that silver improves the tone of bells is not only entirely baseless, but in point of fact it has just the opposite effect! The numerous stories which are current, of silver being thrown into bells at their casting, of which Great Tom of Lincoln is an example, must therefore be discredited. In recent years steel bells have been made by one English firm, but they are only one degree less objectionable than the tubes of metal which are sometimes also dignified by the name.

The process of casting a bell, as employed both by ancient and modern founders, may be described somewhat as follows:—The first business is the construction of the core, a hollow cone of brick somewhat smaller than the inner diameter of the intended bell, over which is plastered a specially-prepared mixture of clay, bringingit up to the exact size and shape of the interior of the bell. This was usually modelled with the aid of a wooden “crook,” something like a pair of compasses; but is now done with an iron framework called a “sweep,” which revolves on a pivot and moulds the core by means of metal blades. This clay mould is then baked hard by means of a fire lighted within it. The next stage was the construction of the cope or outer casing of the mould, which used to be also made in hard clay, its inner surface following theoutershape and dimensions of the bell. The “thickness” of the bell itself, i.e., the part to be occupied by the molten metal, was formed in a friable composition which was laid over the core and then destroyed. In modern times the “thickness” has been dispensed with, the cope being formed by lining a casing of cast iron with clay shaped to the external form and dimensions of the bell. The mould is now complete, except for providing for the cannons or metalloops which attach the bell to the stock, and the loop to which the clapper is suspended inside. Every care having been taken to adjust the respective positions of the cope and core with exactness, the molten metal is then poured in through an opening, and left to cool, after which the bell comes out complete. The process is analogous to that known ascire perdu, employed by sculptors for the casting of bronze statues. Illustrations of the moulding processes are given in Plates6–10.

Inscriptions and ornaments are produced in relief on the bell from stamps, also in relief, which are pressed into the mould, making a hollow impression in it. Copies of coins were often produced in this way by the older founders. Down to about the end of the seventeenth century each letter, or sometimes each word, was placed on a separatepateraor tablet of metal. The usual place for the inscription is just below the “shoulder”-angle; but modern founders prefer the middle or “waist.”

Plate 4.The blessing of two bells newly hung in a church tower.From a MS. Pontifical of the fifteenth century. (See page6.)

Plate 4.

The blessing of two bells newly hung in a church tower.From a MS. Pontifical of the fifteenth century. (See page6.)

The blessing of two bells newly hung in a church tower.

From a MS. Pontifical of the fifteenth century. (See page6.)

A very interesting illustration of these processes is given in the famous bell-founder’s window in the north aisle of York Minster, dating from the fourteenth century, part of which is here reproduced. The window is divided into three lights, each having five compartments, and in each light is a large principal subject surrounded by ornamentation in the form of bells, grotesque animals, and other devices, with two rows of bells hanging in trefoil-headed arches above. In the central compartment of the middle light (Plate13) the subject is the blessing by an archbishop of the bell-founder, who kneels in a supplicating attitude; in his hands is a scroll inscribed with his name,RICHARD TUNNOC, and under the canopy above the group a bell is suspended.

The other two lights have as their main subjects scenes from the actual processes of bell-founding. In the left-hand light (Plate9) we have the forming of the inner mould or “core,” as already described. One figure is turning it with a handle like that of a grindstone, while another moulds the clay to its proper form with a long crooked tool. The core rests on two trestles, between the legs of which two completed bells are seen; above are a bell and a scroll with the founder’s name. In the right-hand window (Plate10) are three figures engaged in running the molten metal, which is coloured red. The metal is kept heated in the furnace by means of bellows, worked by two boys, while the chief workman watches the molten stream running into the mould.

The next process, in the case of a “ring” of bells, is the tuning which is generally necessary, though sometimes the founder is fortunate enough to turn out what is known as a “maiden peal.” Formerly this was done by chipping the inside of the bell or cutting away the edge of the lip. But it is now more effectively accomplished by a vertical lathe, driven by steam. The modern bell-founder can attain tomuch greater exactness in this respect, because it is now recognized that there is a regular ratio between the weight of a bell and its diameter, and that a certain size or weight implies a certain musical note. Thus for a ring of eight in the key of F, the weight of the tenor would be 14 cwt., and its diameter at the mouth reckoned at 42 inches, the treble 5 cwt., and its diameter 29 inches.

The frames are made separately, and the bells hung on them in the tower with their headstocks already attached[1]; until recently all these fittings were made of wood, and iron or brass were only used for the smaller parts, but it is now the custom of some founders to employ iron frames, and even iron stocks, which may be an improvement in lightness and stability, or for ringing purposes, but are hardly so in appearance.

Plate 5.Photo by][J. Glover, Pershore.Late Norman bell-turret (about 1180) at Wyre Church, Worcestershire.There are openings for two bells, but only one is now used. (See page8.)

Plate 5.

Photo by][J. Glover, Pershore.Late Norman bell-turret (about 1180) at Wyre Church, Worcestershire.There are openings for two bells, but only one is now used. (See page8.)

Photo by][J. Glover, Pershore.

Late Norman bell-turret (about 1180) at Wyre Church, Worcestershire.

There are openings for two bells, but only one is now used. (See page8.)

In early mediaeval times it is probable that bell-founding was largely the work of the monastic orders. It was regarded rather as a fine art than a trade, and ecclesiastics seem to have vied in producing the most ingenious and recondite Latin rhyming verses to adorn their bells. S. Dunstan, whose skill as a smith is familiar to all, is known to have been instrumental in hanging, if not in casting bells; and at Canterbury he gave careful directions for their correct use. S. Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester 963–984, cast bells for Abingdon Abbey. In the museum at York there is a mortar of bell-metal cast by Friar William de Towthorpe, with thedate 1308 (Plate11); but this belongs to later times, when a class of professional founders had sprung up, and is therefore exceptional. We read, however, of Sir William Corvehill, a monk of Wenlock Priory, who died shortly after its dissolution, in 1546, that he “could make organs, clocks, and chimes,” and was “a good bell-founder and maker of the frames for bells.” It has not been possible to trace his work in any existing bells.

Plate 6.Inner moulds or cores for casting a ring of eight bells.(See page14.)

Plate 6.

Inner moulds or cores for casting a ring of eight bells.(See page14.)

Inner moulds or cores for casting a ring of eight bells.

(See page14.)

From time to time, however, we hear of professional bell-founders, as they may be termed, and even in the thirteenth century foundries appear to have been started in London, Bristol, Gloucester, and York. The London “belleyeteres,” as they are called, early attained a position of importance. Many of them are mentioned in contemporary records of the fourteenth century; of others we have the existing wills, which enable us to trace the succession from one generation to another; and again the names of several occur on bellsof this period, contrary to the usual mediaeval practice. In the days when work for the Church was a labour of love, less importance was attached to self-advertisement; though the student of the past may regret this in some measure if it deprives him of information he wishes to acquire.

The first London founders of note were a family of the name of Wymbish, residing in Aldgate, which was always the bell-founders’ quarter, as the still existing name of Billiter (or Belleyetere) Street implies. There were three Wymbishes—Richard, Michael, and Walter—covering the period 1290–1310. Richard cast bells for the neighbouring Priory of the Holy Trinity, and has left his name at Goring, in Oxfordshire, and on other bells in Essex, Kent, Northants, and Suffolk; Michael cast five bells still remaining in Bucks; and Walter, one in Sussex. Other important founders of this century are Peter de Weston, William Revel, and William Burford.[2]John and William Rufford, who may have had their foundry at Bedford, were known as “Royal bell-founders,” and placed upon their bells the heads of the reigning King, Edward III, and his consort, Philippa. These stamps have a very curious history; and were successively the property of founders at King’s Lynn, Worcester, Leicester, and Nottingham. At the latter place they remained in use from about 1400 down to the end of the eighteenth century; and their last appearance is in 1806, on a bell at Waltham Abbey, cast by Briant of Hertford.

Between 1370 and 1385 there was a founder in Kent whose name was Stephen Norton; he used very richly-ornamented letters, which may be seen on one of the old bells of Worcester Cathedral, cast by him when the tower was rebuilt. The other principal foundries of this century were at King’s Lynn, Gloucester, and York.

The Gloucester foundry was successivelyin the hands of “Sandre of Gloucester” (1300–1320) and “Master John of Gloucester” (1340–1350). The latter’s reputation apparently extended to East Anglia, as in 1347 he was commissioned to cast six new bells for the Cathedral at Ely, which were conveyed thither from Northampton by way of the Nene and Ouse. The largest bell, called “Iesvs,” weighed nearly two tons, and the fourth was named “Walsingham,” after the famous Prior Alan who constructed the central octagon of the cathedral.

Plate 7.Outer moulds or copes for casting a ring of eight bells.(See page14.)

Plate 7.

Outer moulds or copes for casting a ring of eight bells.(See page14.)

Outer moulds or copes for casting a ring of eight bells.

(See page14.)

Of the York founders, the most famous is Richard Tunnoc, commemorated in the remarkable “Bell-founder’s window” already described (Plate13). He was M.P. for the city in 1327, and died in 1330. The names of other known founders of this city extend from Johannes de Copgrave, in 1150, down to the time of the Reformation. A bell at Scawton, in the North Riding, has been thought to be the work of Copgrave, and, if so, is byfar the earliest existing church bell in England, if not in Europe.

In the fifteenth century (with which we may include the whole period down to the Reformation) the bell-foundries increase not only in importance but in numbers; and those already mentioned find rivals springing up at Reading and Wokingham, Exeter, Bristol, Leicester, Norwich, Nottingham, Bury St. Edmunds, Salisbury, and Worcester. The character of the inscriptions now changes, and in most cases (though not invariably) we find “black-letter smalls,” with initial capitals, substituted for the old Gothic capitals used throughout. There is also a great increase in the number and variety of the crosses and other ornamental devices used by the founders, and many introduce foundry-shields or trade-marks, with quasi-heraldic or punning devices.

The London foundries, however, still maintain their place at the head of the craft, and their bells are found all overEngland from Northumberland to Cornwall. Two founders of the fifteenth century, Henry Jordan and John Danyell, whose date is about 1450–1470, cast between them about two hundred bells still existing. These are adorned with some beautiful and ingenious devices, such as an elegant cross surrounded by the wordsihu merci ladi help(Plate14) and the Royal Arms surmounted by a crown. Jordan’s foundry-shield bears, among other devices, a bell and a laver-pot as symbolical of his trade, and a dolphin with reference to his membership of the Fishmongers’ Company. Another remarkable device (Plate14) is that used by William Culverden (1510–1523), with a rebus on his name (culver= “pigeon”). Thomas Bullisdon is remarkable as having cast a ring of five bells for the Priory of S. Bartholomew in Smithfield about 1510, all of which still exist there.

To tell of the works of Roger Landen of Wokingham, Robert Hendley of Gloucester, John of Stafford (a Leicester founder), Robert Norton of Exeter, or the Brasyers of Norwich, would require a volume. I can only note some interesting features of their work. The Brasyers seem to have been the most successful workers outside London, and no less than one hundred and fifty of their bells still exist in Norfolk. Their trade-mark was a shield with three bells and a crown, which after the Reformation went to the Leicester foundry, and some of their inscriptions, in rhyming hexameters, are very beautiful. A Bristol founder of about 1450 used for his mark a ship, the badge of his native city. The Bury founders were also gun-makers, and place on their trade-mark a bell and a cannon, with the crown and crossed arrows of S. Edmund.

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