gT-yjT.'^^V-j /mff^^^ THE CHURCH BELLS LEICESTERSHIRE. THE CHURCH BELLS OF LEICESTERSHIRE : Their Inscriptions, Traditions, and Peculiar Uses ; WITH CHAPTERS ON BELLS AND THE LEICESTER BELL FOUNDERS. BY THOMAS NORTH, HoKORAKv Secretary of the Leicestershire Architectural and Arch.^ological Society, and Member of the Royal Arch^ological Institute OF Great Britain and Ireland. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. LEICESTER: SAMUEL CLARKE. 1876. Printed by Samuel Clarke, Leicester. CO SUBSCRIBERS. His Grace the DUKE OF RUTLAND, | The Right Reverend the LORD K.G., Lord Lieutenant of the County. | BISHOP of the DIOCESE. The Worshipful the MAYOR OF LEICESTER. (William Barfoot, Esq.) The Venerable Henry Fearon, B.D., Archdeacon of Leicester. The Venerable F. H. Thicknesse, M.A., Archdeacon of Northampton. The Venerable the Lord Alwyne Compton, M.A., Archdeacon of Oakham. The Right Honourable the Earl of Gainsborough, Exton Park, Oakham. Sir George Howland Beaumont, Bart., Coleorton Hall. Sir William de Capel Brooke, Bart., M.A., The Elms, Market Harborough. Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden, Bart., M.A., Canon's Ashby. Sir Frederick Thomas Fowke, Bart., Lowesby Hall, Leicester. Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Bart., M.A., Carlton. Adcock, William, Esq., Melton Mowbray. Addison, the Rev. Leonard, M.A., Leicester. Agar, Thomas, Esq., Leicester. Argles, the Rev. Canon, M.A., Barnack Rectory. Armitage, W., Esq., Lownfield House, Altringham. Baines, Mr. F. J., Leicester. Baker, Charles, Esq., Leicester. Barnard, Thomas, Esq., Leicester. Barrow, Mr. Joseph, Long Eaton. Barwell, Mr. James, Birmingham. Bean, Miss, Garnstone Villa, Burnt Ash, Lee, Kent. Beedham, B. H., Esq., Ashfield House, Kimbolton. Bellairs, the Rev. G. S., M.A., Goadby Marwood Rectory. Bellairs, Major, Leicester. Benfield, T. W., Esq., Leicester. Berridge, R. B., Esq., Leicester. Bigge, the Rev. H. J,, M.A., Rockingham Rectory. Billson, Wm., Esq., Leicester. Billson, Wm., jun., Esq., Leicester. Bird, James, Esq., Leicester. Blackwood, Mrs., Woodhall, Port Glasgow. (2 copies). Bland, Mr. Thomas, Leicester. 718972 VI Church Bells of Leicestershire. Bleasdall, the Rev. John, B.A., Ashton- under-Lyne. Blews, Messrs. W. and Sons., Birmingham. Bloxam, Matthew Holbeche, Esq., F.S.A., Rugby. Bonser, the Rev. J. A., M.A., Bottisham Lode Vicarage. Boulter, H. C, Esq., F.S.A., Hull. Bradshaw, the Rev. H., M.A., Breedon, Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Bragge, Wm., Esq., F.S.A., Shirle Hall, Sheffield. Bridges, the Rev. F. B. H., M.A., Brunting- thorpe Rectory. Brook, Miss, Pencraig, Enderby. Brooks, Thomas, Esq., Barkby Hall (2 copies). Brooksbanks, Miss M., The Bailey, Durham. Brown, Miss, Shoby House (2 copies). Browne, Mr. T. C, Leicester. Bruxner, the Rev. G. E., M.A., Thurlaston Rectory. Burdett, Chas., Esq., Lutterworth (2 copies). Burnaby, Colonel E. S., Baggrave Hall. Cattel, James, Esq., Peterborough. Chaplin, C. W., Esq., Market Harborough. Charlesworth, Mr. Thomas, Leicester. Charters, Robert jun., Esq., Leicester. Chataway, the Rev. T. E., M.A., Peckleton Rectory. Chester, Mrs., Halstead Grange. Clarence, L. B., Esq., Deputy Queen's Advocate, Colombo, Ceylon. Clark, G. T., Esq., F.S.A., Dowlais House, Dowlais. Clark, the Rev. J., M.A., Kegworth Rectory. Clarke, the Rev. J. Erskine, M.A., 6, Atten- bury Gardens, Clapham Common, Lon- don, (2 copies). Clephan, Edwin, Esq., Leicester. Clephan, James, Esq., Newcastle-on-Tyne. Coleman, J. S., Esq., Leicester. Coltman, Mr. T., jun., Leicester. Cooper, J. H., Esq., Manor House, Rotherby. Cooper, Alfred, Esq., Wigston Magna. Corah, Edwin, Esq., Leicester. Corrance, the Rev. H. F., M.A., King's Walden. Cox, J. C, Esq., Chevin House, Belper. Crick, Thomas, Esq., Rupert's Rest, Glen Magna. Crossley, C. R., Esq., Leicester. Crossley, J. S., Esq., Barrow-on-Soar. Dalby, the Rev. Robert, M.A., R.D., Staunton Harold. Day, Miss, Wymondham House. Day, John, Esq., Wymondham House. Day, Robert, Esq., W5rmondham House. Deakins, Mr. Superintendent, Leicester. Denton, the Rev. John, M.A., Ashby-de-la- Zouch Vicarage. Disney, the Rev. W. H., M.A., Hinckley Vicarage. Dodds, the Rev. H. L., M.A.. Glen Magna Vicarage. Donisthorpe, A. R., Esq., Oadby. Dunkin, E. H.W., Esq., 14, Kidbrooke Park Road, Blackheath. Edmonds, J. R., Esq., Mountsorrel. Elmhirst, the Rev. E., B.A., Shawell Rectory. Ellacombe, the Rev. H. T., M.A., F.S.A., Clyst S. George Rectory, Devon. Ellis, Alfred, Esq., Belgrave. Ellis, James, Esq., Gynsills, Leicester. Ellis, Miss Lucy, Belgrave. Subscribers. Vll Evans, John, Esq.. F.R.S., F.S.A., 65, Old Bailey, London. Farmer, the Rev. J., S.C.L., New Walk, Leicester. Farmer, W. G., Esq., Hinckley. Fawcett, Josh., Esq., Shefl&eld. Fenwicke, the Rev. G. C. B.A.. Stocker- stone Rectory. Fisher, the Rev. H., M.A., Higham Rectory. Fisher, E., jun., Esq., Over Seile. Fitz-Gterald, Edward Ryvers, Esq., Black- rock, Co. Dublin. Fletcher, W. G. Dimock, Esq., S. Edmund's Hall, Oxford. Flude, Mr. John, Leicester. Foster, Richard, Esq., Lanwithan, Lost- withiel. Fowler, the Rev. J. F., M.A., F.S.A., Hat- field Hall, Durham. Freer, C. T., Esq., The Coplow, Billesdon. Freer, Wm. J., Esq., Stonygate, Leicester. Freestone, Mr. Henry, Market Harborough. Gill, Miss, Hoton, Loughborough. Gill, Miss, Princess Street, Leicester. Gill, Miss Alice J., Princess Street, Leicester. Gill, Elliott J. Esq., Princess Street, Lei- cester. Gillett and Bland, Messrs., Croydon (2 copies ) . Gimson, Wm. Esq., Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Goddard,Joseph,Esq., F.R.I. B. A., Leicester. Goddard, Mr. T. C, Leicester. Godson, The Rev. J., M.A., Ashby-Folville Vicarage. Goodacre, R. J,, Esq., Leicester. Goodacre, Mrs., 27, Belsize Crescent, Hampstead. Grieveson, H. J., Esq., Nevill Holt, Market Harborough. Grundy, Chas., Esq., 26, Budge Row, Lon- don. Hacket, Miss, Langdale Lodge, Clapham Park, Surrey. Hambly, C. H. Burbidge-, Esq., Barrow- on-Soar. Hanbury, the Rev. Thos., M.A., Church Langton Rectory. Hancock, Mr. J. H., Leicester. Hardy, Mrs. W., jun., Thistleton. Harris, Joseph, Esq., Westcotes (2 copies). Harris, the Rev. Joseph, M.A., Shepey Magna Rectory. Harris, John Dove, Esq., Ratcliffe Hall. Harris, G. Shirley, Esq., Stonygate, Lei- cester. Hart, Mr. John, Leicester. Herrick, W. Perry-, Esq., Beaumanor Park. Heude, Mrs., Barrov/-on-Soar. Hickson, Thomas, Esq., Melton Mowbray. Holdich, the Rev. C. W., M.A., Knipton. Holyland, Mr. Thomas, Leicester. Hoskyns, the Rev. H. J., M.A., Blaby Rectory. Hunt, John, Esq., Thumby. Hunt, Mrs. Stonygate, Leicester. Ingram, the Rev. R., M.A., Chatburn, Clitheroe. Ingram, Thomas, Esq., Hawthorn Field, Wigston Magna (2 copies). Jackson, James, Esq., Leicester. James, Miss, Theddingworth (2 copies). Jee, T. W., Esq., Peckleton Hall. Jenks, Wm., Esq., Upper Penn, Wolver- hampton. Vlll Church Bells of Leicestershire. Jerram, Mr. J. R., Sutton Bridge, Lin- coln. Jessop, Mr. Joseph, Leicester. Johnson, Wm., Esq., Saddington. Jones, H. S., Esq., Stonygate, Leicester. Jones, W. H., Esq., Uppingham. Jones, Mr. Thomas, Leicester. Jones, Miss, Lowesby Vicarage. Jones, the Rev. T. Henry, M.A., Ashwell Rectory. Keck, Harry Leycester Powys-, Esq., Stoughton Grange. Kelly, Wm., Esq., Leicester. Kempson, Wm., Esq., Leicester. King, Miss L., Thurnby House. Kirk, Charles, Esq., Sleaford. Knight, Colonel, Glen Parva Manor. Knowles, the Rev. C, M.A., Wintringham Rectory. Lakin, the Rev. J. M., M.A., Gilmorton R.ectory. Langley, the Rev. Wm., M.A., Leicester. Latham, Wm., Esq., Melton Mowrbray (2 copies). Lee. the Rev. George, D.C.L., F.S.A., All Saints' Vicarage, Lambeth. Lynam, C, Esq., Stoke-on-Trent. Lloyd, R., Esq., S. Albans. Luck, Richard, Esq,, Plas Llanfair, Lian- fairfechan ( 2 copies ). Macaulay, W. H., Esq., Leicester. Mallaby, Mr. Thomas, Masham, Bedale, Yorkshire. Marriott, Chas., Esq., Cotesbach Hall. Marris, Mr. W. H., Kibworth. Marshall, Mr. Governor, Borough Gaol, Leicester. Martin, R. F., Esq., Somerset House, Whitehaven (2 copies). Miles, E. P., Esq., Kirby Muxloe. Mitchell, the Rev. T., M.A., Long Clawson Vicarage. Molesworth, Mr. J., Leicester. Moore, the Rev. W. B., Evington Vicarage. Moore, Miss M. ]., Evington. Moore, Miss C. L., Evington. Morley, F. R., Esq., Stonesby House, Lei- cester. Mowbray, Major, Grangewood House. Over Seile. Murdin, Mr. J. G., Leicester. Needham, H. W., Esq., Syston. Nevile, the Rev. Gerard, M.A , Somerset Place. Bath. Nevinson. Thomas, Esq., Leicester ( 2 copies ). Newby. Mr. W. T., Leicester. Nickolds, the Rev. W., O.S.D., Holy Cross, Leicester. Norman, Mrs. George, Goadby Marwood Hall. Oakley, the Rev. W. H., M.A., Wyfordby Rectory. Ord, Mrs, J. E., Langton Hall (6 copies). Osborn, the Rev. M. F., R.D., Kibworth Rectory. Ottley, the Rev. F. J., M.A., Thorpe Acre Vicarage. Overton, Robert, Esq., Stonygate, Leicester. Owen, the Rev. T. M. N., B.A.. F.G.H.S., Middleton, Manchester. Packer, the Rev. George, M. A., Thurmaston Vicarage. Paget, Thos., Esq. (the late) Queniborough. Subscribers . IX Paget, Thomas Tertius, Esq., Humberstone. Paget, Alfred, Esq., Leicester. Paget, A. H., Esq., Leicester. Palmer, Captain, Withcote Hall. Parry, Thomas, Esq., Sleaford. Peacock, Edward, Esq., F.S.A., Bottesford Manor, Brigg. Pilling, the Rev. W., M.A., West Beach, Lytham. Powell, Miss M. (the late), Bitteswell (2 copies). Power, the Rev. J. P., M.A., Barkestone Vicarage. Pownall, the Rev. Assheton, M.A., F.S.A., Honorary Canon of Peterborough, South Kilworth Rectory. Rabbetts, the Rev. F. D., M.A., Buck- minster Vicarage. Redfern, Henry, Esq., Shoby House. Redfern, Charles, Esq., Grove House, Ventnor, I. W. Rendell, the Rev. A. M., M.A.. Coston Rectory. Rice, J. S., Esq., Leicester. Richards, W., Esq., Belgrave. Richardson, the Rev. H. K, M.A., R.D., Leire Rectory. Richardson, J. G. F., Esq., Stonygate, Leicester. Roberts, J., jun., Esq., Stonygate, Leicester. Robinson, G. A., Esq., The Elms, Melton Road, Leicester. Robinson, T. W. U., Esq., Houghton-le- Spring, Fence Houses, Durham. Salt, W. H., Esq., Mapplewell, Lough- borough. Sankey, Charles, Esq., M.A., Marlborough College. Sarson, Mr. T. F., Leicester. Shaw, George, Esq., M.D., Leicester. Shirley, Evelyn P., Esq., F.S.A., Lower Estington Park, Warwickshire. Small, the Rev. N. P., M A., Market Bos- worth Rectorj' (3 copies). Smythies, the Rev. E., B.A., Hathern Rectory. Spencer, C. Alfred, Esq., Leicester. Sperling, the Rev. J. H., M.A., Ramsgate. Stainbank, W. L., Esq., 267, Whitechapel Road, London. Staples, Mrs., Leicester. Stevenson, George, Esq., Leicester. Stone, S. F., Esq., Leicester. Stretton, Mrs., Dane Hill House, Leicester (2 copies). Stretton, Albert, Esq., Leicester. Swithenbank, G. E., Esq., Pyemont Lodge, Annerley. Tayler, Mrs., Rothwell. Taylor, Mr. J. W., Loughborough (2 copies). Terrot, Mrs., Wispington Vicarage, Horn- castle. Thompson, Charles, Esq., M.D., Leicester. Thomson, C. S., Esq., Leicester. Tilley, H. T., Esq., Caius College, Cam- bridge. Titley, the Rev. R., M.A., Barwell Rec- tor>'. Tucker, C, Esq., F.S.A., Marlands, Exeter. Turner, the Rev. T. A., M.A., Drayton Paislow, Bletchley. Twells, the Rev. H., M.A . Waltham Rectory. Tyssen, John R. Daniel-, Esq., F.S.A., g, Lower Rock Gardens, Brighton. Vaughan, Mrs., All Saints, Leicester. Church Bells of Leicestershire. Vaughan, the Rev. C. J., D.D., Master of the Temple, London. Vialls, George, Esq., 24, Doughty Street, London. I Venables, the Rev. George. S.C.L., Great Yarmouth Vicarage. Wales, the Worshipful Wm., Chancellor of the Diocese of Peterborough, Upping- ham Rectory. Ward, the Rev. Henry, M.A., Aldwinkle S. Peter's, Thrapstone. Warner, Mr. Thomas, Leicester Abbey. Warner, Messrs. J. and Sons, Cripplegate, London. Wartnaby, Mrs., Market Harborough. Watson, G. L., Esq., Rockingham Castle. Watson, the Rev. J. S., M.A., Cotesbach Rector}'. Watts, Henry, Esq., Leicester. Webster, J. D., Esq., F.R.I.B.A., Shef- field. Webster, Mrs., Scalford. Whitby, Captain, Leicester. White, George, Esq., S. Briavel's, Epsom. Whitlock, T. O., Esq., Loughborough. Wigram, the Rev. W., M.A., Fumeaux Pelham Vicarage, Herts. Wild, the Rev. J., M.A., Tetney Vicarage, Grimsby. Willcox. Mr. W., Melton Mowbray. Williams, J. H., Esq., Leicester. Wing, Vincent, Esq., Melton Mowbray. Woodd, Mrs. Charles H. L., Roslyn House, Hampstead. Woodhouse, J. T., Esq., Over Seile. Woolley, W. J., Esq., Loughborough. Woodward, the Rev. G. J., Kibworth. Libraries, Societies, &c. The Bedfordshire Architectural Society. The Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society. The Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society. The Leicester Permanent Library. The Lincoln Diocesan Architectural Society. The Dean and Chapter of Lincoln. The Newcastle-upon-Tyne Literary and Philosophical Society. The Architectural Society of the Arch- deaconry of Northampton. PREFACE Twenty years ago I contributed two articles to a local Anti- quarian Magazine — *' The Midland Counties' Historical Collector " — on Campanology in Leicester. Those articles (among my first essays in Archaeological research) were brief, and, in one or two particulars, inaccurate. I then saw that the subject was one worthy of further investiga- tion, and one that promised to reward the industry of any antiquary who could devote sufficient time to carry his investigations through the county, as well as through the town, of Leicester. I also saw that a careful record of the Inscriptions on the Church Bells of Leicestershire, illustrated by accurate drawings of the Founders' Marks, Crosses and Stops, would be a useful contribution towards that reprint of our great County History, which all students of local antiquities hope, in due time, to see. Apart from this aspect of the value of such an investiga- tion, the study of Campanology has lately taken a not unimportant place in the estimation of Archaeologists. The Inscriptions on the Church Bells of several counties have been diligently placed on record, and their Founders traced. Bellfounding, as a prominent art in the middle ages (with all the interest by which it was surrounded), has been xii Church Bells of Leicestershire. carefully enquired into and described. It was therefore evident that a description, such as I have referred to, of the Leicestershire Bells, accompanied by such an account of the Leicester Founders as could be gathered from Local and National Records, would be a fitting chapter in that History of Campanology in England which antiquaries, in its various counties, are gradually compiling. Want of leisure, and stronger claims upon my time, however, prevented me from attempting to follow the path I have indicated. It was not until I found, in the enforced partial retirement from the active duties of life, consequent upon severe illness, that leisure, which calling for occasional occupation, brought to my remembrance my former desire to prosecute my enquiries into the Campanology of Leicester- shire further than I was then enabled to do. Distance from the county, and inability to climb its bell-chambers and turrets, did not seem promising circum- stances in preparing the Work I had in view. I determined, however, to apply to the clergy, and to my archaeological and other friends in the county, for their assistance, in procuring for me Rubbings of the Inscriptions, and Casts of the Founders' Marks, Initial Crosses and Stops. Right willingly and heartily have they helped me. I being unable to go to the bells, have had the bells ( as it were ) brought to me. My kind helpers have overcome almost every difficulty, for it is only in one or two insignificant instances where I am obliged to be content to mark a bell-turret as "inaccessible." To one and all I offer my most grateful thanks. Without their ready help this work could not have Preface. Xlll been undertaken. I sincerely trust that the care I have attempted to bestow upon the compilation of that part specially devoted to the description of the Leicestershire Bells will show that I am not unmindful of the labour undertaken by my many helpers and correspondents on my behalf. May the music of our Church Bells sound joyously in their ears for many years to come ! My thanks are tendered to John Robert Daniel-Tyssen, Esq., F.S.A., to the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, F.S.A., and to Llewellyn Jewitt, Esq., F.S.A., for the loan of several wood- cuts, also to the following ladies and gentlemen (referred to above) who have helped me by procuring rubbings, or casts, from bells, in the parishes placed against their names. Adams, Rev. S. Py Armstrong, Rev. C. E. Astley, Rev. B. B. G, . Atkinson, Rev. A. W. Bagworth, Thornton. Stonton Wj^ille. Cadeby. Thurmaston. Barrett, Rev. D. W. Baker, Chas., Esq. Badcock, Rev. T. Beaumont, Rev. W. Bennie, Rev. J.N. Bellairs, Rev. S. G. Berrj', Rev. W. Belgrave, Rev. C. W. Bown. Mr. T. P. Eastwell, Eaton, Scalford, Stathern, Stones- by, Waltham. Wigston's Old Hospital. Fleckney. Coleorton. Glenfield. Caldwell, Goadby Marwood. Peatling Magna, Peatling Parva, Willoughby Waterless. North Kilworth. Aylestone, Glen Magna, Houghton, Leicester (All Saints', S. Margaret's, and S. Mar)''s), Thurcaston, Wigston Magna, Wistow. C XIV Church Bells of Leicestershire. Bowmar, Rev. H. Bridges, Rev. F. B. H. Brooks, John, Esq. Bullivant, Rev. H. E. Burfield, Rev. Canon . . Carey, Rev. A. H. Chataway, H. M., Esq. Cherry, Mr. C. . . Clark, Rev. J. Cooke, Rev. C. F. Cooper, J. H., Esq. Colyer, Rev. J. E. Cole, Rev. W. G. Cox, Rev. Thos. . . Cox, Rev. T. . . Corah, E., Esq. . . Coalbank, Rev. S. Crick, Thos., Esq. Dawes, Mr. C. J. Dalby, Rev. R., R.D. Day, John, Esq. Drake, Rev. T. Drummond, Rev. J. Eastburn, Rev. C. F. Ebsworth, Rev. G. S. Emberlin, H. E., Esq. Everett, Rev. E. . . Fenwicke, Rev. G. C. Fisher, W. P., Esq. Fisher, Rev. John Fisher, Rev. Henry Kirby Muxloe. Bruntingthorpe. Croft, Frolesvi^orth, Narborough, Thurlaston. Foxton, Lubenham. S. Mark's, Leicester. Owston. Peckleton. Cranoe, Glooston. Keg worth. Diseworth. Rotherby. Fenny Drayton. Newbold Verdon. Norton-by-Twycross. Kimcote. S. John's, Leicester. Old Dalby. Burton Overy, Glen Magna. S. Mark's, Leicester. Breedon, Staunton Harold, Worthington. Birstall, Buckminster, Cossington, Dalby Parva, Edmonthorpe, Garthorpe, Leicester (All Saints'), Lockington, Nailstone, Nar- borough, Sproxton, Wanlip,. Wyfordby, Wymondham. Mountsorrell. Galby. Medbourne. Croxton Kerrial. Oadby. Theddingworth. Stockerstone. Dalby Magna, Hungarton, Loseby, Thorpe Satchville, Twyford. Cossington. Higham-on-the-Hill . Preface. XV Fletcher, W. G. Dimock, Esq. Foster, Rev. John Freer, S. C, Esq. Fry, Rev. L. G. . . Furnival, Rev. James . . Loughborough. The Oaks. Carlton Curlieu, Houghton, Illston, King's Norton. Belgrave. Muston. Gardner, Rev. W. Gatty and Freestone, Messrs. Gallwey, Rev. T. G. Gimson, Wm., Esq. . . Gill, E. J., Esq. . . Glenn, Mr. . . Godson, Rev. J. • . Gordon, Rev. J. W. .. Green, C. N., Esq. Gresley, Messrs. R. and S. Coalville. Bowden Magna, Market Harborough. Birstall. Ashby-de-la-Zouch (Holy Trinity). Melton Mowbray. Hose. Beeby, Cold Overton, Dalby Parva, Grim- stone, Long Clawson, Pickwell. Knighton. Blackfordby, Normanton-le-Heath. Seile (Nether and Over). Harris, Rev. Joseph Hassall, Rev. T. Hall, Rev. R. E. . . Harrington, Rev. H. Duke Hanbury, Rev. T. Hazlerigg, Rev. W. G. Halford, Rev. J. F. Henton, Geo., Esq. . . Holdich, Rev. C. W. . Hoskyns, Rev. H. J. . . Holyland, Mr. T. Homan, Rev. J. F. Homer, Rev. H, Hodgson, Rev. W. E. Hunt, John, Esq. Hynde, Rev. W. . . Ratcliffe Culey, Shepey Magna. Rearsby. Congerstone. Knossington. Church Langton, Thorpe Langton, Tur Langton. Nosely. Wistowr. Holy Trinity, Leicester. Branstone, Knipton, Redmile. Blaby, Countesthorpe. S. Martin's, Leicester. Aston Flamville, Broughton Astley, Burbage, Claybrooke, Cosby, Dadlington, Hinckley, Narborough, Sapcote, Wibtoft, Wigston Parva. Barlestone. Swepstone. Illston, Keyham, Scraptoft, Thurnby. Cosby. XVI Church Bells of Leicestershire. Ingram, Thos., Esq. Isaacs, Rev. A. A. Jackson, Rev. J. Johnson, W., Esq. Johnson, R. W., Esq. Jones, Miss Wigston Magna. Christ Church, Leicester. Shearsby Saddington. Harby, Plungar. Ashby Folville, Billesdon, Burrough, desby, Somerby, South Croxton. Gad- Knight, Colonel Aylestone. Law and Sons, Messrs. Lewis, Rev. M. Loveday, Mr. Arthur . . Lutterworth. Ashby Parva, Bitteswell, Catthorpe, Cottes- bach, Gilmorton, Husband's Bosworth, Lutterworth, Misterton, Peatling Parva, Shawell, Swinford. Gumley, Illston, Kibworth, Laughton, New- ton Harcourt. Mason, Rev. J. Middleton, Rev. C. G Millington, Rev. T. C. Moore, Rev. W. B. S. Paul's, Leicester. Helton. Woodhouse Eaves. Evington, Stoughton, Stretton Magna, Stret- ton Parva. Newby, Rev. R. J. Neale, G. C, Esq. Nevile, Rev. G. Newham, W. E., Esq. Noble, Rev. Jno. (the late^ Norman, Rev. Canon Norris, Rev. T. Whetstone. Billesdon, Loddington, Skeffington, Tugby. Tilton. Barrow-on-Soar, Hoton, Prestwold, Quorn- don, Seagrave, Sileby, Walton-on-the- Wolds, Woodhouse. Nether Broughton. Bottesford. Goadby, East Norton, Rolleston. Oakley and Wilder, Messrs. Osborne, Rev. M. F., R.D. Ottley, Rev. F. J. Ab-Kettleby, Brentingby, Burton Lazars, Freeby, Garthorpe, Saltby, Saxby, Sprox- ton, Stapleford, Thorpe Arnold, Wyfordby. Kibworth. Dishley. Preface. xvii Page, Rev. T. Douglas Packe. Rev. H. V. Palmer, Captain Pearson, Mr. M. . . Peake, Rev. T. C. Phillipps, Rev. C. L. M. (the late). Pilling, Rev. W. Piercy, Rev. J. M. W. Power, Rev. J. P. Pownall, Rev. Canon Pughe, Rev. KM. . . Rabbitts, Rev. F. B. . Sewstem. Rendell, Rev. A. M. . . . Coston. Reeves, Mr. S. . . . Ansty. Reynard, Rev. W. . Lockington. Richardson, Rev. H. K., R.D. . Leire. Sargent, Mr. J. R. .. . Humberstone. Sankey, Rev. Jno. ( the late ) . Stoney Stanton. Serjeant,' Rev. J. S. .. . Twycross. Smythies, Rev. E. . Hathern. Syers, Rev. H. S. . Syston. Taylor, Mr. W. . . Thomas, Rev. A. F. Titley, Rev. R. . . Townson, Rev. W. Tower, Rev. E. . . Tomkins, H. B., Esq. Traylen, J. C, Esq. Tronsdale, Rev. R. Sibstone. Shankton. Withcote. Barkby, Beeby, Brooksby, Castle Donington, Frisby, Gaddesby, Holwell, Hungarton, Kirby Belers, Kegworth, Long Whatton, Nether Broughton, Old Dalby, Queni- borough, Rotherby, Ragdale, Saxelby, Sea- grave, Sysonby, Thrussington, Walton Isley, Wartnaby, Welby. Hallaton. Sheepshed. Arnesby. Slawston. Barkeston. South Kilworth. Market Bosworth, Shenton, Sutton Cheney. Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Packington. Witherley. Barwell, Potter's Marston. Carlton. Earl's Shilton, Elmsthorpe. Orton-on-the-Hill. Leicester ( S. Nicolas'), Queniborough. Ratby. Upcher, Rev. H. B. Allexton. XVlll Church Bells of Leicestershire. Wayte, Mr. . . Watts, Rev. R. . . Watson, Rev. H. L. . . Welchman, H. J. P., Esq. Welby, Rev. W. H. E. Whitby, Captain . . Wing, Rev. Chas. Wing, Arthur S., Esq. Willes, Rev. Canon . . Woodhouse, Rev. T. E. Woodward, Rev. G. J. Wright, W., Esq. Ibstock. Nailstone. Sharnford. Rothley. Harston. Desford, Enderby, Groby, Hoby, Huggles- cote, Kirkby Mallory, Markfield, Newtown Linford, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Ragdale, Saxelby, Snibstone, Snareston, Shacker- ston,Thrussington,Whitwick,Wymeswold. Foston. Asfordby. Ashby Magna. Braunstone. Blaston S. Michael, Bringhurst, Great Easton, Holt, Horninghold, Kibworth, Welham. Wanlip. I have pleasure in adding that Mr. Utting has most carefully engraved for me, from casts taken direct from the bells, a large number of the woodcuts v^^hich illustrate the following pages. T. N. Leicester, January, 1876. *.x.* In order to complete an account of the Campanology of the Diocese of Peterborough, this volume may be succeeded by similar accurate descriptions of the Church Bells of the counties of Northampton and Rutland. CONTENTS Church Bells 1-32 Church Bells of Leicestershire ..... 33-36 The Leicester Bellfounders . . . . . • 3 7-74 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells .... 75-97 Peculiar Uses of Leicestershire Bells . . . 98-123 Latin Inscriptions on Leicestershire Bells (with Translations) 124-130 A Table of Diameters of Bells with the approximate weights . 131 The Inscriptions on the Church Bells of Leicestershire, with, in many cases, the Diameter at the mouth of the Bell, from which its approximate weight may be ascertained. To which are added Extracts, where procurable, from the Commissioners' Returns temp. Edward VI., and from Parochial and other Records, together with Local Traditions, and Notes on the Uses of Church Bells peculiar to different parishes . 133-309 ILLUSTRATIO"NS. Ancient Bells from Egypt ...... 3 Figures of Saints, &c., on Leicestershire Bells . . • 3^ Initial Crosses, Stops, Marks, Letters, &c., used by Leicester Bellfounders . . . . . . -38-65 Figure of King David playing Handbells ( fourteenth century ) . 74 Initial Crosses, Marks, Stops, &c., used by other Founders of Leicestershire Bells ...... 76-91 Stamp used by Robert Mott, a London Founder . . -97 Sacryng-bell found at Bottesford, Lincolnshire . . .112 Ancient Bell-tile found at Repton, Derbyshire . . . 123 General Plates of Initial Crosses, Founders' Marks, Letters, &c., found on the Ancient Church Bells of Leicestershire Plates i — xviii at the end of the volume. CHURCH BELLS. MUCH has been written, and might be repeated here, upon the Origin and Antiquity of Bells. In the oldest existing writings — those of Moses — we find mention of the bells which were ordered to be placed upon the hem of the ephod of the High Priest,* and which, we are told by the son of Sirach,-f- made a noise that might be heard in the temple, when he went in, and w^hen he came out of the holy place. { They were used also as appendages to their royal robes, by the ancient Persians. The Greeks and the Romans used them (more, perhaps, in the shape of gongs) to call people to the baths and to the markets. Mr. Layard mentions the discovery, in the palace of Nimroud, of about eighty small bells of bronze with iron tongues. § They appear to have been used in very early times in * Exod. xxviii. ^^. symbol that the sound of the Apostles was f Eccliis. xlv. 9. to go forth into all lands. Vide Blunt's + According to Justyn Martyr these Church in the First Three Centuries, p. 131. bells (twelve in number) which tinkled on § Discoveries at Nineveh. &c. Second the garments of the High Priest, were a Series, p. 177. B 2 CJiiirch Bells. Hindoo temples. They have been found in Egypt.* The Chinese have bells, and probably had them long 'ages ago. Most, if not all, of these, however, were so small and insignificant that they have been more correctly described as "metallic rattles," rather than as bells. Leaving these precursors of the Church Bell, and referring all who are interested in pursuing their history further to the researches of the many competent writers on the subject, I offer by way of introduction to the pages which follow, a few remarks upon the Bell as used in the Christian Church. In doing so I have little to add to the few historical facts which have become the common property of all writers on this branch of archaeology. I should have hesitated to reproduce some of these here if the following pages were only intended for the reading of campanists, and as a chapter in the history of the Church Bells of this country. This w^ork may, however, fall into the hands of some who may wish for a sketch of the origin of those musical ornaments of our churches which they so often hear, but so seldom see. I trust therefore to be pardoned for treading in the footsteps of several learned predecessors, and for availing myself, occasionally, of their researches. The early Christians, in consequence of the persecutions to which, from time to time, they were exposed, would be very unlikely to use any noisy summons to their meetings * I am indebted to J. R. Daniel-Tyssen, to belong to the Ptolemean period, two Esq. for the use of the two woodcuts of hundred years B.C. Bells from Egypt. They are supposed Church Bells. 4 Church Bells. for prayer and praise. So soon as they were able to meet publicly, without fear, they used, in some places, trumpets, like the Jews of old.* S. Ephrem {circa 370) further men- tions the Signuin — a clapper or tablet — as the call then used to Holy Communion. f Bells do not appear to have been introduced into the Christian Church until the fifth century. The earliest Christian writer who refers to them is thought to be Saint Jerome, who in the Regula Monachorum {circa 422) mentions their use as a call to matins, &c.J Paulinus, bishop of Nola, in Campania (a.d. 400), has been generally credited with their invention, § but, inasmuch, as there is extant an epistle from him to Severus, in which he minutely describes his church, but makes no mention of either tower or bells, we must consider he was ignorant, at least at that time, of their use.|| From this tradition, however, we have the mediaeval Latin name, Nola^ for a small hand-bell, and Campana for the larger bell hanging in the church tower or turret. Church Bells are also called Signa in mediaeval documents. It is not proposed — as being foreign to this work — to attempt a description of the Nola or Tintinnabulum^ as the * Bingham's yln^f^., Bk. viii., c. 7. Tin % Quoted by Rocca, De Campanis. Opera. Trumpets preserved at Willoughton and Roma:, 1719. Vol. I. p. 156. Thorney are said to have been used to call § Dupin's Ecd. Hist. Ninth Cent., p. 166. the congregation together. Walcott's Sac. || The Bell, by Rev. Alfred Gatty, p. 13. Arch., p. 70. The Rev. H. T. Ellacombe in his Bells of f Parcencsi xliii. The Rev. Mackenzie the Church, p. 338, gives an engraving of an E. C. Walcott, F.S.A., to whom I am in- ancient bell " supposed to have been in- debted for this reference, so interprets the vented or adopted by Paulinus, circa 420, " sign." for church purposes." Church Bells. 5 early portable hand-bell was called. Several of these, of great antiquity, are still extant in Ireland, North Wales, and Scotland. Some of them are very elaborately orna- mented, and are accompanied by covers of exquisite work- manship. They are frequently formed of a sheet of metal hammered into shape, and rivetted at the side. There does not appear to be any clue as to the precise original use of these curious bells, which in many instances were, until recently, held in high reverence, and even in superstitious dread, by the ignorant peasantry. Some antiquaries think they are relics of the early founders of Christianity in these Islands, and have been, as such, carefully preserved in Religious Houses founded at the time by the saints themselves.* Pope Sabinian (a.d. 604) having ordered the hours to be sounded on the bells, f is thought by others to have intro- duced the use of the Campance or Signa, as the large bells were called, into churches. He, however, more probably found bells in partial use, and recognizing their beauty and value, encouraged their general adoption, as it is soon after his time that we read of their use in this country. They are mentioned in the Ordo Romanus about this date, as being used to announce Tierce, Mass, and Processions, and S. Owen in the life of S. Eloy [circa 650) speaks of the Campana.'l * A very full and profusely illustrated by my venerable friend The Rev. H. T. account of these bells will be found in The Ellacombe, F.S.A. Bells of the Church, a Tome lately put forth f Walcott's Sac. Arch., p. 96. + W^alcott's Sac. Arch., p. 66. 6 Church Bells. Bede mentions the existence of a bell at Streanseshalch (Whitby) in the year 680, which was used to awake, and to call the nuns to prayer.* The second excerption of Egbert, issued about the year 750, commands every priest, at the proper hours, to sound the bells of his church, and then to go through the sacred offices of God. In the tenth century we trace the existence of bells in one of the illuminations in S. iEthelwold's Benedictional, a gorgeous manuscript, certainly executed before the close of that century : an open campanile appears in which are suspended four bells. f About the same time, if we may trust Ingulph, we find a ring of bells at Croyland Abbey. Turketil, who was made abbot of that House about 946, had " one very large bell" cast, called Guthlac ; to that one bell his successor, Egelric the elder (who died in 984) added six more — two large ones, which he called Bartholomew and Bettelm, two of medium size, which he named Turketil and Tatwin, and two small ones to which he gave the names of Pega and Bega. The chronicler adds, that when all these seven bells were rung " an exquisite harmony was produced thereby, nor was there such a peal of bells in those days in all England. "J From this we may infer that single bells, if not rings, were then well known in this country. Neither were the abbots of Croyland the only ecclesiastics of that period whose names are handed down to us as founders of bells. S. Dunstan "the chief of monks," an expert worker in metals, cast a bell, which for many ages after his death hung in Canterbury * Ecd. Hist., Book IV. c. xxiv. (Gidley's f ArcJasologia xxiv. plate 32. Translation). I lugulph's Citron., Bohn's Ed., p. 107. Church Bells. _ 7 Cathedral ; two bells cast under his direction were at Abingdon, where also were other two the work of its founder S. ^thelwold.* Indeed there is every reason for believing that at the Norman Conquest the art of bellfounding was well understood, and carried to great perfection in this country. The grand old Norman towers of our churches clearly point to the large and heavy bells which they were built to contain. The first Englishman who followed bellfounding as a trade at present known by name, is Roger de Ropeforde of Paignton, who, in 1284, was employed to make four bells for the north tower of Exeter Cathedral. f In the thirteenth century we meet with constant mention of bells as of things not in the least extraordinary or rare. Matthew Paris writes as if, at least, every church of note, possessed ofie bell or more. J He tells us that Otto the Legate was received with processions, and the music of bells. § That upon the return of Henry the Third, from Gascony, in 1243, when he had come to Winchester, he gave orders that all the bells in the place should resound with joy ;|| and he further tells that in 1250, the Canons of S. Bartholomew, London, received the Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury "amidst the ringing of bells. "^ In 1239, Henry the Third directed a bell-turret to be made for the ♦Rock's Church of ouy Fathers, iii., casting of a bell in the same year (12S4). Part 2, p. 57. + Bohn's Ed. vol. iii. p. 51. f EUacombe's Bells of Exeter Cathedral, § Vol. i. p. 55. p. 3. See also Notes and Queries, 5th, s. iii., |1 Vol. i. p. 455. p. 77, for an interesting account of the ^ Vol. ii. p. 346. 8 Chiirdi Bells. chapel of S. Thomas, in the castle of Winchester;* and the same monarch, in 1243, commanded a stone turret to be built in front of the King's chapel at Windsor, in which three or four bells might be hung.f In 1273 we hear of the bell of the church of S. Benedict, Cambridge, being used to convene the clerks to extraordinary lectures. J The following century (the fourteenth) furnishes the earliest mention of the existence of church bells in Leicester that I have met with. Mr. James Thompson in his History of the town,§ incidentally proves the existence of a bell at the now destroyed church of S. Peter, in the year 1306 ; and Nicholsll says: — "Mr. Samuel Carte noticed in the archiepiscopal register at Lambeth, an article relative to the taking away one of the bells from S. Nicholas' Church (Leicester), in 132 1." In the middle ages, when roads were bad, and locomo- tion difficult, bells were frequently cast within the precincts of Religious Houses, and in churchyards, the clergy or monks standing round, and reciting prayers and chanting psalms. Southey says: — "The brethren stood round the furnace, ranged in processional order, sang the 150th Psalm, and then, after certain prayers, blessed the molten metal, and called upon the Lord to infuse into it His grace, and overshadow it with His power, for the honour of the saint to whom the bell was to be dedicated, and whose name it was * Turner's Dom. Arch., vol. i. p. 193. + Chuirh Bells of Cambvidgeshire, p. 3. f Ibid, p. 259. See also an article § Hist. Leicester, p. 108. contributed by the writer to The Midland \\ Hist. Leicestershire, vol. i. part 2, p. 608. Counties Historical Collector, vol. i. p. 228. Church Bells. g to bear."* During excavations in the churchyard of Scalford, Leicestershire, some years ago, indications of the former existence of a furnace for the casting of the church bells there were discovered, and a mass of bell-metal was found, which had clearly been in a state of fusion on the spot. Until quite recently the bellfounders occasionally acted in the same manner. *' Great Tom" of Lincoln was cast in the minster yard in i6io;f and the great bell of Canterbury was cast in the cathedral yard in 1762. J We also find instances (at Kirkby Malzeard, Yorkshire, and Haddenham, in the Isle of Ely,) where a furnace was erected, and bells recast within the walls of the church itself. § The founders, too, sometimes itinerated with the implements of their craft to a central spot, where they set up their furnace, and did what business they could with the neighbourhood around. This was done at Winterton, in Lincolnshire, by Daniel Hedderly, of Bawtry, in 1734; and although the elaborate ceremonial of the middle ages no longer attended upon the casting of the modern bell, still the founder and his men did not always neglect to ask God's blessing upon their work at the critical moment of running the metal into the mould. Thomas Hedderly, a founder at Nottingham, in the last century, is said to have joined in prayer with his men before any important casting, and in Messrs. Blew's foundry at Birmingham, similar observances are said to be used at the present time.|| * Southey's Doctor, vol. i. p. 296. § Bells of the Church, p. 287. Notes and f Hist. Lincoln (1816), p. 75. Queries, 5th, s. ii. 147. + Bells and Bell-ringing, by Rev. J. T. || Bells and Bell-ringing, by Rev. J. T. Fowler. F.S.A. Fowler, F.S.A. C 10 Church Bells. It may be well to state here that the composition of bell- metal may be roughly said to be one portion of tin to three of copper. Mr. E. B. Denison states that " four parts of tin to thirteen of copper produce a very hard elastic and strong bell-metal."* Mr. Gatty remarks: "Some people talk as familiarly of sweetening the tone of bell-metal by the introduction of a little silver, as they would speak of sweetening a cup of tea, or a glass of negus, with a lump of sugar ; but this is a dream. It is, however, a very popular error, and has led to many speculations on the great value of our old church bells, which have been supposed to con- tain large quantities of the more precious ores. The mistake has, no doubt, arisen from the ancient custom of casting a few coins into the furnace, which have become melted in the glowing mass ; but no bellfounder can be deluded on this point, for silver, if introduced in any large quantity, would injure the sound, being in its nature more like lead as compared with copper ; and therefore incapable of pro- ducing the hard, brittle, dense and vibratory amalgam called bell-metal. There are, nevertheless, various little ingre- dients, which the skilful founder employs to improve his composition ; but these are the secrets of the craft, and peculiar to every foundry. "f After the bell was cast, and was made ready for its high * Some of the ancient bells appear to melted up with it to make three new bells have had a larger proportion of tin. In for the church of the castle of Dover, the Liberate Roll, 26 Hen. III., sec. 12, is Lukis' Account of Church Bells, p. 19. See an entry of 1050 lbs of copper and 500 lbs Notes and Queries, 5th, s. iii. p. 77, for the of tin, and the metal of an old bell, to be composition of a Bell in a.d. 1284. f The Bell, p. 30. Church Bells. ii and airy chamber, it was set apart for its future use by a solemn ceremonial, and by the recitation of an Office which has been variously termed the Blessing, the Consecration, and the Baptism of the Bell. The use of this Office, if not coeval with the introduction of the church bell, is certainly of great antiquity. Mr. L'Estrange, quoting the Abbe Barraud, states, that since the year 800 the Order of the prayers and rites employed in the Benediction of bells has not varied much. " It appears from a Pontifical preserved in the British Museum {Cottonian MS. Vespasian D.i.p. 127) that the service commenced with the recital of the Litany, and that whilst the choir sang the antiphon Asperges me, the psalm Miserere and psalm 145, with the five following psalms, and the antiphon In civitate Domini dare sonant, the bell about to be blessed was washed with holy water, wiped with a towel, and anointed by the bishop with the holy oil."* The De Benedidione Signi vel CampancB of the Roman Pontifical enjoins the same ceremonies interspersed with prayers, psalms, and antiphons. The bell washed by the bishop with water, into which salt had been previously cast, was then dried by his attendants with clean linen ; the bishop next dipped the thumb of his right hand in the holy oil for the sick, and made the sign of the cross on the top of the bell ; he then marked the bell again both with the holy oil for the sick and with chrism, saying the words :— '^ Sancti + ficetiiv, et conse -\- cretnv, Domine sigmmi istud : in nomine Pa 4" tyis et Fi + lH, 6t Spijitus -j- Sancti : in honorem Sancti N. Pax tibi.'" * Church Bells of Norfolk, p. 17. 12 Church Bells. After which the inside of the bell was censed.* The Pontifical of Egbert, Archbishop of York, and other Office books, have similar services. This Office bore so close a resemblance to that of Holy Baptism, both in the ceremonial used," and in the giving of a name to the bell,f as to be frequently considered synony- mous with it. That such was the case even in early times we gather from the fact that Charlemagne issued, in the year 789, an express injunction against the baptism of bells. Learned liturgical writers of the Roman Church maintain that the baptism of bells was not in ancient times, and is not now, as used by them, such as confers remission of sins — Southey quaintly observes " the original sin of a bell would be a flaw in the metal, or a defect in the tone, neither of which the priest undertakes to remove" — but the bells are thereby set apart from all secular uses, and blessed or con- secrated ; and the hope is that (in accordance with the prayers offered) by their sound the powers of demons may be restrained, and the sources of storm, tempest, and contagion, kept away. Whilst this is no doubt quite true, it must, nevertheless, be evident that the ceremony did frequently, in mediaeval times, surpass that of a consecration, and, by an addition of other ceremonies to those enjoined in the Pontificals just quoted, bore so close a resemblance to baptism, as to present, at least to the eyes of the vulgar, a too close and irreverent resemblance to that Holy * See full copy of this service from f Pope John IV. gave his name to the the Pontifical (Antwerp, 1627) in Bells of great bell of S. John Lateran in the seventh the Church, p. 83. century. CJiurch Bells. 13 Sacrament. Le Sueur, an old French writer, shows this to have been the case. He says " that the imposition of the name, the godfathers and godmothers, the aspersion with holy-water, the unction, and the solemn consecration in the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, exceed in ceremonial splendour what is common at baptism, in order to make the blessing of bells more highly regarded by the people. Real baptism" he remarks, "may be administered by all kinds of persons, and the rite is simple; but in what is done to the bells there is much pomp. The service is long, the ceremonies are numerous, the sponsors are persons of quality, and the most considerable priest in the place, or even a bishop or archbishop officiates."* That this was the case in England, as well as in France, we learn from a curious entry made by the churchwardens of S. Lawrence, Reading, in their Accounts for the year 1499 : s. d. " Itm. payed for haloweng of the grete bell namyd Harry vj. viij. And mem. that Sir Willm. Symys, Richard Clech and maistres Smyth beyng godfaders and godmoder at the consecracyon of the same bell, and beryng all o'. costs to the su£frygan."t This custom of blessing the bells before raising them to their place in the church tower points to the origin of bell inscriptions ; the earliest inscriptions being simply the name of the saint placed upon the bell when it was cast, and ratified at its consecration. There is a singular proof of * Quoted by Gatty, The Bell, p. 22. f Notes and Queries. 3rd, s. vii. p. 90. •14 Church Bells. this in an unique inscription on a bell at Crostwight, Norfolk : ASLAK JOH'ES JOH'EM ME NOI'AVIT John Aslak being clearly the godfather at the benediction or baptism of the bell.* When the mediaeval form of consecration was done away with in this country at the Reformation, English churchmen, unfortunately, were not furnished with any form of dedica- tion to supply its place. Consequently, the people in getting rid of the superstitious rite of their fathers, substi- tuted, upon the advent of a new bell or ring of bells, indecorous conviviality similar to that which is described by White of Selborne, who tells us that when new bells were brought to his parish in 1735, the event was celebrated by fixing the treble bottom upwards, and filling it with punch. It is a matter for thankfulness that this profane " christening " is becoming a thing of the past, and that the church is again receiving bells within her towers with a dedication service, sanctioned and used by her bishops, which is joyous and reverent in tone, and calculated to give all, clergy and people, a fitting impression of the uses to which the Bells of the Church are intended to be put. After such a dedication they can scarcely be used, as they fre- quently have been in times past, upon most improper occasions — occasions when things had been enacted com- pletely opposed to the honour of God, and utterly alien to the teaching of the church, whose fast and festival the bells * Church Bells of Norfolk, p. 17. Church Bells. 15 are to mark, and whose summons to prayer and praise they are day by day to sound. It is now time to turn to the bell itself, and to see what it has to say in elucidation of its past history. To do this we must ascend to the bell chamber in the church tower, or to the bell turret on the roof. This is not always, by any means, an easy, pleasant, or even a safe, thing to do. Some of the stone staircases in our Leicestershire church towers are so much worn that only a scant and precarious foothold is left, and some of the long ladders by which the bells are reached are almost perpendicular, and, occasionally, so decaying with age, as to render a climb up them a proceed- ing requiring great care, and some nerve. The floor of the bell chamber, too, is occasionally, found rotten and covered with filth. Once up, however, the slight difficulty or danger attending the ascent is forgotten ; the ancient bells, so often heard, never, perhaps before seen, are looked upon with reverence, almost with awe. We think of the many changes which have taken place in all around — many of which they have noted with their solemn tolls or their joyous peals — since they were first placed there. Our reverie, however, is broken by the cold wind rushing through the louvre boards in the windows, so we hasten to complete our work — take our ''rubbing" or our "squeeze," give one hasty glance through the openings at the grand peeps of the surrounding country, so well obtained in our elevated position, and then descend with much greater ease, and with much less trepi- dation, than we ascended. The earliest bells do not generally tell us anything as to 1 6 Church Bells. the date when, or the locality in which, they were cast. They usually bear nothing more than the names of the saints in whose honour they were dedicated. Upon the tenor, or largest, bell is frequently found the name of the patron saint of the church ; upon the smaller ones, perhaps, the names of the saints whose altars were formerly in the church below, or who were the patrons of ancient Guilds or Confraternities in the parish. We have already seen that the ancient bells at Croyland Abbey bore names ; and from an ancient Roll at Ely we learn that when they cast four new bells for the Cathedral in 1346-7, they gave them the names of Jesus, John, Mary, and Walsyngham.* Bells of this class (though not necessarily of this early date) are found in Leicestershire, as will be seen when we treat of the bells of the county. We may mention now : — IHESVS at Wistow. Two or three early dated English bells have, however, been discovered. One (supposed to be the oldest dated bell in the kingdom) is at S. Chad's Church, Claugh- ton, Lancashire, and is dated 1296, thus: — + ANNO DNI • M • CC • NONO • AI . the letter V being reversed. f Another has been found at Cold Ashby, Northamptonshire, dated 13 17, thus: — + MARIA : VOCOR : ANO : DNI : M" : CCC XVIJ°i * Church Bells of Cambridgeshire, p. 6. f Bells of the Church, p. 250. I For an inspection of a rubbing of this I am indebted to the Rev. T. M. Owen, F.G.H.S. Church Bells. 17 Two, richly ornamented, dated 1323, are in the tower of S. Mary's Church, Somercotes, Lincolnshire.* These early inscriptions are usually in stately Gothic capital letters, and in Latin — the language of the mediaeval church. We soon meet with a slight extension of the inscriptions such as — to quote Leicestershire examples : — + IN HONORE SANCTI LEONARDI at Sysonby. HVIVS SCl PETRI at Saltby. Bells cast in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries though undated, have generally founders' marks, initial crosses, and other means of recognition by which they can be classified, and, in many cases, assigned to their respective dates and foundries. " These trade marks, however," as is well observed by Mr. EUacombe, " are by no means infallible guides to the uninitiated in such matters ; for foundries often went on for generations, and marks and stamps were, no doubt, handed down from father to son often for a century or more."f This is the case with several bells in our own county. On bells of this date, and on to the period of the Reformation, we frequently find the invocation " Ova pro nobis " added to the name of the saint, thus : SCA CATERINA ORA P NOBIS as at Aston Flamville. + SCE LEONARDE ORA PRO NOBIS as at Shenton. * Associated Arch. Socs. Reports and Papers, vol. xii. p. 19. f Church Bells of Devon, p. 226. D 1 8 Church Bells. These invocations were taken from the Litany ; and other inscriptions doubtless owe their origin to the various Offices of the mediaeval church. For instance a learned corre- spondent in Notes and Queries says the following inscription found on the tenor bell at Billesdon : + STELLA MARIA MARIS SUCURRE {sic) PIISSIMA NOBIS is from the Benedictiones de S. Maria Sarum and York.* Very many have the angelic salutation : + AVE MARIA as at Melton Mowbray. + AVE MARIA GRA PLENA as at Horninghold. + AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINVS TECVM as at Little Dalby and Wyfordby. A common inscription of this period was : IN MULTIS ANNIS RESONET CAMPANA lOHANNIS This we find at Bottesford ; and other inscriptions of a similar character will be found on other Leicestershire bells. Occasionally we find figures of men and angels on bells of this date. Examples are in Leicestershire at Thurcaston Welham and Wanlip. English inscriptions though rare as early as the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were some- times used. At Long Sutton, near Odiham Hants., is a bell inscribed : HAL MARI FVL OF GRAS * Notes and Queries, 5th s. vol. i. p. 465. Church Bells. 19 At Gainford, Durham, is another with : — HELP MARI QUOD ROGER OF KIRKEBY that is Help Mary quoth, or saith, Roger of Kirkby, who was vicar 1401 — 1412.* And at Thurcaston, in this county, we shall see one : — IN THE NAYM OF IHS SPED ME The founder's name, too, occasionally appears, as at All Saints, Leicester, and at Sproxton ; and the donor's, as at Aylestone. At the date of which we are now speaking there was no such thing known as change-ringing : and, indeed it would seem that ringing rounds and chiming in "tune" were both impossible in the great majority of our country churches. In the Returns of the Commissioners for taking a list of the ornaments of the churches in the Hundred of Framland, Leicestershire, in the sixth year of King Edward the Sixth, we see that Coston, Saltby, and Stonesby, had each " iij bells of a corde,'' Croxton Kerrial " iiij bells of a ryng,'" and Muston "iiij bells 0/ one ryng ;'' meaning, I presume, that the notes of these bells were in musical sequence. f All the other churches are noted, simply, as possessing a certain number of bells, unfit, apparently, for musical chiming or ringing, but quite adequate to the custom of the time. This custom probably was in ordinary churches to have in addition to its own, or parish, bell, a bell for the Angelus, * Sottanstall's Cainpajiologia. f Stow, describing S. Bartholomew's having in the bell tower sixe Belles in a Church in Smithfield says, "This church tune." &c. Notes and Queries, 3rd s. ii. 328. 20 Church Bells. and one for each of the several altars which were usually found there dedicated to different saints, and which was sounded when mass was about being said at its particular altar. Even now one bell is all that is required by the Rubric and (as now followed) the Canons to be provided, of necessity, in churches at the charge of the parish. Thus at Melton Mowbray we find the Churchwardens, in 1562, speaking of "our Lady Bell," that being either the bell used for the Angelus or Ave, or else the bell which had been wont to be used when mass was about being said at our Lady's altar which is known to have stood in that church. There is however no doubt that all the bells, not- withstanding their being unfitted for musical ringing or chiming, were used for Divine Service on Sundays. We find the Bell-master at Loughborough, in the time of Edward VL or earlier, was obliged "to help to reng to sarvys if ned be." The custom in larger churches where the canonical hours were kept will be referred to hereafter. Towards the close of the sixteenth century care was some- times taken when bells were recast to have them " in tune." An instance of this occurred at Loughborough, in 1586, when the churchwardens paid fourteenpence " to John Wever for his tow dayes chardges when he went to Notting- ham for them that came to prove the tune of ye bells." The Reformation introduced many changes in connection with bells, as it did with other " ornaments " of the church. The stately Gothic capital, and the quaint small "black letter," gradually gave place to clumsy Roman letters for the inscriptions. The beautiful initial cross, also, gradually Church Bells. 21 disappeared. Figures of saint or angel were discarded. English, although it did not supplant Latin, gained a full share of use on the bells. The old forms of inscriptions were dropped, at first to give place to mottos of a reverent character, which soon, however, drifted, in many instances, into doggrel rhyme — stupid, frivolous, and thoroughly out of place, or into a bare list of names of vicar and church- wardens. Dates, in Arabic numerals, now appear on every bell ; and founders' names abound. As specimens may be mentioned the third bell at Nether Broughton : + Jesvs be ovre spede the first at Thorpe Arnold : Cum cum and pray 1597 the first at Segrave : + God save the Chvrch 1595 the first at Tilton on the Hill : Praise the Lorde the first at Fenny Drayton : Hec Campana Sacra Fiat Trinitate Beata a bell at Passenham Northants. : A + trvsty + frende + ys + harde + to + fynde + 1585. the third at Earl's Shilton : + Be • yt • knowne • to • all • that • doth • me • see That • Newcombe • of • Leicester • made • mee 22 Church Bells. This was a common form which was not improved when used in the plural number, as at Himbleton Worcestershire : John Martin of Worcester he made wee Be it known to all that do wee see On other bells are found these, and many similar inscriptions : Henry Pleasant did me run In the year 1701 At proper time my voice I'll raise And sound to my subscribers' praise I'm given here to make a peal And sound the praise of Mary Neale John Eyer gave twenty pound To meek mee a losty sound 1703 The following refers to the recasting of an ancient tenor into two treble bells : We trebles came by small consent Our birth we hope will give content Twins from old Tenor, our lost old Dad Some we make merry and some are sad Other bells bear the names of the donors, or commemo- rate some event of national interest, but these specimens will suffice to give an idea of the various kinds of inscriptions found on Post-Reformation bells. Bell inscriptions after the middle of the seventeenth century afford little interest. With the revival of Gothic art, and a clearer perception of the fitness of things, we may hope that our new bells, when Church Bells. 23 they bear anything beyond the name of the founder, will have inscriptions befitting their position and their use. There are comparatively few ancient bells now left in our church towers. Many reasons have been assigned for their disappearance ; such as ordinary wear and tear, accidents to the fabric of the church entailing injury to the bells, the remodelling of rings of bells to adapt them for change- ringing, the spoliation of churches at the period of the Reformation, and the poverty or parsimony of churchmen in after times. There are now in existence, unfortunately, only, so far as yet discovered, inventories of church goods for two of the Hundreds in Leicestershire taken in the reign of Edward VI. So far as can be learned from them the parish churches of Leicestershire, in common as it seems to me, with the parish churches throughout the country generally, suffered little from the hands of the spoiler in the sixteenth century. Indeed, I incline to think, the bells were too popular with the people to allow of their being seized with impunity. Neither were church towers falling with sufficient frequency to make an appreciable inroad upon our Pre-Reformation bells. Undoubtedly in the two hundred years succeeding the Reformation — and more especially in the eighteenth century — as churches fell into decay, in rural districts, a very common way of raising money to pay for the repairs, was to petition the Bishop to grant a faculty empowering the parishioners to sell some of the bells which they repre- sented as being unnecessary, or as cracked, and so unfit for use. Happily it does not appear that the church bells of 24 Church Bells. Leicestershire have suffered in this way. It is therefore to ordinary and (in some cases, not all,) unavoidable wear and tear, and to the introduction of change ringing that we must look as the causes of the loss of a great number of our ancient bells. As to wear and tear: — when we remember the nature of the metal of which bells are made — how easily it may be cracked, and how reckless and ignorant, as a body, have been the ringers, into whose charge the bells have frequently been entirely left, we can well believe that many of our ancient bells have from time to time succumbed to their almost inevitable fate. They were cracked, and so obliged to be recast, to fit them again for their work. In this way, undoubtedly, many of them disappeared, to be replaced by more modern ones. The introduction, however, of change ringing in the seventeenth century produced more havoc among our ancient church bells than any of the causes already men- tioned. Early in that century ringing increased in popularity. The churchwardens of Loughborough, Leicestershire, charge in 1616 : — " It. spent in giveing entertainment to the gentlemen strangers when they came to ringe ... ... xjs." Fabian Stedman, a printer, resident in Cambridge, is said to have reduced change ringing to an art.* He published his " Tintinnalogia'' in 1668. Previously to the seventeenth century the ringing in use, where anything of the kind was attempted, was "rounds" or — as a slight advance upon * Church Bells of Cambridgeshire, p. 37. Church Bells. 25 that — at most "call changes," that is, the bells were rung " in one particular position for a great many pulls consecu- tively, and changed at some accustomed signal to a variation called by a fugleman or chalked on the belfry wall."* These must, in most cases, have been sorry performances, the bells not being " tunable " and so unfit for the purpose. " With change ringing proper the case" — to quote Mr. EUacombe — " is very different : here a change is made at each stroke ; the bells being never sounded twice in the same order ; and this is continued till the end of the peal, when the bells are brought ' home ' to their regular places. This end is only to be attained by each bell being made to follow a certain course, and to change places with the other bells by the evolution of certain rules or ' methods.^ To manage his bell properly in this respect, and guide it up and down the maze, making it strike now before, and now after, this or that other bell, not only requires much practice and study, but a cool head and close attention ; and this necessity justifies the remark that ringing requires a mental as well as a bodily effort."t To meet this new art of ringing, important changes in the bells were necessitated. The old rings consisted, usually, of few bells and heavy ones. To ring the changes, intro- duced by Stedman and his disciples, a larger number of bells was required. This want could be met in two ways, either by adding new trebles to the existing heavy rings, which was the best, but the most expensive way, or by re- * Bells of the Church, p. 32. f Bells 0/ the Church, p. 33. E 26 Church Bells. casting say four heavy ancient bells into six or eight light ones, and so increasing the number without buying more metal. This was the least expensive, and, therefore the most popular plan, and was the course pursued in many of our churches in Leicestershire. By this means a great number of our ancient bells disappeared from our larger town churches. It ceases, therefore to be a matter of surprise that it is chiefly in small rural churches, with few bells, where the temptation to change ringing could not exist, that we chiefly expect, and usually find, ancient bells. Not understanding the art of change ringing, my readers will not expect or desire me to attempt to explain its subtleties. I, with pleasure, turn to the genial pages of Mr. Gatty and say: — "When we regard the discovery of this gentleman (Fabian Stedman) ' great ' may all say with Dr. Southey * are the mysteries of bell ringing ! ' The very terms of the art are enough to frighten an amateur from any attempt at explanation — Hunting, dodging, snapping, and place-making: plain bobs, bobs-triples, bob-majors, bob-majors reversed, double bob-majors, and even up to grand-sire-bob- cators. Heigho ! who can hope to translate all this gibberish to the uninitiated ? " "Nothing, therefore, is to be done, but to convey the reader up the dark, narrow, winding and worn stairs of the church-tower, into the bell-chamber itself, where eight stout young men, stripped of coats and waistcoats, are standing in a circle, rope in hand, ready for a merry peal.- What a neat and nervous effort is that, by which each straight stripling in his place handles his rope, like a well-accustomed Church Bells. , 27 plaything, and shows by a stroke or two that he is master of his bell ! The ropes hang through holes in the bell-chamber ceiling ; and when touched by the ringer's practised hand, the brazen monsters groan in their airy loft above, as they begin to swing on their gudgeons. It is like the first growl of the lion, when the keeper stirs him in his den — but there is no use in their resisting. One moment more, and the ringer has dropped his bell one-half full, and set her the next — all eight are now fairly raised — hand, ear, eye, and heart of every ringer are intensely strained, and engaged in the work : yet, cool withal, no flurry or disorder appearing — and through the whole tower there begins to ring a glorious din, which, with the creaking of the wooden bell-frames, and the shaking of the very building itself, much reminds one of the noise and recoil of a battle-ship, when she opens her broadside fire." " Now is the moment for the spectator to hurry up the broad ladder into the belfry, to watch the wild summersets, performed at intervals, by every bell in the peal. For a moment the bell rests against the slur-bar, turned com- pletely upwards ; and the next it swings down, and is immediately turned up again on the other side, — the clapper striking as it ascends. Poor fellows ! see how they whirl upon their axles. The gazer almost sickens as he watches their extraordinary revolutions and tossings : but the ringer's heart is merciless — and when you look at the wretched bell, as at ' a thing of life,' and almost expect it to drop motion- less and dead on the stocks, a ' cannon ' is suddenly struck on all eight at once, as if to rouse them afresh for the course 28 Church Bells. of seemingly interminable changes which immediately follow. Henceforth the bells appear to roll about in frantic disorder ; and, stunned by the noise, chilled by the draughts of cold wind, and shaken in nerve by the reverberation, the spec- tator descends with careful steps from his tyro-visit to the belfry." " Eight bells, which form the octave, or diatonic scale, make the most perfect peal. Ten and twelve bells are very often hung, and of course increase to an almost incalculable extent the variety of changes. This term is used because every time the peal is rung round a change can be made in the stroke of some one bell, thereby causing a change in the succession of notes. The following numbers are placed to show how three bells can ring six changes : — 123 1 3 2 2 13 2 3 I ' 3 I 2 3 2 I " Four bells can in the same manner be shown to ring four times as many changes as three, viz., 24. Five bells five times as many as four, viz., 120. Six bells six times as many as five, viz., 720, and so on. And in this way it has been* calculated that it would take 91 years to ring the changes upon twelve bells, at the rate of two strokes to a second ; and the full changes upon 24 bells would occupy more than 117,000 billions of years."* * The Bell, p. 59—62. Church Bells. 29 The English have been for many generations enthusiastic admirers of the melody produced by a ring of bells. Whilst other nations — the Russians and Chinese for example — possess far heavier bells, and make much more noise by a rude irregular clanging, we have long been accomplished ringers, and our joyous peals — our "rounds" and number- less "changes" have in no slight degree added to the cheerful temperament of " merrie England." Indeed so popular did the art of ringing become after the invention of " changes " that England became known as the " ringing Island." This love of the English for bell-ringing is amusingly referred to by P. S. in 'M Theory of Compensation'" : — "And even to this day next to the Mother Tongue, the one mostly used (in Britain) is in a Mouth of Mettal and withal so loosely hung that it must needs wag at all Times and on all Topicks. For your English man is a mighty Ringer, and besides furnishing Bells to a Belfry doth hang them at the Head of the Horse, and at the Neck of his Sheep — on the Cap of his Fool, and on the Heels of his Hawk : And truly, I have known more than one of my Country men who would undertake more Travel and Cost besides, to hear a Peal of Grandsires than they would bestow upon a Generation of Grand children."* Leicestershire was not behind in this national taste. The rings of bells in many of our churches were soon increased in number. S. Martin's, Leicester, has been gradually * See Hood's Poems of Wit and Humour, p. 42. 30 Church Bells. raised from five to ten, and S. Margaret's from six to ten. Hugh Watts, as a first rate founder and an enthusiast in his art, no doubt did much to encourage the growing taste. The married men, and the bachelors of Wigston Magna, emulated each other in buying new bells in 1682. The youths of Aylestone, wishing to increase their ring of bells, went to the ruined church of Knaptoft to fetch its single bell, but, unfortunately, for their scheme, they stopped at Shearsby on their way home with their booty to drink : the inhabitants of that place supplied them with beer, but claimed the bell, and added it to their own ring. When Dr. Ford added two new bells to the ring at Melton he no doubt expressed the sentiments of his parishioners as well as his own by placing upon one of them : " Eight Bells we hear in the sacred Tower sound soft and loud. O joyful joyful ! " Mr. Wm. Fortrey, of King's Norton, in this county, was an enthusiastic admirer of church bells, and did much towards encouraging improvements in the rings in different parishes in Leicestershire. He rebuilt the church at Galby, and placed in it in the year 1741, a ring of six bells. He did the same at King's Norton hanging a ring of ten bells — preserving one of the old ones — since reduced to eight to lessen the weight and consequent strain upon the steeple. He gave two new bells to S. Margaret's Leicester in 1738, a treble to Houghton on the Hill in 1771, and his name is mentioned in connection with other bells in the county. His memory is still cherished by the old change ringers of Church Bells. 31 Leicester who speak of him as " Squire Fortrey." Nichols says : " William Fortrey Esq. of Norton by Galby made it his business all his life to enquire into these matters {}.e. Bells and ringing). He is possessed of all the anecdotes that remain relating to the founder of the old bells in that steeple (S. Margaret's Leicester) Hugh Watts, once Mayor of Leicester, and was himself the patron and director of Thomas Eayre, late of Kettering."* Leicestershire men not only supplied themselves with bells, but knew how to ring them, as is testified by many a "peal board" nailed up in the ringing chambers of our churches. Nichols, describing Sileby, says : — the bells " are allowed by judges to be an excellent ring, and are rung by the inhabitants to astonishment." That might be said with equal truth of many other places in the county. The ringers were formerly frequently the young gentlemen, and the farmers' sons, of the parish. That was the case at Wymond- ham, and decency and order were kept by the enforcing of a set of rules — usually written in verse — placed upon the walls of the belfry. A specimen copy of these rules will be found under the description of Bowden Magna bells. This love of bells is still so universal in this country that if after admiring a church tower of goodly proportions, fair design, and which carries its glorious spire tapering heaven- wards, we are told it contains no bells, a feeling of dis- appointment is mixed with our admiration, and we are tempted to exclaim, "how sad that a case so magnificent f Nichols Leics., Gartrec Hundred, under King's Norton. 32 Church Bells. is without its music ! — that a structure so pleasing to the eye, is without the usual means of proclaiming the passing events of human life by means of its iron-tongued melody !" We need not be surprised at this affection for bells and their music, for not only do they summon all — as well the denizens of the crowded city, as the scattered inhabitants of the rural hamlet — to the House of Prayer; not only are they heralds of the Festivals of the church's year with their joyous and heart stirring music, but they are also connected with every marked epoch of human life ; the birth in some instances, the marriage in more, the death in almost all, are marked by the joyous peal or the solemn toll of our church bells. So again not only has the fancy of the poet revelled in the sweet sounds of the church bells, but the hearts of the stern and the impassable have been touched by their familiar tones. When William the Conqueror was dying, a prayer was called from his lips, by the sound of the early morning bell of the Cathedral of Rouen ;* and when Napoleon, riding over a battle-field, and gazing, stern and unmoved on the dying and the dead, heard a ring of bells suddenly burst into a merry peal, he was softened, and dismounting from his horse, burst into tears. f * Ordericus Vitalis, Bohn's Ed., vol. ii. pp. 417 — 18. f Bells of the Church, p. 230. CHURCH BELLS OF LEICESTERSHIRE. THERE are in Leicestershire ggS Church Bells. Of these only 147 can be said, with any certainty, to have been cast before the year 1600. Exclusive of churches with only one bell, Caldwell (3 bells), Sproxton (3 bells), Wanlip (3 bells), Brentingby (2 bells), Cranoe (2 bells), Walton Isley (2 bells), and Wyfordby (2 bells) , are the only places in the county where complete rings of ancient bells still exist. The Dedications and Legends of these 146 ancient bells may be thus summarised : — Two are dedicated to the Ever Blessed Trinity (Cottes- bach 2nd and Long Clawson 4th). One bears simply the Holy Name + jMMMyrM (wistow 3rd). Ten have "the superscription of His accusation:" — 34 Church Bells of Leicestershire. in various forms (Ashby-de-la-Zouch 6th ; Birstall 3rd ; Caldwell ist ; Kegworth 3rd and 4th ; the single bell at Newton Harcourt ; Ratby 4th ; Sproxton 2nd ; Thorpe Arnold 2nd ; and Witherley 5th) . Six carry the short invocation or prayer : — (Church Langton 6th ; Croxton Kerrial 2nd ; Knipton ist ; Stoke Golding 3rd ; Swinford ist ; and (slightly altered) Thurcaston 3rd). Thirty-two are dedicated to, or bear inscriptions relating to, the B. V. Mary in these forms : — I. + X^Elaria. I. y< 'M.' ^* X^aria. 1. + ^eata X^Elaria. 2. ^ancta X^aria. I. ^bjbs ^anct£ ^Elaria. 6. + MJiz X^aria. 3. + ^^ht X3Elaria gratia plena. II. + J^^t X^^aria gratia pltita ^omimts izvam. 3- + 3En Ijonort ^talt X^arit. I- + ^ttUa X^^ana X^^laris j^uttirre ^iissima ^obis. I. ^Itmtns ,^tqut ^ia X^istris ^iitturre. I- + ^wm ^asa ;]g>ulsata X^wnbi X^Elaria "^otata. One bell is dedicated to the Archangel Gabriel, and three to the Archangel Michael ; three are dedicated to S. Anne, the mother of the B. V. Mary ; one to S. Botolph ; four to S. Catherine ; one to S. Cornelius (Pope a.d. 252 — a rare dedication) ; one to S. Cuthbert ; one to S. Helen ; one to S. James ; two to S. John ; one to S. John Baptist ; one to Church Bells of Leicestershire. 35 S. Lawrence ; two to S. Leonard ; one to S. Mark ; two to S. Mary Magdalene ; one to S. Nicolas ; one to S. Paul ; eight to S. Peter ; one to S. Richard (Bishop of Chichester A.D. 1253, an unusual dedication) ; one to S. Stephen the Proto-martyr ; and one to All Saints. There are two bells from the same foundry (Cossington 3rd and Welham 2nd) inscribed : — ^elorum *-Ie pla«at libi ^e? sonus hit. One bell (Little Peatling ist) bears a series of crosses ; and two (East Norton 3rd and Cossington ist) the letter S repeated. Ten have a number, more or less, of the letters of the alphabet (Bruntingthorpe ist ; Edmonthorpe ist ; Hoby ist ; lUston 2nd ; Peatling Magna 4th ; Shearsby 2nd ; Shepey 3rd ; Swinford 4th ; Thurlaston 3rd ; and the single bell at Welby). Four are inscribed : — "^ojf . bui . ilju . *-pi . box . £5cultatronis. Eleven have imperfect or unintelligible inscriptions, viz. : Barkeston 2nd ; Beeby ist ; Croft 3rd ; Houghton 2nd ; Hungarton 3rd ; Kegworth 2nd ; Leicester, All Saints, 2nd ; Long Whatton ist; Narborough 4th; Newtown Linford 4th ; Queniborough ist. Eighteen are dated ; and the remainder of the 147 ancient bells are, Aylestone 2nd ; Catthorpe ist ; Hoby 3rd ; lUston 3rd ; Pickwell 2nd ; Scraptoft ist ; Sproxton ist ; Stoughton ist ; Thorpe Langton ist, and Wanlip 3rd. 36 Church Bells of Leicestershire. The earliest dated bell in Leicestershire is the 3rd of Old Dalby ring, dated 1584. On the 3rd bell at Thurcaston are figures of the Virgin and Child (fig. 73) ; upon the 2nd at Welham appears the patron saint of the church, S. Andrew, (fig. 75), and upon the 2nd bell at Wanlip is the figure of an angel (fig. 80) on either side of the initial cross. THE LEICESTER BELLFOUNDERS. JOHANNES DE STAFFORD. There are good reasons for believing that a Bell-foundry was established in Leicester at least as early as the middle of the fourteenth century. The tenor bell of the ring at All Saints, Leicester, is inscribed : — ibt That John of Stafford was the founder, and not the donor, of the bell is shown by there being a similar inscrip- tion in the same form of letter, &c., on the 3rd bell of S. Hibbald, Scawby, near Brigg, Lincolnshire : — I. H. C. Ihohannes de Stafforde fecit me.* Maria. * For a copy of this I am indebted to the Rev. J. T. Fowler, F.S.A. 38 The Leicester Bellfounders. We learn from the Fabric Roll of York Minster,* that a founder of this name was living in a.d. 1371 : under that date occurs the following entry, amongst many relating to the cost of the bells : — " Et in una Magna Campana, per Johannem de Stafford ex convencione operanda £6 13 4." The initial cross and stop upon the Leicester bell are here given (fig. 45 and 48). Bells with the same cross and stop, and with in- scriptions in letters of the same form, are found in this county at Ayleston (ist), Beeby (3rd), Dalby Parva (3rd), Glen Magna (5th), Loddington (ist), Ratby (4th), Shenton (2nd), and Thrus- sington (ist) ; showing by their number that in all probability they were the work of a local founder. At the first of these places — Aylestone — the name of the donor is given on the bell ; he lived, as will be shown when the Aylestone bells are described, early in the fifteenth century, at a time when John of Stafford, or his immediate successor, would be carrying on his business. From these facts we may safely infer that John of Stafford was a bellfounder, that he lived in the middle, or later half, of the fourteenth century, and that from the * Surtee's Society xxxv. (1858) quoted in Bells of the Church, p. 244. The Leicester Bellfoiinders. 39 number of his bells still found in Leicestershire, his foundry was in Leicester. This last inference is strengthened, if it cannot be accepted as a fact, by finding from the ancient Rolls of the Mayors of Leicester, still extant, that "John of Stafford " was mayor of Leicester in 1366, and again 1370. He, and the founder of the same name then actively employed in the art of Bellfounding, were, it is thought, identical. If so, John of Stafford is the first Bellfounder, having his foundry in Leicester, — and so not merely an itinerant, — whose narne we have to place on record. Figs. 84 and 85 here given show the form and size of the 84 85 letters used by John de Stafford in the inscriptions upon his bells in Leicestershire. In all these inscriptions the letter S is reversed. William Millers. The next Leicester Bellfounder to be noticed is William Millers. He was admitted a member of the Merchants' Guild, Leicester, " in tempore Will. Wygston Junior quinto decimo Henry VII. ;"* that is, * Hall' Book 1477 — 1553 p. 67. 40 The Leicester Bellfounders. during the mayoralty of Wm. Wigston the younger, 1499 — 1500. He is described as " Bell Heytau."* He died soon afterwards (in 1506), for his will, dated the 29th of Nov. 1506, was proved on the 12th of the following January. The following is a translated copy : — In the name of God, Amen. The 2gth day of the month of November in the year of our Lord 1506, I, WiUiam Millers, of the parish of All Saints' of Leicester bell founder, of sound mind and of good memory, make my will in this manner. First, I bequeath my soul to Almighty God, to the Blessed Mary and to all the saints, and my body to be buried in the church of All Saints aforesaid. Also I bequeath for my principal my best garment.f (Itin lego p meo principali metim optimum indumentu' ) . Also I bequeath one trentalj to be celebrated on the day of my death. Also I bequeath to the high altar of the church aforesaid 3s. ^d. Also I bequeath for the repair of the church aforesaid 20s. Also I bequeath to William my son ^10. Also I bequeath to John my son ;^io. Also I bequeath to Agnes my daughter ;^io. Also I bequeath to the Cathedral church of Lincoln 8d. Also I will that Margery my wife shall have my house in which I dwell with all its appurten- ances for the term of her life, and after the decease of the said Margery I will that William my son shall have the said house with all its appurtenances to him his heirs and assigns for ever. And if it shall happen that the said William die before his mother, then I will that John my son shall have the said house with all its appurtenances to him his heirs and assigns. And if it shall happen that the said John die before Margery his mother, then I will that Agnes my daughter shall have the house aforesaid with all its * "Heytaur" or Yeytaur, that is Bellyetter, Bellzetter, or Bell-founder. f Thisby way of mortuary ; see the will J Trental [unum trigentale) an office for of Thomas Newcombe to be presently the dead that continued thirty days, or quoted. consisted of thirty masses. Tlie Leicester Bellfounders. 4i. appurtenances for ever. And if it shall happen that the said Agnes die before Margery her mother, then I will that the aforesaid house be sold and [the money] be distributed to the priests, the poor, and the repairs of the ways, for the safety of our souls and of all those faithful deceased. But the residue of all my goods not bequeathed I give and bequeath to Margery my wife whom I ordain make and appoint my true and lawful executrix so that she may dispose for the safety of my soul and of all those faithful deceased as she shall think best. These being witnesses Roger Agard, Notary public, William Browne, William Burgeas with many others.* It will be seen that William Millers left by his wife Margery three children, William, John, and Agnes : none of whom, however, appear to have been associated with their mother in carrying on the business. Margery Millers, the widow, married for her second husband Thomas Newcombe who describes himself in his will as of Leicester '■'■ fusor campanariusy He carried on the business of the Leicester foundry until his death, which took place in the year 1520. He was buried in All Saints' Church, Leicester, where his tombstone, was, it is said, to be seen a few years ago, stript of its brasses and of the emblems (three bells) of his calling. Little is known of him beyond what he himself tells in his will, which is dated the 20th of March, and which was proved on the 25th of August 1520. It is (translated) as follows : — * Proved at Lambeth 12 Jany. 1506. scribed as " Rico Mellour de Notyngham Regr. Adeanc fo. 17. Richard Mellour or Belyetter" {Reliquary xiii. p. 81). Possibly Mellor was a Bellfounder at Nottingham the above William Millers may have been in the fifteenth century. He was a party one of the same family. to a Deed dated 14S8 in which he is de- G 42 The Leicester Bellfoimders. In the name of God Amen the 20th day of March in the year of the incarnation of our Lord 1520 I Thomas Newcome of Leicester bellfounder of right mind and sound memory do make my testament or last will after this manner and form. First I give and bequeath my soul to Almighty God the Blessed Mary and all Saints and my body to be buried in the church of All Saints of Leicester aforesaid. Item I bequeath my best cloak (as the custom is) in the name of my mortuary. Item I bequeath to the cathedral church of Lincoln xiji. Item I bequeath to the high altar in the said church of All Saints iiJ5. 'n\]d. Item to the reparation of the said church iiJ5. iiiji. Item I give and bequeath to every one of the places of friars in the said [town of] Leicester iiJ5. iiiji. Item I give and bequeath to the reparation of the parish church of Podington iijs. iiiji. Item to the reparation of the parish church of Bosworth xxi. Item I give and bequeath to the use or towards the hiring of one chaplain for a part of his stipend or salary for one year xxvjs. and two torches* to the use of the church of All Saints aforesaid. Item I give and bequeath to Robert Newcome my son vj". Item to Edward my son vj''. Item to Joan my daughter vj". Item to Agnes my daughter vj"- Item I give and bequeath to Margaret my daughter vj". and if it fortune that any one of my before named sons or daughters die before their years of marriage then I will that his or their portion or portions do remain to the survivor or survivors and if it chance that all my aforesaid children depart this life before their years of marriage then I will that Margery my wife may ordain and dispose of their portions for the salvation of our souls. Item I give and bequeath to William Mellers my stepson vJ5. viiji. Item to John Mellers brother of the same vJ5. viijrf. Item I give and bequeath to Robert Newcome my brother and servant xls. and my best jerkin which I was wont to use in riding and my violet gown trimmed with black lambskin, a little coat of frieze with sleeves [niancis) of fustian a night shirt a pair of hose and my hanger. * That is, two large altar tapers or candles. Tlie Leicester Bcllfoundevs. 43 Item I give and bequeath to Katherine my sister vjs, viij^. and to her husband iiJ5. \\\]d. Item I give and bequeath to Petronilla my sister vJ5. viiji. Item I give and bequeath to John Ba3dy my servant my old violet Jerkin, Item I give and bequeath to John Dickson vJ5. viiji. Item to John Tady iiJ5. iiiji. Item I will that a trental be celebrated in the said church of All Saints on the day of my obit. Item I will that on the same day there be distributed to the poor thirty shillings worth of bread. Item I will that nine masses be celebrated for the salvation of my soul and those of my relatives and benefactors at the altar which is called scala cell within the [monastery] of Augustine F'riars in Leicester aforesaid. Item I give and bequeath to the three children of William Ireland of Bosworth vjs. viiji. conjointly. Item I give and bequeath to the vicar of the parish church of All Saints in Leicester aforesaid iiJ5. iiij^. Item I give and bequeath to John Hardy chaplain vJ5. viiji. and my camlet doublet {deploidem). Item I give and bequeath to Edward Alsopp vjs. viiji. my camlet jerkin and my bay coloured horse whom, that is to say, John and Edward I ordain and appoint supervisors of this my present last will. But the residue of my goods moveable and immoveable not bequeathed I give and bequeath to Margery my wife whom I ordain and con- stitute my sole executrix that she may dispose of and ordain the same for the salvation of my soul as shall seem to her best. Dated at Leicester on the said day and year these being witnesses Thomas Walshe Vicar of All Saints in Leicester aforesaid William Burges Thomas Hewit Jr. Thomas Wymod Thomas Braseld and many others.* Thomas Newcombe left by his wife, Margery the widow of Wm. Millers, two sons and three daughters, namely Robert, Edward, Joan, Agnes, and Margaret. His widow (now * Proved at Lambeth 25 August 1520. For this transcript I am indebted to John L'Estrange Esq. 44 r/z^ Leicester Bellfounders. twice a widow) having succeeded, apparently, to the bulk of her second deceased husband's property, and to the foundry, married a third husband, viz, : Thomas Bett. He was Mayor of Leicester in 1529, and is styled in a Roll of the Mayors of Leicester " Bell- founder of All Saints" and "ancestor of the Newcombs," a descriptive expression which will be referred to presently. There is little to relate of him. The Town Records pre- serve a curious incident which occurred in the spring of the year during which he filled the chair as Mayor : — " Mem : the 27th day of March there was brought to Thomas Bett then Mayor of Leicester hawthorn bud'ytt furth, beane flowres, and a cullumbell flour."* Although not mentioned by name, Thomas Bett is clearly the bellfounder referred to in the following entries in the accounts of the wardens of the Parish Church of Peter- borough (S. John the Baptist) for the year 1537-8. xxviij Hen. viij s. d. Itm Gyven to the Founder of Lester in ernest for mendyng of the grett bell vij. ij. Itm Payd to the Workemen for mendyng of the grett bell xxj. Itm To Thomas Pyx for his labor going to Leyster to bydd the bellfounder he should not come ij.t Thomas Bett outlived Margery and afterwards married Anne .... for whom (judging from the wording of his last will) he had no great affection. This will was dated * Nichols' Leics. vol. i. p. 391. f Kindly extracted for me by James about this bell under Leicester Abbey Cattel Esq. of Peterborough. See more further on. The Leicester Bellfoiinders. 45 19th December 1538, and was proved on the 6th of February following. A copy is here given : — In the name of God Amen the xix"" day of Decembre in the yeare of Our Lord God thousand fyve hundreth xxxviij I Thomas Bett of Leicestre Belfounder being of good and parfyte mynde and remembraunce thanked be God by deliberacion and advisement make my last wille and testament concernyng the disposicion of my londes and goodes in maner and fourme folowyng First and princi- pally I geve and bequeth my soule to the Holy Trinitie humbly besechinge hnii that I may be parte taker of the possession of Jhu Crist and one of the number of theym that shalbe saved besechyng our Lady Saint Mary mother of mercy and all the holy company of hevyn to pray for me. Secundary my bodie to be buried within the parishe churche of All Saintes in Leicestre. Also I bequeath to the reparacions of the same church vjs. viiji. Item to the high awter within the same churche ijs. Item I bequeth to our mother church of Lincoln xij^. Also my will is that Anne my wife shall have all such goodes as she brought with hir to Leycestre when I maryed her and over this I will that she shall have in recompense for weryng of the same goodes tenne poundes sterling. And also I give and bequeth unto the same Anne my wife other tenne poundes sterling willmg that she shall not medle no further with any parte or parcell of my landes goodes or testament. And yf she do make clayme further then my will is that the premisses be voide and in noon effect which I willed and bequethed to her. Item I geve and bequeth to Robert Newcome my sonne in lawe and to Kateryn his wife my doughter all my landes and tenementes with the appur- tenances in Leicestre in the Countie of Leicestre and in every other place and to the heires of their bodyes lawfully begotten for ever. And if the said Robert Newcome and Kateryn departe without yssue of their bodyes lawfully begotten then I will that the howse wherin I now dwell remayne to Joan Gaddesby and to the heires of hir body lawfully begotten for ever. And if the said Joane departe 46 The Leicester Bellfoiindevs. without yssue of her body lawfully begotten then I will that the said howse be solde and the money thereof distribute amonge poure people for my soule health and for the soules of William Mellers and Margery late my wife. Item I bequeth to my sister Alice Langham xxs. and she to have it paid to hir by myn executours as she therunto shall have nede. Item I bequeth to Anne Newcome my doughter childe fyvetene powndes sterling and her father to have the keping therof till she be at full age. Item I will that Robert Newcome my sonne in law have my leasse or indenture of the tenement in Warwickshire with all my goodes and catall there so that the tenauntes there have it in maner as I have promysed them . towardes theyr lyvinges. Item I will that myn executour shall distribute in almes to poure people for the soules of William Mellers and Margery late my wife xb. sterlyng. The residue of all my goodes not bequethed my dettes being fully paid and my bequestes truely perfourmed and also my body brought home I geve and bequeth to Robert Newcome my sonne in lawe and to Kateryn his wyfe whom I make my faithfull and lawfull executours. And also I make supervisours of this my last will and testament Maister John Burton of Leicestre Adam Eyre and John Burton of Newton in the countie of Darby desiring them and everie of them to see this my last wille and testament trulie perfourmed as my trust is in theym. And I will that everie of theym shall have for there labours xx5. These witnesse Sir Thomas Walshe Vicar of Alhalowes of Leicestre John Norres Richard Baker John Pare Thomas Bradfelde Richard Darker with other moo.* It will be seen that "Thomas Bett left nearly the whole of his property to Robert Newcombe, who had married his daughter Katherine : he by this means enriched his son-in- law, who also succeeded to the foundry, and so in this way * Proved at London 6 Feb. 1538-9 Regr. Dingley 25. Tlie Leicester Bellfounders. 47 Thomas Bett became, in a sense, according to the Mayor's Roll "ancestor of the Newcombs." Robert Newcombe thus became a prosperous man. In the year 1540 a messuage in All Saints' parish was con- veyed to him by George Belgrave, Esq. ; the consideration money of which was ^18. It was described as being situate between Robert Newcombe's tenement on the south, and Thomas Bridge's on the north, and as abutting on the east part upon the church of All Saints, and on Clement's Lane on the west part.* The residence of the Newcombes, and the site of their foundry are thus shown. He purchased the great bell of Leicester Abbey (and so most probably the other bells also) at the Dissolution, and exchanged it, in the year 1542-3, with the churchwardens of Peterborough (S. John Baptist) for their cracked bell, receiving the difference of value in money. f In the year 1547 Robert Newcombe purchased from the churchwardens of S. Martin's, Leicester, " iiij hundrith and a qr of bras at xix5. the hundrith,"J being probably, in part, effigies torn from the recumbent grave- stones on the floor of the church. He was elected Mayor in 1550. This Robert Newcombe left four children, Thomas, Edward, Anne, and Robert. The three sons being all associated in the foundry, it may be well to speak of them separately : — I. Thomas Newcombe ''primus filius Robti Newcombe" * Nichols' Leics. vol. i. p. 549. f See a full account of this transaction further on in the description of Bells under Leicester Abbey. \ North's Chron. S. Martin's Ch. Leicester, p. 98. 48 The Leicester Bellfoiinders. was admitted a member of the Merchants' Guild in the mayoralty of William Norris (the loth year of Elizabeth).* In the year 1562 the townsmen of Melton Mowbray employed " Mayster Newkom " of Leicester to recast "o' Ladye bell" there. Some curious entries in the Church and Town wardens' accounts referring to this transaction will be found quoted in the description of the bells of that parish further on in this volume. That bell — the 5th of the present ring — still hangs in the fine tower of Melton Church, and it enables us to shew the founder's mark, bearing his initials, used by this Thomas Newcombe, if not by his pre- decessor of the same name in the craft in Leicester, it is fig. 6 here given. The same shield is found upon bells at Ab-Kettleby (2nd), Cosby (3rd), Croft (3rd), East Norton (3rd), Garthorpe (ist), Gaddesby (2nd), Higham (3rd), Lockington (ist). Nail- stone (2nd), Peatling Parva (ist and 2nd), Saxelby (2nd), Shawell (3rd), Theddingworth (3rd), Thorpe Arnold 6 (3rd), and Wistow (3rd). On the Melton bell this shield is accompanied by figs. 49 and 53, one or other of which are found (in addition to some already mentioned) upon bells at Edmonthorpe (ist), Houghton (2nd), Illston (ist), Kegworth (2nd), Market Bosworth (2nd and 5th), Narborough (4th), Scraptoft (ist), and Whatton (ist). Hall Book. The Leicester Bellfounders. 49 49 53 Thomas Newcombe's shield is frequently associated with the initial cross fig. 3 which is thus shown to have I been used by the Newcombes, and probably by their connections the other I early founders of Leicester. This cross, without the shield, appears upon bells at Aylestone (2nd), Brun- tingthorpe (ist), Edmonthorpe (ist), Illston(ist) r- KirkbyMal- lory (ist), Lutterworth (Sanctus), Market Bosworth (2nd), Sapcote (ist), Scraptoft (ist), Wanlip(3rd) and Welby. This cross is also found in company with fig. 62 upon the 2nd bell at Aylestone and the 1st bell at Edmonthorpe, which figure is also upon bells at 52 Pickwell (2nd), Thurlaston (2nd), and Wanlip (ist). H 50 The Leicester Bellfounders. The cross fig. 71 accompanying fig. 62 upon the 2nd bell at Thurlaston is also found upon Beeby ist bell and upon Queniborough 2nd bell. 71 70 The handsome cross fig. 70 is found upon Kegworth 2nd, Whatton ist, and Peatling Parva ist — at the latter place in union with New- combe's shield, fig. 6. Again, Thomas New- combe's shield is found in com- pany with a most beautiful cross and intervening stop, figs. 42 and 43, upon bells at 42 43 Higham-on-the- Hill (4th), and Theddingworth (3rd). The same cross and The Leicester Bellfounders. 51 stop are used on bells at Ashby-de-la-Zouch (6th), Cranoe (ist and 2nd), Fenny Drayton (ist), and Syston (4th). The cross is upon Lockington ist bell and the stop upon Market Bosworth 5th. The cross fig. 64 is found upon the 3rd bell at Barkby, and upon the 2nd bell at Peatling Parva — at the latter place in company with Newcombe's shield fig. 6 on plate i. All these bells bearing figs. 3, 6, 42, 43» 49, 53, 62, 64, 70, 71, 81, may therefore be ascribed to the early Leicester founders — this Thomas Newcombe and his pre- decessors : among them are in- cluded four bells (Lockington ist. Market Bosworth 2nd and 5th, and Peatling Magna 3rd, all bearing the inscrip- tion " Vox dni ihu xpi wox exultacionis," and having fig. 81 for the initial letter. Thomas Newcombe purchased the ancient bells of S. Peter's Church, Leicester, when that edi- fice was taken down in the year 1563-4. 64 52 The Leicester Bellfounders. In 1570 he bought the brass eagle then belonging to S. Margaret's Church, Leicester, for which he gave ^^5.* He died in 1580, being buried (as we learn from the Register) in All Saints' Church on the 7th of February in that year. His will was proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Leicester in the following year (1581). By it he directs his body to be buried in All Saints, Leicester : gives his goods, &c., to his executors to be sold for the payment of his debts, and directs his real property to be held by his executors for a space of . . . years for the like purpose, with a provision that the surplus of the proceeds shall be divided amongst his children. At the expiration of that term he devised to his eldest son, Robert Newcombe, the reversion of the whole Mansion house and tenement wherein he (the testator) dwelt, -f of the old and new orchards, the dovehouse and close with the house next adjoining, and of a close called Sheppard's close over against " St. Jones" in Leicester. He devised to his middle son, Thomas, the reversion of a house in High Street [now High Cross Street] over against " Allhallowes " . . . . of a tenement in " Senvy Gate" . . . and of a little house in St. Nicholas Parish, with a garden, &c. He devised to his youngest son, Edward, the reversion of a little house in the Abbey Gate . . . and of a close adjoining : Finally he bequeathed to his daughter Anne ;/]'io on her marriage, beyond the ^^30 due to her by the bequest of her uncle Thomas, late of * Nichols vol. i. p. 561. \ This was in " High Street" now High Cross Street. The Leicester Bellfoimders. 53 London Tower, deceased.* None of Thomas Newcombe's sons appear to have been afterwards connected with the foundry. f 2. Robert Newcombe was another son of Robert the son-in-law of Thomas Bett. He was connected with the Leicester foundry, and placed his name upon the 4th bell of All Saints, Leicester, which was cast in 1586. Upon this bell appears the cross fig. 44 which is also found upon bells at Peatling Magna (4th), Skefifing- ton (5th), and Wymondham (3rd), and again in company j with the mark of Watts (to be referred to hereafter) upon bells at Fenny Drayton (2nd), Illston (2nd), and Swinford (ist). All these bells may therefore be assigned to the Newcombes, or to them in union with Francis or Hugh Watts of Leicester, with both of whom, as in the cases of Loughborough and Wymondham bells, we know them to have been occasionally in partnership. This cross is found upon earlier bells in Norfolk and elsewhere bearing the mark of Richard Brasyer of Norwich ;J it may have * This will preserved in the Probate Office of the Archdeaconry of Leicester is in an imperfect state. t In 1582-3 Bartholomew Atton Tann' deceased was admitted to the Merchants' and Bellfounder the apprentice of Thomas Guild, or made free of the town: of him Newcome Tann' and Bellfounder then nothing more is known as a founder. + Church Bells of Norfolk, p. 32. 44 54 The Leicester Bellfoitnders. fallen into the hands of the Leicester founders when the Norwich foundry was closed for a short time after the year 1513, This Robert Newcombe also placed his name upon the 1st bell of Gloucester Cathedral which was cast by the Leicester founders in 1598.* 3. Edward Newcombe was the third son of Robert Newcombe, the son-in-law of Thomas Bett. He married Elizabeth Martin in All Saints' Church on the 12th January 1573. He lived in S. Martin's parish, was one of the " Stewards of the Fairs" in 1574-5, f was " appoynted of the Company of the forty-eight," that is, became a member of the Town Council on the loth May 1577,! and was put in nomination for the Mayoralty in 1598. Apparently wishing to avoid the office he signed a bond either to be mayor the next year, if elected, or to forfeit ^20. § He was elected, and filled the office, thus becoming the fourth Leicester Bellfounder who had been chief magistrate of the Borough. He is, I presume, the " Edward Newcwm " whose name appears on the ist bell at Illston-on-the-Hill, and whose initials are upon the 2nd bell of the same ring, in both cases in union with the shield used as a mark by Francis Watts. Edward Newcombe had a numerous family — five sons and two daughters. Three, at least, of his sons were associated with him in the business of the foundry. Robert Newcombe his eldest son baptized 20 January 1576 was admitted to the Merchants' Guild in 1600 — 1601 * Lukis' Church Bells p. 73. % Hall Book. f Chamberlains' Accounts. § Ibid. The Leicester Bellfoiinders. 55 as appears from the following entry in the ''Hall Book'' of that year : — " Robertt Newcome Bellfounder and Tann' the first son and apprentice of Edwarde Newcome Bellfounder and Tann' made free his fyne a pottell of wyne." Thus Robert is mentioned with his father as casting the 2nd bell of S. Martin's, Leicester, in 1611. Thomas Newcombe, the third son of Edward, placed his name upon the ist bell at Hoby, in 1604, and the 4th bell at Sapcote in 161 1. William Newcombe, the fifth son of Edward, in partner- ship with Henry Oldfield of Nottingham, cast "Great Tom" of Lincoln in the Minster yard in the year 1610.* At the commencement of the seventeenth century the Newcombes appear to have cast aside their old initial crosses and other marks as well as their old sets of letters and forms of inscription. There are one or two examples of a later use of the cross, fig. 44 (on plate ix.), but in 1602, (as at Sharnford) they began to use the form (in plain Roman capitals) which they subsequently as a rule adhered to : — + Be . yt . knowne . to . all . that . doth . me . see . that . Newcombe . of . Leicester . made . mee. with the cross fig. 22 on next page prefixed. * ■' This partnership, which extended to comb living within the diocese: for the this one transaction only, arose from Hold- honour of which it was deemed necessary field being a man of the first eminence in he should have some share in the busi- his profession, and from William New- ness." — History of Lincoln, {i8i6) p. j^. ^6 The Leicester Bellfoimders. Early in this century we find the Newcombes were employed in various parts of the country to cast church bells. At Stowe in Northampton- shire there is one of their bells dated 1607 ; at Elford in Stafi"ordshire one dated 1604, and at 22 Eltisly in Cambridgeshire another dated 1608. But the most noteworthy bell of this date from the Newcombes' foundry is one which is — so far as at present known — quite unique in the form of its inscription. It is the fourth bell at S. Mary's Oxford. Round the crown of the bell is the familiar inscription of the Leicester founders preceded by their initial cross fig. 22 : — + Be . yt . knowne . to . all . that . doth . me . see . that . Newcombe . of . Leicester . made . mee . 1612. The band ornament (fig. 12, plate iii.) used so generally by the Nottingham founders is introduced showing, I think, that Oldfield of Nottingham was in partnership with New- combe in this transaction. Below this are two lines of music, the upper one going all round the bell, and the lower one only part of the way. The music comprises four detached pieces. They are written on the five line staff", in the square or rather lozenge shaped notes usually seen in prick-song of the period. There are no bars except a double one at the end of each strain. Each strain is headed by a distinct cleff" (three parts having the C cleff and the fourth the F) and all the parts have the signature of B flat. Each strain or division is preceded by a roundel containing The Leicester Bellfoimders. 57 a man's profile and bust in relief, in the dress of the period, and encircled by a legend as follows : — 1. + KEEPE . TYME . IN . ANYE . CASE 2. THE . LAST . STRAYNE . WAS . GOOD 3. THEN . LETT . VS . SINGE . IT . AGAINE 4. EXCELLENT . WELL . SONGE . MY . HARTS. The music has been scored by Dr. Rimbault, and is said to be very quaint and beautiful, in the style of the well known Madrigal "In going to my lonesome bed." Nothing what- ever is known as to the origin of the music — which has not been found elsewhere upon any other of Newcombe's numer- ous bells, nor in print or manuscript. The object of placing it here is also a mystery. The parish archives give no information.* About this time (that is in 161 1) when Edward New- combe and his sons recast the second bell at S. Martin's, Leicester, he was styled by the churchwardens there "old Mr. Newcome." Although I find no record of his death in the Registers of All Saints' parish, he probably died soon after this date, after which the foundry appears to have been merged into, or to have been eclipsed by, that of Hugh Watts (the son and successor of his father Francis * The Rev. J. T. Fowler F.S.A. com- score" will be found in the Arch^ologia, municated a full account of this Bell to vol. xlii. pp. 491-493. From this account the Society of Antiquaries in the year 1868. (with Mr. Fowler's permission) and from This account illustrated with a sheet of The Bells of the Church by The Rev. H. T. facsimiles from the bell, a lithograph of Ellacombe F.S.A. who also gives an in- the music in the old notation, and Dr. teresting description I have compiled the Rimbault's version set in modern "short above notes upon this singular bell. 5« The Leicester Bellfoimders. Watts) who about that time began to acquire a great reputation as a Bellfounder. The last dated bells of the Newcombes in Leicestershire are in the year 1612. Before giving a few particulars about the contempo- raneous foundry in Leicester belonging to the family of Watts, extracts from the Registers of All Saints', Leicester, relating to the Newcombes are added, and a rough pedigree appended. These may tend to make the relative positions of the different members of that family to each other, as Bellfounders, rather more clear than hitherto, to those who are wishing to properly assign bells found in other counties, which were cast in the Leicester foundries. Extracts from the Registers of All Saints' Church Leicester.* Baptisms 1576. 1578. 1580. 1584. Nucom. 1585- 1587. Nucom. 1590. Nucom. 1600. Robert Nucom son of Edward Nucom J any. 20. July 5. Katherin Nucom filia Edward Nucom. Sep. 3. Edward Nucom son of Edward Nucom. March 26. Thomas Nucom son of Edward Oct. 2. Edward Nucom son of Edward Nucom. Sep. 29. Anna Nucom daughter of Edward Jany. 24. William Nucom son of Edward Oct. 5. Elizabeth Nucom filia Robert Nucom. * Very kindly made for me, with the permission of the Vicar, by Mr. S. Bull. NEWCOMBE PEDIGREE. Thomas Newcombe =p Margery. (Will dated 1520.) * " 2nd husband. (Do) Buried 17 Sep 1576, {M\ Saints' Reg) Thomaa Newcombe = buys S- Peters Bells 1563. Buried 7 Feb, 1580, "Old Mr. Newcome' T= Elizl'. Mania (All Saints' Reg.) 12 Jan, 1573. BurieJg July, i6ti (All Saints- Reg ) .11 Saints 1586. r Cathedral 1598 Robert Newcombe, asts znd bell at Martins with bis father 1611. d. of .... 13 July, 1666. Bap. 29 Sep. 1587 (All Saints' Reg.) "Great Tom " of I Thomas Newcombe, Bap, 20 Dec. r6io, (All Saints' R^.) (All Saints* Reg ) ^ r The Leicester Bellfoitnders. 59 1604. June 24. Elizabeth Newkom daughter of Thomas Newkom. i6og. June 12. Robert Newkom son of Robert New- kom. 16 10. Dec. 20. Thomas Newkom son of Thomas. Marriages : 1573. Jany. 12. Edward Nucom and Elizabeth Martin. 1605. Jany. 21. James Fewkes to Elizabeth Newkom. Margaret Nucom. Thomas Nucom. Edward Nucom son of Edward Nucom. Elizabeth Nucom. Ellen Newcom wife of Robert Newcom. Elizabeth Newcome wife of Edward Newcome. 1616. July 13. 1645. Jany. 12. Francis Watts. The first member of the family of Watts, Bellfounders of Leicester, I find mentioned, is Francis Watts, who, in the year 1564-5 bought the bell- wheels belonging to S. Peter's Church, Leicester, then being taken down.* Burials : 1576. Sep. 17^^ 1579- Feb. 7. 1582. Feb. 16. 1590. Sep. I. 1606. May 22. 1611. July 9. Alice wife of Edward Newcombe. Mary the wife of Edward Newcome. . * Since writing the above I have ob- HEW WAT MADE ME 1563. If so tained a rubbing of an inscription on a the founder is probably an earlier member bell at South Luffenham, Rutland. It is of this family. This may be verified here- very roughly put together, half the letters after. being upside down. I believe it reads 6o The Leicester Bellfounders. He resided, and probably had his foundry, in the Gallow- tree Gate, In 1585 he, in partnership with the Newcombes, cast the tenor bell at Loughborough. In 1596-7 his existence is pointed out in the Accounts of the Chamberlains of the Borough of Leicester : " It. p"* for the carryinge of a greate pott from the Towne- Hall to Mr. Watts the Bellfownder to be wayed ... iiijrf." Francis Watts died in the year 1600 ; his Will which is dated on the 8th of February 1599-1600, was proved on the 2nd of September in that year. From it we learn some particulars respecting his family : " In the name of God Amen the eight daye of Februarye in the yeare of oure Lord God one thousand five hundred nyentye and nyene and in the twoe and fortithe yeare of the raigne of oure Soveraigne Ladye EHzabeth &c. I Frauncis Watts of Galtrye gate of the burroughe of Leicester in the Countye of Leicester Bell fownder being sick in bodie but of good and perfect memorye I praise God therefore doe ordeyne and make this my last Will and Testament in manner and forme following That is to saye First and principallye I give and bequeath my sowle to Allmightie God whoe created me and to Jesus Christ whoe redeemed me trusting by his precious bloudshedding for my synnes and by noe other meanes to be saved, and my bodie to the earth from whence it came to be buryed at the discreet of my executo'. As for the earthlie substance which the Lord hath lent me in this earthlie tabernacle I give and dispose in manner and forme following. First I give and bequeath unto my yongest sonne Jerrome Watts Fortie pounds to be paid to him when he shall accomplishe the age of xxj'' years. Item I give to my daughter Joane tenne shillings. Item I give to my daughter Elizabeth Allsoppe Twentie shillings and to her twoe The Leicester Bellfoiinders. 6i children eyther of them Fortye shilHngs. Item to my Daughter Marye Paer Five pounds. Item to my Daughter Hellen Newcombe three powndes sixe shillings eight pence. All the rest of my goods and chattells whatsoever (my debts payed and funeralls discharged) I give and bequeath unto Marye Watts my wief and Hugh Watts my Sonne whome I make my full executours of this my last Will and Testament. In witnes whereof I have hereunto putt my hand and seale the daye and yeare above written. Witnesses Hughe Hunter and to this Will Henry Benington.* Hugh Watts (who was born, as we gather from his epitaph, about the year 1582) was about eighteen years of age at his father's death. He placed his name, as founder, in the same year, upon a bell at Burrow-on-the-Hill, in this county, since recast : "Hugh W'attes made me 1600," and upon the present second bell at Evington is a similar inscription, dated 1605. These are the only instances that have been found in which he followed the custom so soon prevalent with all founders of putting their names on the bells they cast. Upon this Evington bell is the shield (fig. i) here given. The presence of this shield enables us to assign several older bells, bearing the same mark, to his father, Francis Watts, then lately deceased. * Prerogative Court. Wallopp, folio 56. 62 The Leicester Bellfounders. Francis Watts had an elder son,* not named in his Will, who therefore probably died young, for in 1611-12 when Hugh Watts was admitted into the Chapman's or Merchants' Guild he was described as the second son of his father :t "Hugh Wattes second Sonne of ffrancis Wattes Bell- founder deceased made free his fyne V5." Hugh Watts soon obtained a high reputation as a founder; his bells are still extremely numerous in Leicester- shire — there are nearly two hundred of them — where they are noted for the beauty and fulness of their tone. Several complete rings are to be found ; as at Asfordby, South Croxton, Whitwick, Arnesby and Thorpe Langton. Francis and Hugh Watts appear to have used no other mark (excepting perhaps in one or two uncertain instances as at Houghton-on-the-Hill (2nd) and Narborough (4th) ) in addition to the shield already mentioned (fig. i) unless they were, in special cases, in partnership with their neigh- bours and relations the Newcombes.J It is therefore un- necessary to enumerate in detail their numerous bells still existing in Leicestershire. The presence of this shield upon them, which will always be pointed out in connection with the inscriptions, will sufficiently identify them. It is * Mr. L'Estrange {Church Bells of Nor- I find no trace of him in Leicestershire. folk, p. 74) mentions a William Watts as f Hall Book. casting bells in Bedfordshire and North- + Helen daughter of Fras. Watts (see amptonshire in 1590 and as using the his Will) appears to have married Robert shield found upon the Leicester bells. He Nevvcombe (see Newcombe Pedigree), may have been Francis Watts' eldest son. The Leicester Bellfounders. 63 worthy of note that this mark was used for a short time by the Norwich founder, Richard Brasyer {circa 1450), who, however, afterwards exchanged it for a more heraldic one with an ermine field, in place of the diapered one. At the death of Richard Brasyer, in 15 13, the foundry at Norwich was closed for a short time.* It is not improbable that the father of Francis Watts had been employed there, and leaving at the closing of the foundry, found his way to Leicester, opened a foundry there on his own account, and used as a mark the shield with which he had been familiar at Norwich. For many of their inscrip- tions both Francis and Hugh Watts used handsome Gothic Capitals (see figs. 86 and 87 — the latter from S. Margaret's, Leicester), but Hugh Watts more generally used a rather clumsy Roman capital letter. His favourite inscriptions were "God save the King," of which ^^ there are over twenty examples still existing in Leicestershire ; " Celorum Chrste platiat tibi Rex sonvs iste," (the letter I being always wanting in the second word) of which there are about twenty-five examples ; " Cvm sono si non vis venire, nvnqvam ad preces cvpies ire," of which there are ten examples ; " Cvm Cvm 86 L'Estrange. Chnvch Bells of Norfolk, pp. 28-33 64 The Leicester Bellfounders. 87 and pray" and " Praise the Lord" of each of which there are six or seven examples ; and portions of the alphabet which appear upon many of his bells. His most frequent inscription however was the well known one: — "IH'2: Nazarenvs : rex : Ivdeorvm : Fill : Dei : miserere : mei" (the first S being in all cases reversed) ; of this inscription there are still nearly ninety examples to be found in Leicester- shire ; indeed so frequently did Watts use this form that his bells became known as " Watts' Nazarenes." A pecu- liarity in his Gothic lettered inscriptions may be noted : he possessed no capital letters W and Y (those letters being seldom required in Latin inscriptions) they always appear in small black letters. Hugh Watts' inscriptions are usually carried all round the bell, the space between the words The Leicester Bellfoiinders. 6=; being filled up in the majority of cases with the ornamental band fig. g : — Hugh Watts was elected one of the Chamberlains of the Borough in 1620-1, and in the year 1633-4 he was chosen Mayor. The Chamberlains in their Accounts under that date say : " Mr. Hugh Wattes Maior. " Imprimis payed to Mr. Hugh Wattes Maior for his yearly allowance according to the ancient order ... xiij/?. vjs. viij^."' That he was an enthusiast in his art, and had a son equally ambitious to produce the very best specimens possible of a founder's skill, may be gathered from the following anecdote respecting the casting of the fine tenor of the ring at S. Margaret's Leicester, supplied by the Rev. Philip Hackett to Nichols the historian of Leicestershire : "When the metal and moulds were preparing, and almost finished for casting, the son would have the father go to London to hear the best toned tenor he could, before they put to the final hand. The father went up accordingly. 66 The Leicester Bellfounders. at the son's request ; who set to work without loss of time, immediately after his father's departure. He cast the great bell which did not exactly please him ; he recast it ; and finding it had every qualification he wished for, he wrote to his father in town, to come upon a certain day in the following week; nay, even a certain hour. The father could not make out what his son meant by being so particular ; however, he obeyed him. The son, upon casting a second tenor which so fully answered all his expectations, set to work to hang it : and at the critical minute the father was to approach the town of Leicester on his return, this inimitable great bell was ringing, to the no small joy of the father, who cried also, for he guessed and knew what the younger Watts had been at and contrived, as there could be no such bell in existence at the time he left his foundry.* This son, whose skill was so highly appreciated by his father, was probably Francis Watts, a younger son (for there is no mention of his eldest son, Hugh, in connection with the foundry), who was shortly afterwards admitted to the Chapman's Guild, or made free of the town :— " 1635-6 " ffranc Watts apprentice of Mr. Hugh Watts Bellfounder made free the nth of Maye 1636 his fine X5."t It was during the Mayoralty of Mr. Hugh Watts that Charles the First paid his first visit (as King) to Leicester. On the gth of May 1634 the mayor received from the * Vol. i, part 2, p. 558. f Chamberlains' Accounts. The Leicester Bellfounders. 67 Yeomen Ushers of his Majesty's Chamber the " Gests " of the King's Progress. He, at once, as required, forwarded a certificate to the Lord Chamberlain that the town was " clear and free from all infectious and contagious diseases," Immediate preparations were made to receive Charles and his Queen in a proper and loyal manner. Saturday, the gth of August, being the day fixed for their arrival in Leicester, " it was agreed that all the members of the Corporation, under a penalty of £^ and £10 according to rank, should attend at the Guild Hall, at one o'clock in the afternoon, of the gth of August, to accompany the mayor to such place as should be appointed, to receive their majesties at their coming into Leicester. Such of the ' Four and Twenty ' as had been mayor were required to appear in their scarlet gowns and tippets, and the rest of that body ' with fair decent gowns and suits ' and the * Eight and Forty' in black suits, black gown and ruff bands." The royal visitors entered Leicester by S. Sunday's, or the North, Bridge, and were received by Hugh Watts and his brethren between that bridge and " Frogmore bridge," where the Recorder, Mr. Thomas Chapman, delivered an address. Handsome presents of plate were made to their majesties, and all their servants received their customary fees.* On the following day — Sunday — the King attended Divine Service in S. Martin's Church, where also Hugh * See " Royal Progresses to Leicester," d,n give, under the head of "Extraordinary admirable series of Papers by Mr. Win. Payments," a long list of payments con- Kelly. The Chamberlains of the Borough nected with this visit. 68 The Leicester Bellfounders. Watts and the members of the Corporation in their robes of office, and attended by the mace-bearers, would be present. This event is thus noticed in the accounts of the churchwardens : — Paid Rich. Beresford and Harrison for paynting the Kings Armes &c iij//. vij5. \]d. Pd Moses Andrew and his man for takeing awaye the two rowes of Seats in the church against the King's comeing iiiJ5. Pd Willm Read for helping to cleanse the church viij^. Pd for ij lodes of Rushes and moweing of them against the King's Ma**^ comeinge xxcf. Paid more for bowes and rushes vsed about the church ... xixi. Pd for a Comon prayer booke to goody Langford xvs. Paid Tho. Sheene and Moses Andrew for takeing awaye the maior brethrns seates against the King's ma"^* comeinge iJ5. vj^. Pd the Kings offycer for fees for the ffloare where his maiestie sat iiijs. Pd the ringers beeing viij for the tyme that his maiestie stayed in Leic xvs. Pd for flowers for the Kings Cushion iiij^. The King left Leicester on the following day — Monday the nth of August. There are several entries in the Chamberlains' Accounts relating to Hugh Watts, such as : — 1623-4 Item reed, of Mr. Hugh Watts for the halfe of his fine for the Goslinge close xij//. X5. and a similar entry the next year. He upon more than one The Leicester Bellfounders. 69 occasion lent money to the Corporation of Leicester to help them in the difficulties, which the exigencies of the stirring times in which he lived placed them : — 1637-8 Itm. pd for a bond for ^Iv. Watts his 100//. and the seale o . iJ5. . o 1638-g Item paid to Mr. Hugh Watts for the use of Three hundred pounds xxiiij//. and several other similar entries. After the conflict between Charles the First and his Parliament had reached an open rupture, and the king had set up his Royal Standard at Nottingham, the head quarters of Prince Rupert were, for a time, at, and around, Queni- borough in this county. From that place the fiery and impetuous prince wrote his well-known letter to " His Friend the Maior of Leicester" demanding a sum of ^2000, which was to be " repaied in convenient time." To this letter was added the postscript " If any disaffected persons with you shall refuse themselves, or perswade you to neglect this comand, I shall tomorrow appeare before your towne in such a posture with horse, foote, and cannon, as shall make you knowe tis more safe to obey than resist his majesties commands." After some difficulty ;^5oo was borrowed, and handed over to the Prince's representatives. Hugh Watts lent part of this sum to the Corporation, as the next extract from the Chamberlains' Accounts shows : " 1641-2 Item pd Mr. Pahiier [Town Clerk] for three bonds given to Mr. Watts Mr. Tompson and John Clarke for the 500". sent to Prince Rupert iijs." 7-0 The Leicester Bellfoundevs. In the year following (1643) Hugh Watts died, and was buried in S. Mary's Church, Leicester. Nichols preserves his epitaph : " On a gravestone erected against the North corner of the East wall are the arms of Watts : three greyhounds erased ducally gorged or ; crest, a greyhound sable ducally gorged or ; and this inscription : Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur. Here lieth the body of Hugh Watts the Elder gent. — sometime Mayor and Alderman of this Corporation who deceased in the 61 yeare of his age ano Dni 1643."* In his will dated i February 1642-3, and proved on the 23rd of the next month — March — he describes himself as " Hugh Watts of the Borough of Leicester the Elder Bell- founder," he says : " I give to my wife Mary Watts and to my said son Hugh Watts and to my said daughters Frances and Ellen Watts all my move- able goods within and about my said dwelling house (the Talbott) (except the bellmettle, tools, instruments, utensils, and implements, which are m and about my said house, yard and backside, used about the trade of a bellfounder) ... I give all my tools and imple- ments belonging to the trade of a bellfounder to my son Hugh Watts."t It is clear that the foundry was worked by Hugh Watts until his death, for there are two bells at Barrow-on-Soar, * Vol. i., p. 316. t Prerogative. Crane folio 25. The Leicester Bellfounders. 71 and one at Kimcote, dated 1642. These are the latest of his bells I find in Leicestershire. As George Curtis has been more than once mentioned as a Leicester Bellfounder, I may say that I think he was never more than a foreman under Hugh Watts. He was admitted to the freedom of the Borough in the year 1627. This we learn from the ** Hall Book " of that date : — " George Curtes apprentice of Mr. Hugh Watts Bell- fownder made free the ixth of May 1627 his fine ... X5." He occupied a tenement in the Southgate which Mr. Hugh Watts (his employer, as I think) held of the Corporation of Leicester,* and the only other reference to him I have seen in connection with the foundry is the following entry in the Chamberlains' Accounts for the year 1644-5 : — " Itm paidd to George Curtice for exchangeinge of Thomas Hartshorne's bell iJ5. vjrf." Hartshorne being the cryer. This would be shortly after Hugh Watts' death, and when Curtis was probably winding up his business. His name is not on any bell in Leicestershire. He died in 1650, as we are told in the following entry in the Register of S. Martin's Church, Leicester : — " Ano Dni 1650 Septem. 5th George Curtis Bellfounder was burydd.'"t * Chamberlains' Accounts 1644-5. j- I am indebted to the Rev. A. Bunting for making this e.xtract for me. 72 The Leicester Bellfuunders. To show that the Leicester Foundry was closed about this time we find the following entry in the Chamberlains' Accounts for the year 1655-6 : — " Itm payd for castinge the Cryer's Bell and for the carriage thereof to Nottingham and backe againe 00 . 07 . 04" Portions of the foundry gear passed into the hands of the Nottingham founders. We find Watts' letters used by them upon bells cast in 1672, and afterwards, at Swepstone (3rd), Sutton Cheney (4th), Thorpe Arnold (2nd), Dise- worth (2nd), Wigston Magna (2nd and 3rd), &c., &c., but Watts' mark (fig. i) and his band ornaments never appear after his death.* Thomas Clay. After the closing of Hugh Watts' foundry, and the dispersion of the gear, there seems to have been no attempt to revive the craft in Leicester for several years. At length, in the year 171 1, the name of Thomas Clay of Leicester appears as a founder upon two bells yet existing — Dunton Bassett (2nd) and Earl's Shilton (2nd). Beyond these indications of his presence in Leicester, and the fact that he cast a ring of eight bells for Southwell Collegiate * After the death of Hugh Watts there are many entries in the Chamberlains' Accounts of payments to his son Hugh on account of his late father. This Hugh Watts "son and heir of Hugh Watts tho elder gent," married Jane, fourth daughter of Sir Tho. Burton, of Stockerston, in the County of Leicester, Bart. He died 26th Aug., 1656, leaving one son and four daugh- ters (see his epitaph in Nichols, vol. i. p. 316.) There areseveral tablets in Great Dun- mow Church, Essex, to his descendants. it may be inferred from several entries in tho Chamberlains' Accounts that the Watts family, after the death of Hugh the Bellfounder, occupied as a residence a house in the Newarke, Leicester, " hereto- fore Dr. Chippendale's and Mr. Walker's." The Leicester Bellfounders. y^) Church, which were so much disHked that they were speedily recast by Rudhall of Gloucester,* I know nothing. Edward Arnold. After another interval of several years a foundry was again opened in Leicester by Edward Arnold, who had worked with, and succeeded Joseph Eayre of S. Neots. This foundry is said to have been in Hangman's Lane— now called Newarke Street. The first ring of bells he cast in Leicester was that of Rothley, in the year 1784. There are many of his bells in the county, and his name is constantly mentioned in the Accounts of the Churchwardens of S. Martin's, Leicester, until the year 1798-9. f Messrs. Taylor. During some of the time Edward Arnold occupied premises in Hangman's Lane Leicester, he had also an establishment at S. Neots, into which he received, as an apprentice, Robert Taylor, who towards the close of the eighteenth century succeeded to the business there, which at that time was carried on in a lofty brick building situate in the Priory, and built in the form of a bell. The business was carried on there by Robert Taylor, and then by Robert Taylor and Sons, until the year 1821, when they removed to Oxford. In 1825 ^^e late Mr. John Taylor, one of the above firm, went to Buckland Brewer, near Bideford, Devon, to cast the bells there, and after casting several rings, and odd bells, in Devon, Cornwall, &c., returned to Oxford in 1835. I^ 1840 he, and his son, came to Loughborough to recast the bells there, and finding the town well situated for business took up their residence * Midland Counties Hist. Col., vol. ii. p. 355. f See further on pp. 94-5. L 74 The Leicester Bellfounders. in that place. Since that time Mr. John Taylor has died leaving his son, the present Mr. John William Taylor, the head of the Leicestershire Foundry. The Oxford Foundry, which had been chiefly under the superintendence of Mr. William Taylor, brother of the above-mentioned Mr, John Taylor, was closed upon his decease which occurred in 1854.* * For this information respecting the practical knowledge and successful prose- Messrs. Taylor I am indebted to Mr. cution of his business are well known. J. W. Taylor, of Loughborough, whose From an Illuminated MS. of the Psalms (fourteenth century) in the King's Library, British Musetim; marked 20. B. xi. OTHER FOUNDERS OF LEICESTERSHIRE BELLS IN addition to the Bells already enumerated as cast by the Leicester Founders, there are, of course, a goodly number in the County by other Founders, known and unknown. The ancient bells first claim attention, and then notes upon the founders of those of a more recent date will follow. These notes — after the lengthy account already given of the Leicester Founders — will be as brief as possible, because, whilst the historian of the campanology of each county should give as full an account as possible of the Foundries therein, he may well leave those of neighbouring counties to be described in detail by those campanists who may in the future describe their bells. Johannes de Yorke. There is a very interesting bell hanging at Sproxton (the 2nd of the ring), bearing round its upper part the inscription in small Gothic capitals : 76 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. The cross and intervening stop used are figs. 54 and 56 here given : 54 56 55 59 Round the lower part of the bell is the inscription in larger handsome Gothic capitals : The initial cross and intervening stop of this second inscription are here engraved — figs. 55 and 59 above. There is a cluster of bells in Leicestershire that can be traced to the same founder by the use of the same letters, cross and stop, but this is the only one upon which the name of the founder is given. The other bells are Billesdon 4th, Birstall 3rd, Brentingby ist, Cotesbach 2nd, Hungarton 3rd, Long Clawson 4th, Sproxton ist and Witherley 5th. At Wanlip the same cross with the figure of an angel (see fig. 80 on plate XVII.) on each side appears upon the 2nd bell, but the Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 71 inscription is not in the usual capitals, but in small "black letter." The form of the letters points to the latter part of the fourteenth century as the date of these bells. The number of his bells still remaining in Leicestershire, considering their antiquity, leads to the inference that Johannes de Yorke supplied many more in the county which have been since his time, from various causes, recast. If this be so, he was probably established in Leicester, or in its neighbourhood, at least for a time, even if he were not a permanent resident. But of this we know nothing. A foundry was in full work at York early in the fourteenth century by Richard Tunnoc a Bailiff of the city in 13 20-1, and a representative of York in Parliament in 1327. The well-known Bellfounder's window in York Cathedral, in which the art of Bellfounding is represented, was either erected by him, or to his memory. It is not unlikely that Johannes de Yorke learned his art from that prominent founder. AvsTEN Bracker. Upou Catthorpe ist bell appears this cross (fig. 40) which was used by Avsten Bracker, a London founder of the early part of the sixteenth century (?). His bells, with the same cross upon them are found in Norfolk.* The initial cross (fig. 39 over) precedes the 40 inscription in small neat Gothic capitals upon these bells — Barleston (2nd), Foxton (3rd), Gumley * Church Bells of Norfolk, p. 56. 78 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. (3rd), Hungarton (2nd), Rotherby (2nd), and Walton Isley (ist). Fig. 41 precedes inscriptions in letters of the same form, but a trifle larger, upon Brentingby 2nd bell, Caldwell ist, and Walton Isley ist. The early stamp fig. 63 is found upon the following bells : Caldwell 2nd and 3rd, Castle Donington 4th, Claybrooke 4th, Croxton Kerrial 3rd, Ibstock 4th, Saltby 3rd, Segrave 2nd, Sproxton 3rd, Wyfordby 2nd, and, with it fig. 61 on Claybrooke 4th and Saltby 3rd. 39 63 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 79 Figure 83 is the initial cross upon the 2nd bell at Cossington, the 3rd at Markfield, and the 3rd at Thrussington. Figure 2 is only found on two bells, viz. : Aston Flamville ist and Ashby Parva ist; upon the latter it is in company with fig. 4. Figure 5 appears only on the 2nd bell at Aston Flamville. The very handsome cross fig. 17 with the legend " Ihu merciladihelp" isuponBottes- ford 4th bell, Narborough 4th and Shawell 4th. This cross is found upon bells in all parts of England, and is supposed to have belonged originally to a London founder. Upon the bell at Shawell it is in com- 17 8o Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. pany with figs. 30 and 31 ; upon that at Bottesford with figs. 31 and 23. Upon the one at Narborough it is found with several other stamps, including that used by Watts of Leicester (see fig. i on plate i). 31 ^ 4 h fi % M > % p I Figure 15 appears on the ist bell at Frisby. Figure 16 is upon the 3rd at Cosby and the ist at Lockington, both of which bells were from the Leicester foundry. These stamps appear to have been used by the Brasyers of Nor- wich, and probably passed from them in- to the hands of the Leicester founders. ^^ Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. The initial cross, fig. i8, is upon the 2nd bell at Nether Broughton. Figure 26, which is found in all parts of England, is upon Garthorpe ist bell in company with Newcombe's initial cross (see fig. 3 on plate i). Figure 20, here given, appears upon the single bells of Newton Harcourt and Sysonby. 32 52 The shield, fig. 32, the mark of an unknown founder, is upon the 2nd bell at Croxton Kerrial, the 3rd at Dalby on the Wolds, the ist at Knipton, and the 2nd at Welham : M 82 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. in all which places it is accompanied by fig, 52, which stamp further appears upon Cossington 3rd and Saltby 2nd bell. There are good reasons for thinking these stamps belonged to the early Nottingham founders. Again in one or two instances the ornate initial letters (figs. 2>7 and 38) H. D. — the second letter being a C reversed and so made to do duty for a D — are found upon bells with the above marks (figs. 32 and 52) . These initials of some un- known founder are upon Church Langton 6th bell, Croxton Kerrial 2nd, Knipton ist, Oad- by 4th and Stoke Gold- ing 3rd. The cross fig. 24 is upon the 3rd bell at Thurcaston, and the 3rd at Muston — at the latter place in company with the mark of H. Oldfield of Nottingham. Across similar in character (fig. Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 83 25) is upon the 4th bell at Sutton Cheney also from the Nottingham foundry. 24 25 Certain crowned heads have been found upon ancient bells in various parts of the kingdom. They are supposed to have belonged originally to London founders. They are known to campanists as " Royal Heads," and have been assigned from peculiarities of treatment to Edward I. and Queen Eleanor, Edward III. and Queen Philippa, Henry VI., Margaret of Anjou, and her son Prince Edward.* Those assigned to Edward I. and Queen Eleanor (figs. 28 and 29) 29 Church Bells of Devon, p. 253. 84 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. are found upon the 4th bell at Claybrooke and upon the 3rd at Thurcaston — at the latter place in company with a figure of the Blessed Virgin and Child (see fig. 73 on plate XV.) and a Fleur de lys (see fig. 19 on plate iv.). The same "Royal Heads" are also upon the 4th bell at Kegworth, and from the presence on the same bell of the mark of Henry Oldfield we know that in his time they were in the hands of the Nottingham founders. One " Royal Head " much corroded, but apparently that called Edward I., is upon the ist bell at Garthorpe, the ist at Lockington, and the 3rd at Peatling Magna — in all three instances in com- pany with stamps used by the Newcombes of Leicester — and upon the 4th bell at Narborough in company with the shield of Watts of Leicester. The cross fig. 50 I find on only one bell — the 3rd at Dalby on the Wolds.. The shield fig. 51 appears in company 50 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. «5 with other stamps upon the ist bell at Muston, and upon the 3rd at Thurcaston. 58 57 These handsome stamps — fig. 58 as initial cross, fig. 66 as a mark of contraction, and fig. 57 as an intervening stop — are only on the 2nd bell at Dalby Parva. 65 67 72 The cross fig, 65 appears on Catthorpe 2nd bell ; the cross fig. 72* on Bringhurst 3rd, Burbage 4th, and on Welham ist, and the intervening stop, fig. 67, is found on the 3rd bell at Bringhurst, the 3rd at Ibstock, and the ist at Welham. * Since writing the above I am able to Norris all use it upon their bells in Rutland assign this cross to the Stamford Foundry. churches. Tobie Norris, Thomas Norris and Tobias 86 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 68 This shield is on the 4th bell at Melton only, but the handsome Gothic capitals used for the inscription thereon are found on other ancient bells in the county. Fig. 60 is a cross on the 3rd bell at Kegworth ; fig. 74 is on the ist bell at Cossing- ton, and fig. 69 on the 3rd at Willoughby Waterless. 74 69 This large initial cross, fig. 76, on the next page, appears on one bell only — the 3rd at Frolesworth. The other marks engraved on the next page are only found once in the county. Fig. 78 is the initial cross and fig. 77 the intervening stop on the ist bell at Horninghold ; and the pretty cross, fig. 82, is on the ist bell at Wyfordby. Otliev Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 87 70 78 82 The slipped pomegranate, fig. 79 on the next page, is on the 4th bell at Kegworth, and the same Tudor badge, crowned, appears on the 3rd bell at Muston, Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. The cross fig. 51^ is on the ist bell at Ragdale. It will be seen that many of the an- cient bells in our Leicester- shire churches cannot at present be assigned to any known founders. A few 51^1; notes are now added upon the founders of the more modern bells hanging in our steeples. 79 NOTTINGHAM. There are a large number of bells in Leicestershire from the Nottingham foundry, the history of which has yet to be written. It is not improbable that William of Notyngham and William of Norwich, who were casting bells in the fourteenth century, were identical.* If so the foundry at Nottingham was of ancient date.f Richard Mellour, of Nottingham, " Belyetter," was alive in i488.f George Oldfield, of Nottingham, cast bells between 1537 and 1558. t Thomas " Owefeld," of Nottingham, cast the sanctus bell at Melton Mowbray in this county in 1553. Church Bells of Novjolk, p. 84. f Reliquary, vol. xiii. p. 81. Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 89 Henry Oldfield, of Nottingham, cast bells now in Leicestershire churches from 1589 to 1620 inclusive.* George Oldfield's (the second's) mark appears in the same way from 1620 to 1673 inclusive. William Noone, of Nottingham, cast the 5th bell of S. Martin's, Leicester, in 1700. Thomas Hedderly's (of Nottingham) name appears in Leicestershire from 1749 to 1784. He was however casting bells eight years earlier. The name "Thomas Hedderly " on the Leicestershire bells probably represents father and son : the father died about 1778, the son in 1785. The elder left four sons — Thomas (just mentioned), George, John, and Samuel ; the first of them — George Hedderly — has bells in Leicestershire dating from 1787 to 1791, a few years after which date he emigrated to America. The mark of the Oldfields (who seldom placed their names upon their bells) was a cross calvary between their initials with a crescent and a star above (see figs. 7, 8, 10, II, on plate 11., and fig. 33 on plate vii.). The crosses, see figs. 21 on plate v., and 34, 36, on plate vii., are also found upon their bells in Leicestershire. The Nottingham founders used several band ornaments between the words of their in- scriptions. Three of these are figures 12, 13, and 14, on plate III. Figure 35 on plate vii. is also found upon one of their bells at Sileby. The presence of these, or any of them, upon Leicester- * He is said to have died in 1615 : if so his stamp was used by his successor for several years. This is not improbable. N go Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. shire bells, which will be pointed out hereafter, are sufficient to assign such bells to the Nottingham founders without enumerating them here. The figures will be found num- bered on the plates hereafter given. The Nottingham founders became possessed of a large number of ancient stamps, letters, &c., which they some- times introduced upon comparatively modern bells : see pages 82, 83, and 84. BAWTRY. Daniel Hedderly, of Bawtry, in Yorkshire (the ancestor of the Hedderlys of Nottingham), cast the ring of five bells at Nether Seile in 1707, and that of six bells at Peckleton in 1 7 14. Upon the 4th bell of the latter appears, before the founder's name, that of J. M. Halton. J. M. Halton was probably foreman to Daniel Hedderly, and may have closed the foundry at Bawtry upon the death of his master. His name will be seen, as founder of the whole ring, upon the 2nd bell at Ansty in 1723. CHERTSEY. Thomas Eldridge had a foundry at Wokingham 1563- 1577, where he was succeeded by Richard Eldridge. He subsequently removed to Chertsey, where under Bryan Eldridge (or possibly two of that Christian name) and his brother Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 91 William Eldridge the foundry continued to be the principal one in that part of England during the greater part of the seventeenth century.* There are only two bells in Leicestershire from this foundry — Stoke Golding ist, and Shawell ist — upon both of which the inscription is in very bold, rudely formed, Roman capital letters. GLOUCESTER. This was a centre of the Bellfounder's art at an early period. John of Gloucester flourished early in the fourteenth century ; Sandre of Gloucester, and others, followed. The Rudhalls worked a foundry here with great success from the end of the seventeenth century till about the year 1830, There are only two bells in Leicestershire from this foundry. The 2nd at Bottesford, cast in 1713, bear the initials and mark (fig. 27) of 27 Notes and Queries. 3rd s. vi. 443. See also an account of the Eldridges in Church Bells of Sussex. 92 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. Abraham Rudhall, and the 4th at Stoke Golding was cast by John Rudhall, the last of the Gloucester founders, in the year 1825, soon after which the foundry passed into the hands of Messrs. Mears of London. STAMFORD. ToBiE NoRRis, Bellfounder, died on the 2nd of November 1626, and was buried in S. George's Church, Stamford. Thomas Norris (probably his son) supplied several bells to Leicestershire churches. His earliest bell is at Rolleston dated 1629, and his latest at Church Langton (4th) dated 1676. His son and successor Tobias Norris was baptized 25th April 1634. There are two of his bells in this county, inscribed "Tobie Norris," viz. : Croxton Kerrial 4th, dated 1674, and Owston 2nd, dated 1699. Tobie Norris died in the latter year.* They all occasionally used the cross No. 72 plate xv. as I find from several bells in Rutland. Alexander Rigby probably succeeded Tobie Norris. His bells in Leicestershire date from 1702 at Tugby, to 1706 at Houghton. He died at Stamford in the year 1708.! On the treble bell at Badgworth, Gloucestershire, is : " Badgworth ringers they were mad, Because Rigbe made me bad ; But Abel Rudhall you may see, Hath made me better than Rigbe." * Church Bells of Norfolk, p. 72. f Church Bells of Cambridge, p. 34. Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 93 PETERBOROUGH. Henry Penn. There are only six bells in Leicestershire founded by Henry Penn of Peterborough, viz. : a complete ring of four at Bitteswell, dated 1706, one bell at Sileby, dated 1708, and one at Waltham, cast in 1726. He cast some good bells, but not pleasing the people of S. Ives, for whom he cast a ring, they instituted a law-suit against him. The case was tried at the Huntingdon Assizes held at S. Ives, in 1729, and the verdict given in favour of Penn. After the trial, as he was mounting his horse in the Inn- yard at S. Ives, to return to Peterborough, he fell down dead from over excitement.* CHACOMBE, NORTHANTS. There was a foundry here worked by the Bagleys from 1664 to the end of the eighteenth, or beginning of the nineteenth century. f The only bells in Leicestershire from thence are two by Henry Bagley — one at Leire, and one at Misterton dated 1675, and the whole ring at Great Easton, cast by Henry Bagley and Matthew Bagley in 1684. KETTERING, S. NEOTS, AND DOWNHAM MARKET. Thomas and Joseph Eayre, both of whose bells are plenti- ful in Leicestershire, were in partnership in 17 17, when * Nichols' Leicestershire, Framland Hundred, under Waltham. f Lukis' Church Bells, p. 14. 94 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. they cast a bell at Yelden, Bedfordshire.* Subsequently Thomas Eayre established himself at Kettering. His bells in this county date from 1720, at Blaston, to 1762, at Saddington. Mr. Fortrey, of King's Norton — a great admirer of bells, and a liberal contributor to their improve- ment — was a patron, and a good customer of Thomas Eayre. Joseph Eayre had a foundry at S. Neots. He was casting bells in Cambridgeshire as early as 1735, but he appears to have found no employment in Leicestershire until the death of Thomas Eayre. Joseph Eayre's earliest bells in this county are dated 1763, at Church Langton, his latest 1770, at Catthorpe and Knighton. After his death the foundry at S. Neots was held jointly for a short time, by his late fore- man, Thomas Osborn, and by his cousin, Edward Arnold. After they dissolved partnership Thomas Osborn set up for himself at Downham Market,t from which place he supplied, in 1795, the ring of bells now in Wymeswold Church. Edward Arnold continued the business at S. Neots, sending bells from thence into Leicestershire from 1773 (Quorndon and Countesthorpe) till 1778 (Ratcliffe Culey). In 1784 he opened his foundry at Leicester, and cast the Rothley ring, still, however, keeping on the S. Neots foundry, calling himself of S. Neots and Leicester, upon the Med- bourne 4th bell, in 1784. J Arnold is said to have known little of the art of Bellfounding himself, but to have depended Church Bells of Cambridgeshire, p. 58. f Ibid. p. 60, and Church Bells of Norfolk, p. 48. I For more as to Arnold and his successors, see page 73. Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 95 upon the skill of one Islip Edmonds, his foreman. Upon the death of Arnold this Islip Edmonds transferred his services to John Briant of Hertford '* a man of the Arnold stamp."* HERTFORD. John Briant, of Hertford, Bellfounder, who supplied many bells to Leicestershire churches, was born at Exning, in Suffolk. Though designed for Holy Orders, his love for mechanism was so strong that he was allowed to follow his natural bent. He died in 1829, aged 81 years, and was buried at Hertford. f His bells in this county date from 1802 to 1822. In one instance (Shepeshead) his son's name is associated with his own. Upon the 3rd bell at Walton J. Palmer's name appears as joint founder. He was probably a local ironmonger, as was B. Cort, whose name is given with John Briant as a founder of bells at Barkby and Diseworth. MODERN LONDON FOUNDERS. There are many bells in Leicestershire from the White- chapel Foundry, London. ^ Thomas Lester held this foundry in 1738-1752, — Thomas Pack then became his partner. * Church Bells of Cambridgeshire, pp, % Interesting accounts of this foundry 60-61 . are given by Mr. A. Tyssen, Mr. L'Estrange, f Notes and Queries, 3rd s. vol. ix. p. 85. and Dr. Raven. g6 Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. Lester and Pack supplied the 2nd bell to Normanton Church in 1769. In that year the firm was strengthened by the addition of William Chapman, and the new firm Lester Pack and Chapman cast five bells of the Appleby Magna ring in the same year. After Lester's death Pack and Chapman held the foundry until 1781, sending bells into Leicestershire to Bringhurst in 1776, and to Shepey Magna in 1778. William Mears joined Chapman soon after the death of Pack in 1781, and in his family the foundry has continued to the present time. Thomas Mears and Son cast Blaby 3rd bell in 1807. Thomas Mears' bells are plentiful in the county from 1809 (Tugby 2nd) till 1840 (Groby ring of five). C. and G. Mears supplied the bell to Holwell in 1850. Mears and Stainbank cast, in 1873, two new bells for Buckminster. Messrs. John Warner and Sons, of the Crescent Foundry, have supplied bells to S. John's Church, Leicester (i), and to Harston (3rd). BIRMINGHAM. Mr. James Barwell of Birmingham cast two bells for Higham on the Hill in 1872. ALPHABET BELLS. Upon many of the Leicestershire Bells cast by the Leicester founders are portions of the Alphabet. It has been suggested Other Founders of Leicestershire Bells. 97 that the founders being desirous not to offend by placing ancient, and therefore often unwelcome, inscriptions upon their bells, and yet being too illiterate to suggest new ones, adopted this plan to escape the difficulty. By it they ornamented their bells with a goodly show of Gothic capitals which could give offence to no one. This may have been the case with the later bells, but the use of the alphabet surely had anather origin on the more ancient ones. We find the alphabet, or portions of it, on encaustic tiles on the floors of churches. It appeared on the top of a Norman Font discovered at Severn Stoke in Warwickshire. In the Pontificale Romanum the Bishop is directed in the dedica- tion of a church to write in the form of a cross two alphabets, one in Greek and the other in Latin, first from the East to West, then from North to South. There was clearly some symbolic meaning in the alphabet. Some writers on the subject say the letters represented the beginning and rudi- ments of sound doctrine, and the simple and pure truths of the Gospel. PECULIAR USES, THE only direction as to the use of a Church Bell in the Rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer is in that relating to Daily Service : " And the Curate that ministereth in every Parish-Church or Chapel, being at home, and not being otherwise reasonably hindered, shall say the same in the Parish-Church or Chapel where he ministereth, and shall cause a Bell to be tolled thereunto a con- venient time before he begin, that the people may come to hear God's Word, and to pray with him." The Canons give a few more directions : The 15th vi^hich directs ''Litany to be read on Wednesdays and Fridays,'' orders, that warning be "given to the people by tolling of a bell." The 67th Canon entitled ''Ministers to visit the Sick" says : " And, when any is passing out of this life, a bell shall be tolled, and the Minister shall not then slack to do his last duty. And after the party's death, if it so fall out, there shall be rung no more than Peculiar Uses. gg one short peal, and one other before the burial, and one other after the burial." So much for their use. The 88th Canon directs churchwardens not to allow the superstitious use of bells upon " Holydays or Eves abrogated by the Book of Common Prayer, nor at any other times without good cause to be allowed by the Minister of the place, and by themselves." And the iiith Canon is directed against such as shall. . ." by untimely ringing of bells. . .hinder the Minister or Preacher." Ringing for Divine Service. Although one bell is all that is really essential for carrying out such of these direc- tions as are now usually followed, it is generally only poverty or some other difficulty, which hinders the erection in our modern churches of a number of bells, with which to ring those peals, in which almost all English churchmen delight. And so it was in more ancient times. It will be seen that in Leicestershire some of the larger churches had five bells in the reign of Edward VI., and that whilst many had not more than three, scarcely any were satisfied with less than two. The chapel of S. John Baptist at Mountsorrell stood alone, so far as I can trace, in possessing " seven litell bells in the steple ther." In churches where the Canonical Hours were kept the bells, or some of them, would be ringing very frequently ; for "the ringing of these Canonical hours let the world know the time, by day and by night ; and in those larger churches where such a custom was followed, the several bells, as well as the different ways in which they were rung 100 Peculiar Uses. for the purpose, told the precise service which was then about to be chanted."* " Bishop Oldham (of Exeter) in his Statutes, 151 1, directs how the Annualarii (or Chantry Priests) were to sound or toll a certain number of times with one bell, then a full tolling of all the bells, at the Canonical Hours, after the accustomed manner ; at the close of which the service was to begin. "f In our smaller parish churches, too, those bells appropriated to the side altars in chantry chapels, or belonging to Guilds and Fra- ternities, would very frequently be sounding. On Sundays and high-days all the bells appear to have been rung for Matins and Evensong — the two services which all were expected to attend : and so the custom has continued to the present time. The Bell-master of Loughborough, in the time of Edward VI., was ** to help to reng to sarvys if ned be." Hooper, in his Injunctions, dated 1551, whilst forbidding ringing at unseasonable times, adds "but before services, as well morning as at even, to warn the people by as many peals or ringings as they think good." In 162 1 the Churchwardens of S. Martin's, Leicester, paid 3s. " ffor ringeinge to praiers every sabboth and holie daie." The mode of ringing or of chiming for Divine Service varies somevs^hat in different parishes. The "uses" followed at the Leicester churches, and at a few others in the county. * Dr. Rock's Church of Our Fathers, in. Tierce, Mass, at 9 a.m., Sext at Noon, part 2, p. 143. Nones at 3 p.m.. Vespers at 6 p.m., Com- f The Cathedral Bells of Exeter, p. 13. pline at 9 p.m.. Matins and Lauds in the The Canonical Hours were Prime 6 a.m., early hours between midnight and Prime. Peculiar Uses. loi are given under the different churches further on, when the bells are described. With the introduction of the " new sarvis" (as the Book of Common Prayer was called) in the time of Edward VI., the singing of the Canonical Hours — with the exception of Matins and Evensong — was dropped. The only traces of them we now have in the use of our church bells, excepting the ringing or chiming for Morning and Evening Prayer, are in the ringing of the " first and second peals" on Sunday mornings, at seven and eight, or eight and nine o'clock, in many of our Leicestershire parishes. In Pre-Reformation times Matins were said in all parish churches before break- fast, as a preparation for mass. The "first peal" was the call to Matins, the "second peal" to tierce and mass.* It is a curious proof how tenacious custom is in having con- tinued the ringing of these bells for over three hundred years after the purposes they served were abrogated, and when few even think of, or enquire as to, the meaning of their sound. f With regard to the " Sermon-Bell " it may be remarked that the Royal Injunctions of 1547 order a bell in convenient time to be rung or knolled before the sermon. When Hugh Latimer visited Melton Mowbray, and preached in the * Sir Thomas More said " Some of us f See The Rev. H. T. Ellacombe's Bells laye men think it a payne ones a weeke to of the Cathedral Church of Exeter for Bishop ryse so soon fro sleepe, and some to tarye Grandisson's Statutes as to the ringing of so longe fasting, as on the Sonday to com the bells there in 1339, and for Bishop and heare out theyr matins." — Rock, iii. Oldham's Statutes relating to the same, in part 2. pp. 5, 143, 146. 151 1. I02 Peculiar Uses. church there, that custom was followed ; for the church- wardens charge in their accounts : — " 1553 October. Itm. payd to John Hynmane and to Robert Bagworth for rynginge of y' great bell for master latimore sarmon ij^." The Sermon bell was sometimes rung during the Litany to give notice to the people that the sermon was coming on ;* and one of the duties of the Bell-ringer at Exeter Cathedral, in 1670, was "to toll y^ Sermon Bell every Sunday after the second lesson of the Quire Service in y* morning when there is a sermon. "f The Puritans were so often ready to go to Sermon, but not to Prayers, that the bishops tried to check the unseemly practice of going into church after Prayers were said, by directing attention to it in their Visitation Articles, and Wren (1640) directed with regard to the Sermon-bell " That the same ringing of bells should be observed at all times whether there was a Sermon or not. "I The ringing of this bell before the service when a sermon is to be preached is now the general custom in Leicestershire. § * See Lathbury's Hist, of Book of Com. the xxvth day of July 1625— It is agreed Prayer, 2nd Ed. p. 83. that the Wednesday exercise of fifastinge, f Bells of Exeter Cathedral, -p. ^},. praying and preachinge be held at eu'ie + Lathbury, p. 175-6. seuerall parish church w'^in this Borough § My friend Mr. Wm. Kelly very kindly and that no bell shall be ru[n]ge for the calls my attention to the following regula- sermon at any church in regarde of the tion made in Leicester in the year 1625 heate of the wether and the daunger of when the Plague was there : " At a meeting the tyme." — Borough of Leicester Hall Book, of Mr. Maior, Mr. Recorder and the xxiiij"« p. 457. Peculiar Uses. 103 The tenor bell at Banbury, dated 1667, referring to this custom, is inscribed : " I ring to sermon with a lusty boome That all may come and none may stay at home." The Passing-Bell. Besides the use of bells for callinji to Divine Service the Canons enjoin the tolling of the " Passing-bell." The custom of notifying, by this means, the passing of a soul out of this life, is almost, if not quite, as ancient, in this country, as the use of bells by the church. Bede mentions " the well known sound of the bell by which they [the Nuns of Hackness] were wont to be aroused or assembled to prayers when any one of them was called forth from this world," as being heard in the year 680.* Durand, who wrote about the end of the twelfth century, says : " when any one is dying bells must be tolled that the people may put up their prayers, twice for a woman and thrice for a man ; if for a clergyman as many times as he had orders. "t The Passing-bell was, of course, then rung at all hours of the night, as well as by day. After the Reformation the custom of ringing the Passing- bell in the ancient way was continued. Bishop Hooper in his Injunctions, issued in 1551, says: " Item. That from henceforth there be no knells or forthfares rung for the death of any man ; but in case they that be sick and in danger, or any of their friends will demand to have the bell toll whiles the sick is in extremes to admonish people of their danger, and by that means to solicitate the hearers to pray for the sick person, they may use it." * Bede, Book iv. c. xxiii. f Brand's Pop. Ant. ii. 129. 104 Peculiar Uses. The Passing-bell is enjoined by the royal Injunctions of 1559, and the Advertisements, issued in the year 1564 show that it was still usual to ring or toll the Passing-bell whilst the person was believed to be dying, but not yet dead : " That where anye Christian bodie be passing that the bell be tolled, and that the curate be specially called for to comforte the sicke person," The bell was ordered to be used by Grindal in 1570, " to move the people to pray for the sick person."* The Bishops, in after years, enquired in their Articles whether the Passing-bell was so tolled. In 1624 D'Ewes mentions the bell tolling for a person whom he visited, and who lived some hours afterwards. The Puritans used the Passing-bell, as Fuller shows in his account of John Rainolds, one of the Puritan advocates of the Hampton Court Conference: he says: "The morrow after, death seazing upon all parts of his body, he expressed by signes that he would have the passing-bell tole for him."t Amongst the fees belonging to the Bell-ringer of Exeter Cathedral in 1670 were : " For tolling the bell for every sick person 15. For every childe 6d."i The custom was continued to recent times. Nelson in his Meditations for the Holy Time of Lent, speaking of a good christian says : " If his sense hold out so long he can hear Lathbur>', p. 86. f Ibid. p. 151-2. % Bells of Exeter Cathedral, p. 32. Peculiar Uses. 105 his passing-bell without disturbance."* At Melton Mowbray, in this county, the custom was first departed from in the case of Mr. Crane, who died about 1738. He "was the first person in Melton," says Nichols, " for whom the bell tolled after death, till when the custom was for it to pass before, agreeably to the primitive institution." The in- scriptions on some of the tenor bells in the county refer to their use for the Passing-bell : e.g. : at Muston : " All men that heare my mornful sound Repent before you lye in grond." At Stathern " My roaring sounde doth warning geve That men cannot heare always lyve." The bell now used for the Passing-bell, (or more properly the Death-knell) is usually the tenor, but this is sometimes changed in the case of children, as at Bowden Magna, Lutterworth, and Market Harborough, where smaller bells are used. At the close of the Passing-bell it has long been the custom to indicate the sex of the person departing, or departed, by certain strokes or tolls of the bell. These have generally been three for a male (in honour of the Holy * Bells 0/ the Church, p. 273, where the 1567; Sir Owen Opton, Constable of the following instance is given from Brayleys Tower, perceiving her drawing towards her History of the Tower, p. 460. •' We have a end, said to Mr. Bokeham, ' Were it not remarkable mention of this custom in the best to send to the church that the bell narrative of the last moments of the Lady may be rung ? ' and she herself hearing Catherine, sister of Lady Jane Grey, who him, said, ' Good, Sir Owen, be it so,' and died a prisoner in the Tower of London, in immediately died." P io6 Peculiar Uses. Trinity) and two for a female (in honour of our Saviour born of a woman) on the tenor bell, as at Melton Mowbray, Wigston Magna, Bowden Magna, &c. Sometimes, as at Belgrave, the tolls are repeated on three bells, and some- times, as at Syston, North and South Kilworth, Asfordby, Lutter\vorth, &c., the tolls are given on all the bells. Again, the tolls — three for a male and two for a female — are frequently repeated thrice on the tenor bell, as at Lutterworth, Skeffington, Billesdon, Claybrooke, Swinford, &c. At Kegworth, thrice three are tolled on three bells for a male, and thrice two on two bells for a female. Other peculiarities will probably be mentioned under the descrip- tions of the bells in some of the parishes. At Frisby, and elsewhere, these tolls are called "tellers," and it has been suggested that the old saying : " Nine tailors make a man '" is a corruption of a saying arising from the thrice three tolls or " tellers " at the close of the passing-bell, " Nine tellers mark a man." Death Knell. In addition to the Passing-bell, the Canon enjoins that "after the party's death, if it so fall out, there shall be rung no more than one short peal." Durand mentions this custom, and after the Reformation it is referred to in some of the Articles of Enquiry issued by the bishops in such words as these..." or to ring a knell presently after the departure, that notice may be taken by all to give God thanks for that party's deliverance out of Peculiar Uses. 107 this vale of misery."* This custom has now fallen entirely into disuse ; but a trace of it may be found in some parishes, as at Humberstone, where the bell is tolled for fifteen minutes, and then rung for ten minutes. In the Accounts of the Churchwardens of S. Martin's, Leicester, are many entries of receipts for the ringing of bells at the obits or anniversaries of the deaths of persons, who left a provision for certain Offices to be said upon those days for the benefit of their souls. f This was sometimes called a " soul-peal." Burial Peals. The Canon mentions "and one other (peal) before the burial, and one after the burial." This sounding of bells at funerals was an ancient custom, and had been carried to great excess ; indeed, so early as 1339 Bishop Grandisson, of Exeter, found it desirable to check the long ringings on such occasions, on the grounds that "they do no good to the departed, are an annoyance to the living, and injurious to the fabrick and the bells. "J We find traces of this custom constantly in Churchwardens' Accounts. For instance in those of S. Martin's, Leicester, for the year 1546, under the head of burials, there is a long list of such entries as these : Itm for y^ buryall of Mr. Clought v bells and lyenge in y' churche < xiJ5. Itm Agnys brown iiij belles xxd. Itm Best Wyffe iij belles viijf^. * Vide Walcott's Ed. of Canons, d>r., p. 94. f North's Chronicle of S. Martin's Church. Leicester. X Bells of Exeter Cathedral, p. 7. io8 Peculiar Uses. Itm ij chyldren of Willm Mabres thon iij bells and y* thod' iiij bells ijs. iiiji. Itm Mr. gyllotts dough t' iiij belles xxi.* The following regulations, made as to the ringing of bells at funerals, in S. Martin's parish, are found in the same Account Books, and throw some light upon the custom : 1570-1. An Acte made by Mr. Mayor and hys brethren yt yf anye of y^ xxiiij or theyr wyves do depte y'^ Lyfe yf they have but y* great bell they must pay for yt V5. and for any one of y^ xlviij or theyr wyves do depte y'^ Lyfe must pay for y' same bell iiJ5. iiiji. and for y'' best Commners for y' same bell iJ5. and y* mydle Commners for y* same bell xiji^. The next entry shows that the custom was not universal : 1584-5. It is agreed by this Pish that if any of the chyldren of the Mayors brethren or ther wyves departe thys lyf yf the have any bells the shall paye accordinge to the custome and if the have not the bells the shall pay for the buriall of every chyld... xiji. and for every one of the xlviij for there chyldren... v]d. and for every one of the best Commoners for there children iiiji. If the be buried in the churche yard. 1611-12. M. it is fully condiscended and agreed that if any bells be Ronge at any buryall hereafter and the Seckerston first not haveinge the churchwardens consent or one of them for the payment of the money for the saide buryall That then the Seckerston shall be dismissed of his office for the first * See a long list in North's Chronicle of S. Martin s Church, pp. 82-4. Peculiar Uses. log defaulte. And if the churchwardens have knowledge and take not sufficient securytie, that then they shall paye for the Ringinge themselves. I find traces of the ringing at Funerals a few years later in this parish : — 1626-7. Item for the bells and buriall of Mr. Thomas Erick's wife xijs. In 1649 the churchwardens of Loughborough say : — It is agreed at this Assembly by the consent of all present that the great bell shall not be rung at any buriall except once for the passing peale and that there shall be no other ringinge but all ye belles or 2 or 3. This custom of chiming or ringing all the bells lingered in several parishes in Leicestershire until recently. At Frisby it was used until the year 1842 ; at Oadby in the case of one family (see under Oadby further on) until 1844 ; and at Sapcote Mrs. Spencer, who died in the year 1847, expressed a wish that the bells should be chimed at her funeral, and her wish was granted. At Saxelby it is still the rule for the bells to be chimed on the arrival of the funeral procession at the church gates, and to continue to be chimed until all are within the church. I am not aware of any other instance of the retention of this custom in Leicestershire. It is usual in most parishes for the great bell to toll during the procession from the house to the church, and in some cases again on the return of the mourners home. At no Peculiar Uses. Hinckley the bell tolls during the recital of the Burial Office at the cemetery. Nichols relates a custom as followed at Barwell, at the funeral of Mrs. Anne Power, who died 29 September 1785. She was he says a wealthy maiden lady, and at her funeral "agreeably to the custom of the country on the interment of a spinster, the corpse was welcomed to the church with a merry peal ; and an elegant entertainment was distributed to a numerous circle of friends and neighbouring dependents." This custom was not peculiar to Leicestershire. In some places under similar circumstances a muffled peal was rung, and the giving of doles to the poor formed a large feature at funerals in mediaeval times. In addition to these uses of the church bell mentioned in the Rubric, and in the Canons, there are several others calling for brief notice. The Sanctus Bell. In the Inventories of church goods taken in the reign of Edward VI. where the bells are enumerated, a " sanctus bell," a " sauntys bell," or a " lytyll bell in the stepull," is generally mentioned.* It was usually hung, in order that it might be heard by those outside, as well as by those within the church, in a little bellcote on the gable of the chancel roof between that portion of the church and the nave, or else in a convenient position in the belfry, so that the rope came down into the church within easy access to the server at the altar. When * The Churchwardens of Melton Mow- bell " Sants bell" — "Sanctus bell" and bray in their Accounts for 1553 call this " Saunce bell " indifferently. Peculiar Uses. iii the priest said the Sandus in the Office of the Mass three strokes were given on this bell (hence its name) so that all — the sick man in his chamber, as well as the worshipper in the church— could join in the holy song of adoration, A few successors of the sanctus bell are in the bell-chambers of our Leicestershire churches, in the " priest's bell " or "ting-tang" usually rung immediately before the service begins. These are, in almost all cases, modern, being probably recasts of the ancient sanctus-bells. At Lutter- worth, however, hangs a small bell i8 inches in diameter — and so weighing about i|- cwt. — which was used as a sanctus bell in Pre-Reformation times. It was cast by the Leicester founders, for it bears the initial cross used by the earlier Newcombes (fig. 3) and the inscription or dedication : + ^wi + ^'H::m It is a curious coincidence with its original use that this (the only original sanctus-bell in Leicestershire) is now called " The Sacrament-Bell," and is rung instead of the sermon-bell, in the summons to Divine Service, whenever there is to be a celebration of the Holy Communion. The Sacring-bell. This was a small hand-bell also used in the Office of the Mass to warn the people that the Elevation was about to take place. The necessity for this of course passed away when the Reformed Liturgy, or Order of the Holy Communion, was commanded to be used in English in 1547. In 6 Edward VI. these bells are men- tioned (" hande belles ") as belonging to several churches in Leicestershire. 112 Peculiar Uses. An interesting example of the ancient sacryng-bell was found (in August 1870) in a putlog hole in the western wall of the south aisle of Bottesford Church, Lincolnshire. This relic was exhibited by Mr. Edward Peacock F.S.A. at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, London, and is fully described by him in the Proceedings of the Society, No. xxiv. 1870, p. 24. My best thanks are due to the Society of Antiquaries for permission to use the annexed engraving of this bell. The engraving is two-thirds the size of the original. The Curfew. The origin of the Curfew is well-known. It was heard in Normandy at an early date, and its use was Peculiar Uses. 113 enforced throughout this country — where it appears to have been partially instituted by King Alfred — by William the Conqueror. When it sounded at eight o'clock every even- ing, all persons were ordered to extinguish fire and candle, hence its name — couvre feu. Although its sound, and its use, were only enforced during the reigns of William the Conqueror and William Rufus — the law of Curfew was abolished by Henry I. in iioo — the custom of ringing the bell still prevails in many parishes in this country. Its continuance is to be attributed to a religious, and not to a civil, purpose. The evening " Hail Mary" was ordered by Pope John XXH., (1316-34,) to be said at the sound of a bell called the ^'Angelus,'' and it is probable the Curfew was continued as a warning to all to say an "Ave" to the Blessed Virgin before retiring to rest. Dr. Rock says : "If this Curfew did not give pious individuals the earliest thought of saying an "Ave" at night-fall, the ringing of the bell was in itself so seasonable that it was looked upon, and employed, as a happy incident for calling upon the people, whether in town or country — throughout the land in fact — to say their greetings to the Virgin at sun- down."* Previous to the Reformation (as we gather from Hooper's Injunctions in 1551) the ringing of the " Curfaye" in some places was accompanied by, or replaced by, the ringing of all the bells in the steeple. * Church of our Fathers, iii. p. 337. Q 114 Peculiar Uses. Although since the Reformation the custom of ringing the Curfew, or last Angelus, has gradually been waning, still the practice lingers in many of our Leicestershire parishes, where it has no doubt been continuously followed since its first institution. For instance, we know the "Corfir" was rung at Loughborough in the reign of Edward the Sixth, and it rings there still. It is generally still rung at eight o'clock, though in some instances this is varied. At Waltham on the Wolds, and at Kegworth, it rings at eight o'clock on all evenings, excepting Saturday, when it rings at seven o'clock. In several parishes in Leicestershire the continuance of the Curfew was sought to be secured by an endowment, provided by persons, who, in times when the roads were badly defined, and crossed an open unenclosed country, lost their way in the gloom of evening, or in the darkness of winter early nights, but were enabled to find their village home by its welcome sound. At S. Martin's, Leicester, it is rung at nine o'clock, and has been rung at that hour for a long period. We learn from the Town Book of Acts of the Borough of Leicester, that on the 17th November, 1553, it was enacted at a Common Hall — a man having been killed in the street — that no person of what degree soever inhabiting in the town or suburbs should go abroad in the street after nine o'clock at night and after the Curfew bell had left ringing, excepting officers and watch ; and that the said bell should be rung nightly from Michaelmas till Lady-day in Lent ; for which the twenty-four were to pay 2d. and the forty-eight id. Peculiar Uses. 115 each.* The following stringent bye-law was also passed 22 February, 25th Elizabeth. " Item, that the keeper of any ale-house that suffers any townsman to remain in his house after the Curfew bell hath rung (without lawful cause) shall forfeit I2d. to be paid presently, or else to remain in ward that night. "f The Curfew at S. Martin's, Leicester, is called occasion- ally "Bow-bell," both in the Churchwardens' Accounts, and in the Borough Chamberlains' Accounts : e.g. : In 1640 Cockle, the parish clerk, being ill, and unable to ring the bell, the churchwardens finding a substitute, say: — " Paid for Bow-bell when Cockle lay sick o o 6d." And in 1563-4 the Chamberlains credit their account with a fine received : " Itm. of Anthony Gymson for walking in the streets after bobell vj^." A correspondent informs me that, in 1469, Bow bell in London, was ordered to be rung at nine o'clock in the evening for the closing of shops, and so " Bow-bell " may have become a proverbial term. After the ringing of the Curfew it is customary in some places, as at Melton Mowbray, to toll the day of the month. *I am much indebted to Wm. Kelly known to Nichols ; was afterwards missing, Esq. for a verbatim copy of the curious and was supposed to be lost ; but when the Acte for Nyght Walkers in which the above old Exchange, in the Market Place, was regulation as to the Curfew is found. It taken down it was discovered, with other is comprised in a Manuscript Book called local MSB., in a box within that building, the Town Book of Acts. This book was f Nichols. ii6 Peculiar Uses. A peculiar custom is followed at Sheepy Magna : the ring- ing of the Curfew is discontinued during the interval between the death and the burial of any parishioner : at Bottesford it is not rung during Whitsun week. The Morning Bell. The origin of the ringing of the Morning-bell arose from an extension of the practice of say- ing an "Ave" to the Virgin at nightfall. In 1399 Arch- bishop Arundel issued a mandate commanding that at early dawn one " Our Father" and five "Hail Marys" should be said.* As a reminder to all of this duty the Angelus was rung. This bell was often called "Gabriel" after the Angel of the Annunciation ; the second bell at Little Peatling is so named, and was doubtless rung for this purpose. Again it often bore an inscription indicative of its purpose, as at Bottesford (5th bell) which is clearly a repetition from an older bell : " I have the name of Gabriel sent from heaven." This morning bell was continued to be rung at Melton Mowbray, at four o'clock, until the year 1708 when it was discontinued. It is still rung at Loughborough, Lutter- worth, S. Martin's, Leicester, (where it was rung in 1549) Wymeswold, Waltham and other places in the county. It has long been used simply as a call to daily work. Henry Penn, the bellfounder, had this in his mind, when he cast the bell at S. Ives, which is rung there early in the morn- ing ; for he placed upon it the pithy sentence : " Arise, and go about your business." * Walcott's Sue. Arch. Rock's Church of Our Fathers. Peculiar Uses. 117 A mid-day Angelus was rung in France in the fifteenth century, but the practice does not appear to have been in- troduced into England. In a few parishes in Leicestershire, as at Bottesford, and the two Kilworths, a mid-day bell is now rung, but — in the absence of all evidence to the con- trary — the use may be attributed to a secular origin — the giving warning to agricultural labourers and others of the time — rather than to a religious one.* The Pancake-bell. In addition to the occasional confession of sin to the priest, it was considered in mediaeval times that the week preceding Lent was specially an appro- priate time for all to perform that duty. It was hence called Shrove-tide, and the Tuesday in it called Shrove, Shrive, * It may be worth noting that the " Hail Mary" as now used by Roman Catholics, consists of three portions : (i) the angelic greeting " Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee : " (2) the greeting of Elizabeth "Blessed art thou among women, and bless- ed is the fruit of thy womb.Jesus," and (3) " Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sin- ners now, and at the hour of death . Amen. ' ' The latter portion was unknown in the English Church , and also to English Roman Catholics three hundred years ago. The "Hail Mary" was unknown in any form to the Anglo-Saxons : they were taught the "Our Father" and the "Belief." Neither did the Anglo-Normans use it, the "Our Father" and the " Belief" were still to be taught; and down to the year 1212 " Our Father," but no "Hail Mary," was said before each of the Canonical Hours, ac- cording to Lincoln use. In 1237 the "Hail Mary" is first formally mentioned by Alex- ander de Stavenby bishop of Coventry. This salutation, however, only contained the first two portions of the modern " Ave" — the words of Scripture — and the only Salisbury book in which it appears in its present form is the folio edition of the Sarum Breviary, printed at Paris, in 1531. In this note I have epitomised the words of the learned Roman Catholic ecclesi- ologist the late Dr. Rock [Church of our Fathers, vol. in. pp 315-319) who also says : " In one of the last books of prayers print- ed in [Roman] Catholic England the "Ave Maria" is as follows: "Hail Mary ful of grace, our Lorde is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruyte of thy wombe. Amen." The Primer in English and Latin after Salisburie use &-€., A.D. 1556." ii8 Peculiar Uses. or Confession-Tuesday — shrive being an old Saxon word for confession. The confession was made in the church, where the priest sat in an open chair, or stall, to hear the con- fessions of his people, to award them such penance as he thought good for them, or to give them absolution. In order that all might be reminded of this duty, and be informed that the priest was ready to receive them, a bell was rung calling them to the church. This was the origin of the ringing of the bell on Shrove-Tuesday. But another custom was followed in those times when Lent was more strictly observed than now as a time of abstinence from flesh meat. On Shrove-Tuesday, we are told by a writer in Notes and Queries, the housewives, in order to use up all the grease, lard, dripping, &c., made pancakes, and the apprentices, and others abgut the house were summoned to the meal by the ringing of a bell, which was naturally called "the Pancake-bell."* The ringing of the Shrive-bell, now called the Pancake- bell, is still continued in a great number of Leicestershire parishes on Shrove-Tuesday. At Belgrave it used to be rung by the oldest apprentice in the parish ;t at its close a peal on all the bells is still rung, after which, the rule is, * Notes and Queries, 3rd s. vi. 404. in turn toll the tenor bell for an hour ; at f The apprentices seem to have set up the sound of which all the housewives in a claim to ring the Pancake-bell, for at the parish commence frying pancakes. — Hedon all the apprentices in the town Notes and Queries, 2n6. s. v. -^gi. whose indentures terminate before the At Wolverhampton two bells are rung at return of Shrove-Tuesday assemble in the twelve o'clock, the interpretation being "pan belfry of the church at eleven o'clock, and on."— Church Bells' Newspaper, vol. i. p. 154. Peculiar Uses. iig that the bells shall not be again rung (only chimed) until Easter Day, so avoiding all ringing during Lent. At Belton, Shrove-Tuesday is kept as a holiday by the children, so it was, to some extent, until recently, at Hinckley. Shakespeare in All's well that ends well speaks of a pan- cake as fit for Shrove-Tuesday, and Taylor the Water Poet (1630) mentions the Pancake-bell as being then rung on Shrove-Tuesday. Wedding Peals. We find traces of the wedding peal at Loughborough in 1588, when it was " Agreed at this accompt that every marridge haveing or reqring to have the bells rung shall paye vj^. to the poremens boxe and vj^. towards repairinge of the bells . . . . " So also at S. Martin's, Leicester, it was agreed in 1612-13 that only three peals be rung at weddings for 2S. 6d. : six- pence to be paid for every peal beyond. At Humberstone, and at Owston, a peal is rung after Divine Service, on Sunday morning, when the Banns of an intended marriage are first " put up." At Harwell it was customary some years ago to ring, at the funeral of a spinster what was called her wedding peal as her dead body was being conveyed to the church. A muffled peal (as in some places not in this county) would have been more appropriate. The Fire-Bell. At Barrow-on-Soar the bells are rung backwards to give notice of a fire. This is not unusual. On the 7th bell at St. Ives are the words : — " When backward rung we tell of fire Think how the world shall thus expire." I20 Peculiar Uses. Call Bells. Parish and Church meetings are called in some parishes by ringing a bell. At Melton Mowbray notice is given of a parish meeting by the ringing of the sixth bell for fifteen minutes. The ringers are called for a wedding peal at Hinckley by the treble bell : it is tolled thrice three times, then "pulled up" and "down" again very quickly, after which thrice three tolls are again given. Something similar is probably the custom in other parishes. The Gleaning-Bell. In several country parishes, as at Waltham-on-the-Wolds, and Wymondham, a gleaning bell is rung during harvest, both morning and evening, giving warning when gleaning may commence, and when it must close, for the day. This is done in order that all — old and feeble, as well as young and active — may have a fair start. S. Hugh's day. The bells of Loughborough and Leicester were formerly regularly rung on S. Hugh's day. It need scarcely be said that he was Bishop of Lincoln, and that Leicestershire was until lately in that diocese. He was consecrated in 1186. He rebuilt his cathedral church, carrying, it is said, many of the stones to the workmen employed with his own hands. His funeral was one of the grandest on record. He was carried to the cathedral, where he was buried, by "two kings, John of England and William of Scotland, assisted by some of their nobles, three arch- bishops, fourteen bishops, and more than a hundred abbots, and buried in a silver shrine."* * Cal. of Eng. Church, ilhistvated, p. 136. Peculiar Uses. 121 Godwyn, in his Catalogue of Bishops,* says: — "The anniversary of S. Hugh had used to be observed with great solemnity, particularly at Leicester." The Loughborough Churchwardens charge, in 1584, and in subsequent years : — " Item pd to the ringers on St. Hew Daiye iiijs. iiijf?." and S. Martin's (Leicester) Churchwardens in 1588, and other years, say : " Paid to the ringers on St. Hugh's day viijrf." Catch-Cope Bells. In the Accounts of the Church- wardens of S. Martin's, Leicester, are the following entries: 1549-50 Itm rec. of Will"" Tayllor Srgant (?) in ernest of the iij Catche Coppe bells aft"^ xxvs. a hundryth ... xij^. Itm pd to Rob' Sekerston and Rog. Johnson for takyn downe the iij Catche Coppe bells xij^. 1550-51. Itm rec. of Mr. Lambt and Mr. Herek for the leyst Catche Cope bell xxvijs. xj^. Itm rec. of Will" Tayllor and Willm Syngylton for two of the same bells iij//. xJ5. yiijd. It will be seen that these bells were small : the first one sold weighed rather over a hundred weight : the others were somewhat larger. That they were rung by ropes is clear from the sale of a "Catche Cope rope" in the year 1547. It has been suggested that these bells were suspended, in a small belfry or campanile, on the gable end of the church, because Cope signifies an arch or hill on the top of a wall, * Quoted by Nichols. 122 Peculiar Uses. and that this belfry standing in that position might well be called " Catch " i.e., cache cope from its covering the top of a wall.* When the Chronicle of S. Martin's Church was written I did not accept this explanation, but I am more in- clined to do so now, because I find in addition to the sale of the " Catche Cope" rope in 1547, the churchwardens sold in 1560-1 a "Gable rope," and again in 1561-2 an- other " Gable rope." When the chapel at the east end of the small south aisle in S. Martin's Church was rebuilt some years ago, a newell staircase was discovered in the north east angle of the wall, which may have led to this belfry. The Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott suggests that these bells were used as a chime, warning for service, and says, that at Winchester the bells are chimed after the peal, and before the single bell. Miscellaneous Ringing. In addition to these uses of our Church Bells in Leicestershire may be mentioned the " ringing of the old year out and the new year in" — an old custom : the ringing on the great Festivals of the Church — in Anglo-Saxon times "from Childermass all through the holidays a full peal was rung for matins, mass, and even- song :"t — and now we welcome Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide by our joyous peals. Upon all loyal occasions we still ring, though perhaps not so lustily as we did in more exciting times, when we were unhappily frequently at war with our neighbours. Then, when our victories by land and by sea called forth bursts of patriotic thankfulness and * Notes and Queiies, 3rd s. ii. p. 439. t Rock, vol. iii. part 2, p. 56. Peculiar Uses. 123 exultation from Englishmen, their feelings found expression in no way more strongly than in the joyous and jubilant ringing of our glorious and spirit-stirring rings of bells. The Accounts of the Churchwardens of S. Martin's, Leicester, teem with entries of payments to the ringers for their services on such occasions in the first fifteen years of the present century, winding up with the " capture of Bounaparte" in those for the year 1815-16. No doubt Church Bells have been in past years rung upon most improper occasions. Happily they are now looked upon as part of the ornaments, or requisite furniture, of a church, and set apart with it to be used for holy and sacred purposes, and upon occasions, when by their exhila- rating sounds, they can add to the joyous thankfulness and innocent pleasure of all within reach of their sound. Of their occasionally perverted use within the memor}^ of many living, it will be well not to speak further, but rather to rejoice that a better feeling, and better customs, now prevail. The few Traditions I have collected about the Leicester- shire Church Bells will be found further on under the different parishes. Ancient Bell-tile foumi at Repton, Derbyshi; LATIN INSCRIPTIONS ON CHURCH BELLS IN LEICESTERSHIRE. [With Translations.*] AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM. [ To the greater glory of God. ] AVE MARIA. [ Hail Mary. ] AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA. [ Hail Mary, full of grace. ] AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINVS TECVM. [ Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. ] AVE SANCTA MARIA. [ Hail Holy Mary. ] BEATA MARIA. [ Blessed Mary. ] C^LORVM CHRISTE PLACEAT TIBI REX SONVS ISTE. [ Be Christ the King of Heaven Pleased when this sound is given. ] For these I am indebted to the kindness of a friend. Latin Inscriptions on CJiiirch Bells. 125 CLEMENS ATQVE PIA MISERIS SVCCVRRE MARIA. [ Mary, merciful and loving, succour the afflicted. ] CREDE RESIPECE MORI MEMENTO. [ Believe, Repent, Rememher Death. ] CUM SONO SI NON VIS VENIRE NUNQUAM AD PRECES CUPIES IRE. [ // you're unwilling to come when I call To prayers you II not ivish to go at all. ] CUM VOCO VENITE. [ Come when I call. ] CYMBALA DULCITO QUO DEMULCENT CARMINE CAMPOS. \^Let the Bells sweetly sound A strain to charm the fields around.'] DISSI MORE NOSTRI VIVERE DISSE SONO. [ To our people I cry Learn to live, learn to die. ] ECCLESIAM CONSERVAT DEUS. [ God preserve the Church. ] EX DONO BELLAMONTIS DIXIE IN FELICISSIMUM CAROLI REGIS SECUNDI REDITUM. [ The gift of Beaumont Dixie on the most auspicious return of King Charles the Second. ] FILIO DEI UNIGENITO SACRUM. [ Sacred to the Only Begotten Son of God. ] GAVDETE IN DOMINO ET EXVLTATE IVSTI. [ Rejoice in the Lord ye righteous, and he glad. ] GERET NOMEN MAGDALENE CAMPANA. [ The bell shall hear the name of Magdalene. ] 126 Latin Inscriptions on Church Bells. GLORIA DEO SOLI. [ Glory to God alone. ] GLORIA PATRI FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO. [ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. ] GLORIA DEO IN EXCELSIS. [ Glory to God in the highest. ] GRATA SIT ARGUTA RESONANS CAMPANULA VOCE. [ Pleasant be the sound of this little bell's clear voice. ] HEC CAMPANA CELIS RESONET SANCTI MICHAELIS. [ May this bell resound to the praise of S. Michael in heaven, ] HEC CAMPANA BEATA SACRA TRINITATE FIAT. [ Be this bell sacred to the Holy Trinity. ] HUIUS SCI PETRI. [ Saint Peter s Bell.] There are several similar inscriptions to other Saints. IH'S NAZARENVS REX IVDEORVM FILI DEI MISERERE MEL [Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews. Son of God have mercy on me. ] There are several bells bearing the first portion of this inscription only. IN HONOREM GULIELMI CUMBRIA DUCIS REBELLES SCOTOS VICTRICIBUS ARMIS DEBELLANTIS 1745. [ In honour of William Duke of Cumberland overcoming with victorious arms the rebellious Scots. ] IN HONORE SANCTI LEONARDI. [ In honour of S. Leonard. ] IN MULTIS ANNIS RESONAT CAMPANA lOHANNIS. [ For many years John's Bell resounds. ] INTACTUM SILEO PERCUTE DULCE CANO. [ Untouched I am a silent thing But stvihe me and I sn'cetly ring. ] Latin Inscriptions on Church Bells. 127 ISTA CAPANA EST COPOSITA IN HONORE BTE MARIA VIRGIS. [ This bell has been founded in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ] ISTA CAMPANA FACTA EST IN HONORE SANCTE TRINITATE. [ This bell has been made in honour of the Holy Trinity. ] There are several similar inscriptions. LAVDATE DOMINVM CYMBALIS SONORIS. [ Praise the Lord on the loud cymbals. ] LAVDATE ILLVM CYMBALIS SONORIS. [ Praise Him on the loud cymbals. ] LAUS TIBI SIT TRIN'E TIBI GLORIA SIT SINE FINE. [ Praise be to Thee Trinity, and to Thee be glory for ever. ] LAVS TIBI DOMINE. [ Praise to Thee O Lord. ] LAUS DOMINI NOSTRA MOBILITATE VIGET. [ The praise of the Lord flourishes through our motion. ] MEROREM MESTIS LETIS SIC LETA SONABO. [ Sadly to the sad, to the joyous joyful, will I sound. ] MISSI DE CELIS HABEO NOMEN GABRIELIS. [ I have the name of Gabriel sent from heaven. ] There are several similar inscriptions. MORABOR IN DOMO DOMINI IN LONGITVDINEM DIERVM. [ / will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. ] MORTE BEATA NIHIL BEATIUS. [ Nothing happier than a happy death. ] 128 Latin Inscriptions on Church Bells. MORTEM REGINE DEFLEAT ANG : COLATUR PAX FLOREAT ECCLESIA. \^Let England weep her Queen's death. Let Peace he cherished, and the Church flourish. ] MORS ADEST PARA. [ Death is here, prepare. ] MVLTI VOCATI PAVCI ELECTI. [ Many called few chosen. ] NOMEN MAGDALENE CAMPANA GERET MELODIE. [ This bell shall bear in its sound the name of Magdalene. ] NOMEN SANCTE lESU NOS SERVA MORTIS AB ESU. [ By Jesti's Holy Name be we From the bite of death kept free. ] NON CLAMOR SED AMOR CANTAT IN AVRE. [ Loves voice not noise Sings in the ear. ] NOS SVMVS CONSTRVCTI AD LAVDEM DOMINI. [ We are cast to the Glory of God. ] OMNE TULIT PUNCTUM QUI MISCUIT UTILE DULCI. [ Who hath blended the useful with the pleasing hath gained every point. ] OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. [ Do all to the glory of God. ] OMNIS CARNALIS VIS FORTIS CONGRUIT HERBIS. \_All the strength of flesh is as grass. ] OMNIVM SANCTORVM. [ (In honour of) A II Saints. ] PATRI UNICO DEO SACRUM. [ Sacred to the Father the only God. ] Latin Inscriptions on Chiu'ch Bells. 129 QUOD A PLURIBUS COLLATUM HIC ME PONIT. [ A public subscription places me here. ] RESONABO LAUDES GENTIS BOOTHBEIANyE. [ / will resound tlie praise of the Bootlihy family. ] SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM LAUDATE ILEUM CYMBALIS SONORIS. [ Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Praise Him on the loud cymbals. ] SOLI DEO GLORIA PAX HOMINIBVS. [ To God alone he glory, Peace to men. ] SOLI DEO 0[PTIMO] M[AXIMO] GLORIA IN STERNUM. [ To God alone most perfect and mighty be glory for ever. ] SOLI DEO IMMORTALE SIT GLORIA. [ To God alone immortal he glory. ] SONORO MEO SONO RESONO DEO. [ With my sonorous sound I sound to God. ] SPIRITUI SANCTO SACRUM. [ Sacred to the Holy Spirit. ] STATUTUM EST OMNIBUS SEMEL MORI. OCTO CAMPANAS SACRA EXAUDIMUS IN ARCE DULCES ALTISONAS O HILARES HILARES. [ It is appointed unto all men once to die. We hear eight bells in the sacred tower sound soft and loud. joyful, joyful ! ] STELLA MARIA MARIS SUCCURRE PIISSIMA NOBIS. [ Mary Star of the Sea most holy succour us. ] SUAVIUS IN NULLIS VOX CONCINIT ^NEA CAMPIS IN GYRUM GLOMERATA MELOS. [ No brazen voice, gathered into the circled hound, In any other field is found To sing a song of sweeter sound. ] S 130 Latin Inscriptions on Church Bells. SUM ROSA PULSATA MUNDI MARIA VOCATA. [ 7 being rung am called Mary, the Rose of the World. ] SURGE AGE. [ Arise and come. ] SUSCITO VOCE PIOS TU JESU DIRIGE MENTES. [ / arouse the pious with my voice. Thou, Jesus, direct their minds. ] TEMPUS TRANIT DEUS VOCAT. [ Time passes, God calls. ] TEMPUS SED TACITUM SUBRUIT. [ Time though silent undermines. ] TINNITUS RAPIDOS SCINTILLANS SPARGO PER AURAS. [ Bright within, I spread around Through the air rapid sound. ] VOX DNI IHU XPI WOX EXULTACIONIS. [ The voice of the Lord Jesus Christ is the voice of exultation. ] VOX MEA EST DULCIS MEA SCINTILLANS VULTUS. [ Sweet is my voice and bright my face. ] Average Weight of Bells. 131 List of the Average Weight of Bells cast by Messrs. Taylor and Co., of Loughborough, Leicestershire. The diameter being known, a reference to this Hst will give the approximate weight of any bell. DIAMETER. weight. DIAMETER. weight. Inches. Cwts. Qrs. /i5. Inches. Cwts. Qrs. lbs. 12 I 20 37 900 13 2 6 38 10 14 2 20 39 II 15 3 16 40 1200 16 I 41 13 17 I I 42 14 18 I 2 43 15 19 I 3 44 16 20 2 45 1700 21 2 I 46 18 22 2 2 47 19 23 2 3 48 20 24 3 49 21 I 25 3 2 50 22 2 25 4 51 24 27 4 2 52 25 2 28 4 3 53 27 29 5 54 28 2 30 5 2 55 30 31 6 56 31 2 32 6 I 57 33 2 33 6 2 58 36 34 7 59 39 35 7 2 60 42 36 8 I THE INSCRIPTIONS ON THE CHURCH BELLS OF LEICESTERSHIRE, With, in many cases, the Diameter at the mouth of the Bell from which its approximate weight may be ascertained (see page 131). To which are added Extracts, where pro- curable, from the Commissioners Returns temp. Edward VI., and from Parochial and other Records, together with Local Traditions, and Notes on the Uses of Church Bells peculiar to different parishes. Note. — The numbers between [ ] vefev to the woodcuts on the Plates. It being impossible to reproduce here the various forms of medicvval Gothic letters used on the ancient bells, one form of letter is here used to indicate ivhere Gothic capitals are used [ J^ ^ ©" ] and one form ivhere small Gothic or ^^ black letter'' is used [a b t]. For the various forms of Roman letters found on modern bells one form [ABC] will suffice. Errors of spelling, misplacement of letters, &c., S'C, in the folloining inscrip- tions, are copied literally from the Bells. They are therefore Founders' blunders and not Printers' mistakes. 134 ^^^^ hiscriptions on the AB-KETTLEBY. S. James. 3 Bells. 1. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH 1653 [d io-] 2. [ + 3 ] .H M-^i^ ^i^^l [ U 6. ] 3. THOMAS CROSS C. W. THOMAS HEDDERLY FOUNDER NOTTm 1765. This bell was previously inscribed " Jhesus be our speede 1662." In 6 Ed. VI. there were "iij bells and a sanctus bell." ALLEXTON. S. Peter. 4 Bells. 1. ©'bbar&e .^ntirafats unno bomcni i597- 2. ROBERT BLACKWELL CHVRCHWARDEN 1715. 3. THOMAS NORRIS MADE MEE 1662 T.H. 4. JOHES BIDDLE RECTOR DE ALASTON 1640 VIVAT CAROLVS REX. Edward Andrews was lord of the manor : he was a further benefactor to the church, having given a Porch in the year 1594. John Biddulph, the loyal rector, was buried g Jan. 1641-2. — Nichols. ANSTY. 5. Mary. 5 Bells. 1. GOD REWARD MY BENEFACTORS. ( Diam. 29 in. ) 2. J. M. HALTON CAST US ALL ANNO MDCCXXIII. ( Diam. 30 in. ) 3. Blank. (Diam. 32 in.) 4. Blank. (Diam. 35 in.) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 135 5. WILLIAM HARSTAFF JOSEPH LEWIN C. W. ( Diam. 38 in. ) In 6 Ed. VI. there were " Three bells." S. Michael. APPLEBY MAGNA. 6 Bells. THIS BELL RAISED BY SUBSCRIPTION 1774. THE SECOND GAVE BY MR. MOORE'S FAMILY 1769. THE 3rd AND 4th RECAST BY SUBSCRIPTION. THE 5th RECAST BY THE PARISH TO THE OLD TENNOR. LESTER PACK & CHAPMAN LONDON FECIT. LESTER PACK & CHAPMAN OF LONDON LESTER PACK & CHAPMAN FECIT 1769. LESTER PACK & CHAPMAN OF LONDON FECIT 1769. LESTER PACK & CHAPMAN LONDON FECIT 1769. IH'8 : NAZARENVS[9] REX : IVDEORVM [ 9 ] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1619 [U i.] ARNESBY. S. Peter. 4 Bells. GOD [9] SAVE [9] THE [9] kING [9] 1624 [ij i.] CELORVM [9] CHRSTE [9] PLATIAT TIBI REX [9] SONVS ISTE [9] 1624 [u I.] IHg : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1624 [XJ i.] CVM • SONO • SI • NON • VIS [9] VENIRE [9] NVNQVAM • AD • PRECES [9] CVPIES • IRE [9] 1624 [JJ i.] On Sundays the ist bell is rung at 8 a.m. : the ist and 2nd at 9 a.m. 136 The Inscriptions on the ASFORDBY. All Saints. 5 Bells. I. GOD : SAVE [9] THE : kING [9] ANTHONY HILL 1631 [9] [ U I- ] 2 and 3. IH'S : NAZARENVS [g] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI MISERERE : MEI [9] 1630 [9] [ U i- ] 4. CELORVM CHRSTE [9] PLATIAT TIBI REX [9] SONVS ISTE 1630 [ xj I.] 5. CVM • SONO • SI • NON • VIS [9] VENIRE [9] NVNQVAM AD • PRECES [9] CVPIES • IRE 1630 [ U i- ] (Nine coins near the mouth.) After the ringing of the Death-knell each bell is tolled thrice for a male, twice for a female. ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH. S. Helen. 8 Bells. 1. THE TWO TREBLE BELLS WERE GIVEN BY VOLUN- TARY SUBSCRIPTION IN COMMEMORATION OF THE PEACE OF 1814. JOHN BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT 1814. 2. The Same. 3. GLORIA DEO SOLI T. EAYRE. THE GIFT OF THE INHABITANTS OF ASHBY 1741. 4. J. BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT 1817. 5. GOD [12] SAVE [12] HIS [12] CHVRCH [12] JOHN DICKINSON [12] WARDEN [12] 1698. 6. [ + 42 ] fMm [ □ 43 ] 'MM-'^M-:mj^:M'w^ [ ° 43 ] :ei:e,^ [ □ 43 ] 3e't?':e>:e.cd:ei-^x3ei 7. THE REV. Wm. mac DOUALL VICAR : J. TOMPSON AND Wm. DEVENPORT C. W. J. BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT 1822. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 137 JO TAYLOR AND SON BELLFOUNDERS LOUGHBO IN THE YEAR OF OUR SALVATION 1849. In 6 Ed. VI. there were "fyve belles and a hande belle." The ancient tenor bell dated 1571 and recast in 1849 weighed 14 cwt. 3 qrs, 2 lb. ; the present one weighs 17 cwt. 3 qrs. o R. Tradition says a former inhabitant of this place having lost his way was, after wandering about nearly the whole night, and when nearly exhausted, enabled to find his way home by hearing the sound of the clock of S. Helen's Church. To mark his gratitude for this deliverance he conveyed to the trustees of the Grammar School certain property, since called the "Day-Bell Houses," upon trust, among other things, that they should cause one of the church bells to be rung for a quarter of an hour at four o'clock every morning. This direction was carried out, and the "four o'clock bell" was regularly heard every morning until the year 1807, when upon the authority of a Decree of the Court of Chancery, this custom, "useless and annoying" to the inhabitants, was discontinued. Instead of this early bell, one is now rung daily at 9 a.m. and at 2 p.m. for the purpose of assembling the boys in the Grammar School. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. On Sundays one bell is rung at 7 a.m., two bells at 8 a.m. ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH. Holy Trinity. j ^^^^ No inscription. ASHBY FOLVILLE. S. Mary the Virgin. c Bells. I. GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH [ n 10 ] 1652. (Diam. 29 in.) T 138 The Inscriptions on the 2. GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH [ n 10 ] 1653. (Diam. 30:^ in. ) 3. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1626 [ U i- ] ( Diam, 32 in. ) 4. GOD [9] SAVE [9] THE [9] kING [9] RALPH PICK [9] HENRY MOORE [9] CW [9] 1637 [ IJ i. ] ( Diam. 36 in. ) 5. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. THO. EAYRE RETT. JOHN BLACK AND JOSEPH STEVENSON C. WARDENS • : • 1739 • : • (Diam. 40^ in. ) The Rev. J. Godson informs me that about two hundred years ago a lady having lost her way, and regained it by the sound of the Ashby bells, left the proceeds of a piece of land to the poor of the parish. The boundaries of the land were marked by three large stones, and the produce brought to the church to strew it with hay to keep the people's feet warm : afterwards the corn produced was for many years brought to the church and divided amongst the poor. It is said that from time to time the ancient landmarks have been removed further in, till now the once fair piece of land is but a small piece yielding to the Church- wardens about six shillings a year. At the death-knell three tolls are given for a male, two for a female, both before and after the knell. ASHBY MAGNA. S. Mary. 3 Bells. 1. ^ SOLI DEO GLORIA PAX HOMINIBVS 1655 I. M. 2. JOHN BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT 1817 f f t t t 3- ^:b.m-%M'^ wMwi jhm^a^^ 1613 [ u i- 1 ( On top of bell the letters H. B. ) The 2nd bell was previously inscribed : " Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judeorvm." Church Bells of Leicestershire. 139 ASHBY PARVA. S. Peter. 3 Bells. 1. [ + 2 ] SERVE [ D 4 ] THE [04] LORDE 1591. 2. NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE • 1607 [13]. 3. [ + 22 ] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT • DOTH • ME • SEE THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE • 1605. ASTON FLAMVILLE. S. Peter. 2 Bells. 1. [ + 2 ] PRAYSE THE LORD 1596. (Diam. 31 in. ) 2. Men mttxmn ora p nobis [ U 5-] ( Diam. 37 in.) AYLESTON. S. Andrew. 4 Bells. I. [ + 45 ] '^^WJ.M'MJ^^^'^'^'^ : 1S{JJ^J?^'&. ': [ + 45 ] jE{M<&^j-m ; X3^:h. : ^'m : M(BM^(B:m^ ; 2. [ + 3 ] j(BMM^ : mmw'^ j^omm^ : ®:,^:K^:Ei [ n D 62 repeated ] [ + 3 ] WMiissima :i?iobis ( Diam. 42 in. ) The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. At death-knell thrice three tolls are given for a male, thrice two for a female. BIRSTALL. S- James. 3 Bells. I. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH 1656 [ d 10. ] ( Diam. 26 in. ) V 146 The Inscriptions on the 2. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1625 [ u i- 1 ( Diam. 30 in. ) 3- [ + 55^ JM^ [ D 59 ] ^MM-'':^M:mMMl^M [ □ 59 ] m:E:^ [ □ 59 ] jrw:m^^^i^mi (Diam. 33i in. Cracked. ) In 6 Edward VI. there were " three belles and a saunctes bell." BITTESWELL. S. Mary. 4 Bells. 1. HENRY PENN HE MADE ME 1706. 2. H. P. 1706. 3. H. P. HE MADE ME i7o« WILLIAM PALLATT WILLIAM CRISPE CHVRCHWARDENS 4. H. P. 1706. BLABY. All Saints. 3 Bells. 1. [ + 22 ] ROBART TILLEY AND THOMAS VARNAM CHVRCH [ + 22 ] NEWCOMBE OF LEICESTER MADE MEE 161 1 WARDENS 2. IH'a : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1634 [ U i- 1 3. THOMAS MEARS & SON OF LONDON FECIT 1807. The Curfew is rung at 8 p.m. during the winter months. The Clerk receives a small sum annually, the rent of a piece of land, given by the Rev. E. Stokes in 1761, for this service. — Charity Commissioners' Report, 1837, p. 298. The Pancake-bell is rung at noon on Shrove-Tuesday. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 147 BLACKFORDBY. S. Margaret. 2 Bells. 1. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH 1724. ( Diam. 16 in.) 2. [ D 7 ] 1663. (Diam. 18 in.) Both cracked ; the smallest unhung, the second with broken wheel. The parish clerk — George Baker — succeeded his father, who was clerk for fifty years. He is eighty-three years of age. He has been clerk for sixty years, and can now (1874) mount the belfry stairs, and go up a ladder to the bells, as actively as a middle-aged man. BLASTON S. GILES. S. Giles. i Bell. GLORIA PATRI ET FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO 1720. When the above bell was cast by Thomas Eayre the following entry was made in the Register : " The frame of the Bell belonging to S. Giles' royal donative at Blaston had an old date on it of 11 16 so that it was aged 604 years in this present year of salvation by Jesus." This was clearly a misreading for 15 16 or 1556 ; the figure 5 being at that time written very like the figure i. BLASTON S. MICHAEL. S. Michael. i Bell. Blank. BOTTESFORD. S. Mary. 6 Bells. I. J BRYANT HERTFORD 1810. (Diam. 35 in.) 148 The Inscriptions on the 2. PEACE AND GOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD A.D. 1713 [ d 27. ] ( Diam. 38 in.) 3- [ + 34 ] ( Diam. 27^ in. ) 3. CUM VOCO VENITE JOSEPH EAYRE FECIT 1770. (Diam. 31^ in. ) CHURCH LANGTON. S. Peter. 8 Bells. 1. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI E.D.G. HANBURY 1762. LET US CALL UPON THE LORD WHO IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED (Diam. 28 in. ) 2. NOS SUMU^ CONSTRUCTI AD LAUDEM DOMINI E.D.G. HANBURY ANNO DOM 1762 PRAISE HIM UPON THE LOUD CYMBALS ( Diam. 30 in. ) 3. JOSEPH EAYRE S. NEOTS FECIT. LAUS TIBI SIT TRINE TIBI GLORIA SIT SINE FINE 1763. LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD ( Diam. 32 in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. i6i 4. THOMAS NORRIS MADE MEE 1676. ( Diam. 34 in. ) 5. The same. (Diam. 36 in. ) 6. [ + 34 ] iMMTTM :b:e. o^:ei m:jpm:e> Under which are in ornate Gothic characters the letters 'J^ J^ [ D 37 and 38 ] the C being placed upside down to serve for D. ( Diam. 38 in. ) 7. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. WILLIAM BUSWELL AND JOHN BUZZARD C. WARDENS THO. EAYRE RETT ( Diam. 42 in. ) 8. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. HENRY WARD AND THOMAS BUZZARD C. W. THO. EAYRE K. 1741. ( Diam. 48 in. ) The ring consisted of five bells until the year 1763. In his First Proposals with regard to the Foundations at Church Langton issued in 1758, the Rev. W. Hanbury included amongst the intended "decorations" of the church there, "three bells, to be added to the five, to make a peal of eight." These bells were ordered by him in the winter of 176 1-2. He says in his History &c. : — " I therefore sent for Mr. Joseph Cayne* of S. Neots in Huntingdonshire, who engaged to cast three entire new- bells, and complete the peal of eight, to be in time and ready for ringing, all in new frames, by the Michaelmas following. Though this was engaged for, it was not done, for they were not finished before the summer after ; which was reckoned by some to have been short enough for such an undertaking, "f A description of the bells, with their mottos as given above, will be found in Mr. Hanbury's History, p. 169, as also an amusing account of the dispute he had with the two ladies of the manor, Mrs. Byrd and Mrs. Pickering, relating to these bells, and to other of his proposals * A printer's blunder for Eayre. f Pp. 17, 137, 138. 1 62 The Inscriptions on the connected with his gigantic scheme for the Foundations at Church Langton. The bells are rung on Shrove-Tuesday at noon. At the death-knell three tolls are given for a male, two for a woman, one for a child, both before and after the knell. CLAYBROOKE. S. Peter. 4 Bells. 1. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE '. MEI [9] 1618 [ U i- ] (Diam. 351 in.) 2. The same dated 1626 [ IJ i. ] (Diam. 39 in. ) 3. ALL GLORY BEE TO GOD ON HIGH 1672 O O O (Diam. 42 in. ) 4. j^uius s« pctrc [ D D 28 and 29 ] [ n 61 ] [ U 63. ] (Diam. 46^^ in. ) In 161 1 the clerk had 8s. yearly for ringing the Curfew, and 3^. for ringing a Passing-bell. The Pancake-bell was then rung on Shrove- Tuesday. — Macaulafs Hist, of Claybrooke, pp. 94 and 128. This bell is still rung : the Curfew is discontinued. At the death-knell, three tolls are given thrice for a male ; two tolls thrice for a female. On Sundays the tenor bell is rung at 8 a.m. Before the Services the tenor bell is again rung for fifteen minutes, after which all the bells are chimed for fifteen minutes. COALVILLE. Christ's Church. i Bell. I. THOMAS MEARS, FOUNDER, LONDON, 1838. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 163 COLD OVERTON. S. John Baptist. 3 Bells. 1. J TAYLOR & SON FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1857. (Weight 7 cwt. o qrs. 51b. The ancient bell weighed 5 cwt. 2 qrs. 24 lb.) 2. + ^omcn XHasi^^lcne nmgitnn; (3crit X3CleIobtc \J { The founder has omitted the capital C. ) 3. THOMAS NORRIS MADE MEE 1664 H.G. H.B. In 6 Edward VL there were " iij bells and a saint's bell. COLE-ORTON. 5. Mary. 6 Bells. I, 2, 3, 4, 5. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1826. 6. REV. F. MEREWETHER RECTOR EDWARD BUTT KNIGHT THOMAS AYRE CHURCHWARDENS GOD SAVE THE CHURCH. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1826. Previous to 1826 there were only three bells. CONGERSTONE. S. Mary. 5 Bells. 1. JOHN TAYLOR BELLFOUNDER OXFORD & LOUGH- BOROUGH 1841. ( Diam. 27 in. ) 2. JOHN TAYLOR FECIT OXFORD & LOUGHBOROUGH 1841. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN. ( Diam. 28 in. ) 3. JOHN TAYLOR BELLFOUNDER OXFORD & LOUGH- BOROUGH J SANDS E BAXTER CHURCHWARDENS 1841. ( Diam. 28^ in. ) 164 The Inscriptions on the 4. JOHN TAYLOR BELLFOUNDER OXFORD & LOUGH- BOROUGH. F. M. KNOLLIS M.A. RECTOR J. M. COX B.A. CURATE 1841. ( Diam. 32 in. ) 5. J. TAYLOR BELLFOUNDER LOUGHBRO & OXFORD WHEN WEDDED HEARTS THEIR CONTRACT SEAL I RING FOR THEM THE MERRY PEAL WHEN FRIENDS LAMENT THE PARTING SOUL HERALD OF DEATH MY DIRGE I TOLL FOR YOUNG AND OLD FOR GRAVE AND GAY MY CHIME RESOUNDS EACH SACRED DAY. ( Diam. 35^^ in. Weight 7 cwt. Key A. ) Previous to 1841 (when the Right Honourable the Earl Howe gave the present ring) there were two bells only. COPT OAK. S. Peter. i Bell. One small modern bell. COSBY. S. Michael. 3 Bells. I. m:^€)XIlJT?li 159S [9] [UI-] (^Diam. 33 in.) (Diam. 33^ in. "I 5. I TO THE CHURCH THE LIMNG CALL A: TO THE GRAVE DO SUMMONS ALL JOHN WARTNABY CHURCH WARDEN THO. HEDDERLY FECIT NOTTINGHAM 17S4. ( Diam. 38} in. : a band [ 12 ] ) The Pancake-beU is rung on Shrove- Tuesday. A Gleaning-bell is nmg during har\-est. At the death- knell three tolls are given for a male, two for a female, both before and after the kneU. Nichols saj-s: "The Rev. Philip Hacket. fwenty-five j-ears Curate of this parish and Rector of South Croxton. was a great promoter and subscriber to this work ^^i.^-. the recasting of the ist and 5th bells) and by the help of Mr. Wartnab}', a gentleman of good estate in Great Dalb}', brought it to a completion." DALBY OX THE WOLDS. S. John Baptist. 4 Bells. I. GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH 1631. ( Diam. 29 in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 169 2. THOMAS MEARS OF LONDON FOUNDER 1835. ( Diam. 33 in. ) 3 [ + 52 ] j^ :m X5) :ei :e ica: xg: ^ o ^3. :e jh 'a: ^ xa:Bi@-:Ei3E©- ©-^(axgcie-m [4-44] J5-X?i)Hi(l> :iD 1596 [UI-] ( Diam. 31 in. ) 3- Ket (Sfampana ^atra ^iat 5I?ri:iiitat£ ^eata 1684. (Diam. 34 in. from the Nottingham foundry, as is shown by an ornamental border.) 4. THE GIFT OF SIR HENRY PURIEFOY BARONET 1684 RECAST 1710 T. BOWNE WARDEN. ( Diam. 36 in. ) The Purefeys were settled here as early as the reign of Richard II. FLECKNEY. S. Nicolas. i Bell. I. A. B.C. 4- 1604. Tradition says there were formerly two bells. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday at 11 a.m. The bell is rung at 8 a.m. on Sunday mornings. The Death-knell is rung between sunrise and sun- set only. FOSTON. S. Bartholomew. i Bell. I. IH'8 : NAZARENVS • REX : IVDEORVM • FILI : DEI • MISERERE MEI • 1617 [ U i- 1 000 176 Tlie Inscriptions on the There were formerly three bells. Two were sold about fifty years ago to pay for the repair of the tower: " a great and lasting disgrace" (remarks the present Rector) " to those then in power." FOXTON. S. Andrew. 5 Bells. 1. CELORVM CHRSTE [9] PLATIAT TIBI REX [9] SONVS ISTE [9] 1629 [9] [UI-] 2. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] [ ^ i. ] 4. IH'g : NAZARENVS [9] REX ! IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE ! MEI [9] 1632 [\J i.^ 5. The same dated 1630. The 3rd bell is dedicated to S. Stephen Proto- Martyr. There are some founder's blunders in the letters. FREEBY. S. Mary. 3 Bells. 1. GOD [9] SAVE [9] THE [9] kING [9] 1631 [9] [ u i. ] 2. GOD [13] SAVE [13] HIS [13] CHVRCH [13] W [13] T [13] [D 10 ] 1658. 2. CELORVM CHRSTE PLATIAT TIBE REX SONVS ISTE 1614 [ u I- ] In 6 Edward VI. there were "in the chapell of ffrebye a member of the churche of Melton iij bells in the ste.pell." Church Bells of Leicestershire. lyj FRISBY-ON-THE-WREAKE. S. Thomas a Beckett. 2 Bells. I. ^':^m-'^^:b, wm^ jho:^:m^ 1600 [015] (Diam. 30^ in. ) 2. GOD [12] SAVE [12] HIS [12] CHVRCH [12] W SWIFT J IRELAND CHVRCHWARDENS 1711 [12] ( Diam. 32 in. ) 3. SUSCITO VOCE PIOS TU JESU DIRIGE MENTES [12] ( Diam. 36^ in. ) At the death-knell three " tellers " are given for a male ; two for a female, both before and after the knell. Previous to 1842 funerals were chimed to church : now the tenor bell only is tolled. FROLESWORTH. S. Nicolas. 3 Bells. 1. IH'g : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1638 [9] [ U i- J ( Diam. 33 in. ) 2. CCELORUM CHRISTE PLACEAT TIBI REX SONUS ISTE -^ JOHN WRIGHT C.W. T. EAYRE RETT. FECIT 1749. ( Diam. 36 in. ) 3- [ + 76 ] ^um ^osa )Pulsata X^Clmibi X^Elarta "Itrocnta. ( Diam. 40 in. ) The Pancake-bell rings on Shrove-Tuesday. GADDESBY. S. Luke. 3 Bells. I. GOD [12] SAVE [12] THE [12] KING [12] 1701. z 178 The Inscriptions on the 2. [ + 3 ] mM^Elic^WM- miM^MJ^M^ [U6. ] 3. GOD [12] SAVE [12] HIS [12] CHVRCH [12] B. REEVE S HVTTON WARDENS 1701. GALBY. 5. Peter. 6 Bells. 1. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI ANNO DOMINI 1741. GLORIA DEO SOLI. 2. GRATA SIT ARGUTA RESONANS CAMPANULA VOCE GLORIA DEO SOLI. T. EAYRE 1741. 3. 4, 5. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. GLORIA PATRI FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO 1741. 6. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. GLORIA PATRI FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO. T. EAYRE RETT. 1746. ( Weight 12 Cwt. ) The Tower and body of the church were rebuilt in 1741 by the bounty of Mr. Fortrey, who at the same time gave the bells. — Nichols. GARTHORPE. S. Mary. 3 Bells. 1. [ + 3 ] .^ -^ :rii :i^ -^ [ ° 28 ] [ u 26 ] 2. [ + 36 ] j'M^^'w^ :©©■ €>"T^D6i M:ipm^:m 1608 [ n 8 ] 3. [ + 21 ] GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH OVR QVEENE AND README AMEN 1600 [ d 8. ] lu 6 Edward VI. there were " iij bells." Church Bells of Leicestershire. 179 GILMORTON. All Saints. 3 Bells. 1. WILLIAM BURDIT ROBART COULTMAN CHURCH- WARDENS JOSEPH EAYRE ST. NEOTS 1766. 2. TAYLOR & CO FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1871. 3. GLORIA DEO SOLI : • T : EAYRE W^m. COALMAN & GEO : CARR : • c : • wardens 1738. 4. WTLLIAM COLTMAN AND HERBERT RODGERS CHURCH W. 1861. JOHN TAYLOR & CO FOUND- ERS LOUGHBOROUGH. 5. GLORIA PATRI FILIO & SPIRITUI SACTO • : • OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI -^ THO EAYRE RETT. FECIT : • -{- 1749 H- ( Weight 1 1 cwt. ) The 4th was previously inscribed " Richard Bvrdit Edward Whit- head W'ardens 1671." GLENFIELD. S. Peter. i Bell. I. GOD [9] SAVE [9] THE [9] KING [9] 1636 [9] [\J i.] There were three bells at tlie beginning of this century. GLEN-MAGNA. S. Cuthbert. 3 Bells. 1. Wm. burton THO. HOBSON CHURCHWARDENS EDWd. ARNOLD FECIT 1785. ( Diam. 28^ in. ) 2. IH'8 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI (9) MISERERE : MEI [9] 1625 [ u i- ] (Diam. 29^ in. ) i8o The Inscriptions on the 3. Like ist. ( Diam. 31 in. ) 4. The same. ( Diam. 33^ in. ) 5. [ + 45 ] jMmM- '. mj^pf^iczCM-MM- 1 MJ^mmM- : (Diam. 37! in. ) The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. The Curfew is lately discontinued. At the death-knell thrice three tolls are given for a male, thrice two for a female. On Sundays a morning bell is rung at 7 a.m. ; it is rung again after morning service when Even-song is to be said. GLOOSTON. S. John. 2 Bells. 1. GLORIA PATRI FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO 1730 ^ 2. + 1686 RECAST 1866 BY J. TAYLOR & CO. Blank. GOADBY (Diam. 16 in. ) I Bell. GOADBY-MARWOOD. S. Denis. 3 Bells. 1. THE CHVRCHS PRAISE I SOVND ALLWAYS 1775 THOs. HEDDERLY FOVNDER. 2. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH [12] LEO DAVIS WARDEN [ 12 ] 1710. Church Bells of Leicestershire. i8i 3. IH'g : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [g] 1625 [ U i- ] In 6 Edward VI. there were " iij bells." The treble was previously inscribed "T. N. cast me 1694 ^^' • Whalley Churchwarden." [ Great Easton — see Easton Great. ] [ Great Ashby — see Ashby Magna. ] [ Great Bowden— see Bowden Magna. ] [ Great Dalby — see Dalby Magna. ] [ Great Glen — see Glen Magna. ] [ Great Peatling — see Peatling Magna. ] [ Great Wigston — see Wigston Magna. ] GRIMSTONE. S. John. 3 Bells. I. THIS BELL WAS RECAST TO SING BY FRIENDS TO COUNTRY AND KING. GLOVER AND THOMAS AUSTIN CHURCHWARDENS THOs. HEDDERLEY FOUNDER NOTTINGHAM 1780. 1 82 The Inscriptions on the 2. ANTHONY HEMSLEY CHURCHWARDEN. 3. :H« Ormttpmm [12] ^ato JETwt [12] imitate [12] :©£ata 1749 THOMAS HEDDERLEY Founder. In Thomas Hedderley's Pocket Book (1780) still preserved are notes respecting these bells:* " Grimstone Tenor note Lyeth betwixt A and G. 38^ wide. 24 High. 2f thick full. H. Q. lb " Treble. Before Cast 527 After Cast 6 o 18" GROBY. 5 Bells. I, 2, 3, 4, 5. THOMAS HEARS FOUNDER LONDON 1840. ( Diams. 23 in. to 30 in. ) GUMLEY. S. Helen. 3 Bells. 1. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI 1625 [ u i- ] 2. t O IHS NAZARENVS REX IVDEORVM FILI DEI MISERERE MEI GLORIA DEO SOLI ANNO DOM : • 1721 +- 3- [ + 39 ] M-W^ ■ miMJ^jLJ?^ : m:siM.mMM- : - HALLATON. S. Michael. 5 Bells. I. THOMAS NORRIS MADE ME 1655 RG. JB. * Extracted for me by \V. P. W. Phillimore, Esq, Church Bells of Leicestershire. 183 2. THOMAS NORRIS MADE ME 1655. 3. PEACE AND GOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD 1772. 4. THOs. GIBBINS CHURCHWARDEN EDWd. ARNOLD 1772. (This inscription is incised.) 5. THOs. GIBBINS CHURCHWARDEN EDWd. ARNOLD St. NEOTS FECIT 1772. There are chimes which play every third hour. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. Thirty years ago there was a curious custom allowed here on S. Andrew's Day : — the school children locked the master out of the belfry and jangled the bells : this custom was discon- tinued upon the death of the then aged master. HARBY. S. Mary. 4 Bells. 1610 [ D 8. ] 2. [ -f 36 ] GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH 1610 [ d 8. ] 3. GOD [ 12 ] SAVE [ 12 ] HIS [ 12 ] CHVRCH [ 12 ] R WHITTLE [12] J BROOKBANK W^ARDENS 1701. 4. [ -f 34 ] 1614 ©jhy Messrs. Warner and Sons of London, HATHERN. S. Peter. 5 Bells. 1. WAS RAISED BY VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTION G. HEDDERLEY NOTTm. 1791. 2. EDWARD DEANE AND THOMAS HARRIMAN CHURCH- WARDENS G. HEDDERLEY FECIT NOTTm. 1791. 1618 [ D 8. ] mM:^(B:iBiM 1620 [d8. ] 5. EDWARD DEANE AND THOMAS HARRIMAN CHURCH- WARDENS EDWARD ARNOLD FECIT 1792. In 6 Edward VI. there were "three belles and tow hand belles." The above ring was " opened " 18 July 1792. HEATHER. S. John. 3 Bells. 1. John Everard Rector 1734. (Diam. 25^ in.) 2. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH 1734 W. BAILIE ( Diam. 28 in. ) 3. IH'5 : NAZARENVS [9] REX ! IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [ 9 ] MISERERE : MEI [ 9 ] 1630 [ 9 ] [ y i. ] ( Diam. 31 in. ) A Gleaning-bell is rung during Harvest. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 185 HIGHAM-ON-THE-HILL. S- Peter. ^ Bells. 1. JAMES BARWELL FOUNDER BIRMINGHAM 1872. ( Diam. 29^ m. ) 2. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1629 [XJ i.] ( Diam. 31 in. ) 3- [ + 3 ] 'IP^MMJM.M [ □ * ] ©j^:]^,^ [ □ 59 ] :E.^W [ a 59 ] _MM-m'mM- [ □ 59 ] 3::i?i (Diam. 351 in.) The dedication of the tenor bell is uncertain : the stop ceases after the word "facta," the founder being apparently pressed for room, and he has made a blunder with the letters "BE PERTIT "' — perhaps he meant BE PETRE. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. HUSBAND'S BOSWORTH. All Saints. 5 Bells. I. __ ( Diam. 30 in. ) 2. j^:©:mr^^i [ □ 79 ] [ □ 29 ] [ d 28 ] [ D 19] [ D 8] 5- m(B:m [9] MM-'WM [9] WM'^ [9] Ki:m©'a: [9] 1613 [ u I- ] In 6 Edward VI. there were "foore great belles in the stepell." The Curfew is rung every evening, Sundays excepted, during the winter months at eight o'clock, excepting on Saturday nights, when it is rung at seven o'clock, after which the day of the month is tolled. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove- Tuesday. After the Passing bell thrice three is tolled on three separate bells for a male ; and thrice two on two separate bells for a female ; after which the age of the deceased is tolled. On Sunday a morning bell is rung at 7 a.m. *^* Since the above inscriptions were taken the bells have been taken down, and sent to Messrs. Taylor & Co. for recasting. KEYHAM. All Saints. 3 Bells. P [12] SVMARFEILDE [12] C. WARDEN [12] 1705. GOD [12] SAVE [12] HIS [12] CHVRCH [12] 1705. EDWd. ARNOLD LEICESTER 1784. KIBWORTH. S. Wilfrid. 6 Bells. I- [ + 34] :BiA:]PM ic^om^M MM(B:ih .smi^wM (^M^^M^ ^mFM-M:m 1618. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 195 2. SAUVIUS IN NULLIS VOX CONCINIT ^NEA CAMPIS IN GYRUM GLOMERATA MELOS. R. HAYMES. R. CARTER J. PACKWOOD C. WARDENS 1732. 3 and 4. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX ! IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE \ MEI [9] 1621 [ U i- 1 5. TINNITUS RAPIDOS SCINTILLANS SPARGO PER AURAS T. EAYRE PYROTECHNUS FECIT PRO W. FORTREY 1732. 6. CYMBALA DULCILOQUO DEMULCENT CARMINE CAMPOS ROBERT HAYMES RICHARD CARTER JOSEPH PACKWOOD CHURCHWARDENS 1732. In 1825 the Tower, Spire, and Vs^esternmost bays of the Nave fell down. The treble bell was the only one injured : it was cracked and has so remained. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. A bell is rung at 8 a.m on Sundays. KILBY. S. Mary Magdalen. i Bell. One small bell in an inaccessible turret. [ KiLwoRTH North — see North Kilworth. ] [ Kilworth South — see South Kilworth. ] KIMCOTE. All Saints. 4 Bells. 1,2. [ + 22. ] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT • DOTH ME • SEE • THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE 161 2. ig6 Tlie Inscriptions on the 3. IH'8 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1642 [ u i- ] 4. CVM • SONO • SI • NON • VIS [ 9 ] VENIRE [ 9 ] NVNQVAM AD • PRECES [ 9 ] CVPIES • IRE [ 9 ] 1631 [ U i. ] KING'S NORTON. S. John Baptist. 8 Bells. 1. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI 2. PEACE AND GOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD 3. STATUTUM EST OMNIBUS SEMEL MORI MORTE BEATA NIHIL BEATIUS GLORIA DEO SOLI THOS. EAYRE 1760. 4. IH'g : NAZARENVS : REX : IVDEORVM : FILI : DEI : MISERERE : MEI W A 1641 R B C [ 17 i. ] 5. LAUDATE DOMINUM CYMBALIS SONORIS CCELORUM CHRISTE PLACEAT TIBI REX SONUS ISTE (a hell) 1760. 6. The same as 3rd but dated 1761. 7. T. EAYRE ST. NEOTS FECIT IN ANNO DOM 1764. 8. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI JOSEPH EAYRE ST. NEOTS HUNTINGDONSHIRE FECIT 1764. Nichols tells us that Wm. Fortrey, Esq., gave a peal of ten bells to this church when he rebuilt it, but finding the weight dangerous he reduced them to eight. The present 4th is of course one of the previous ring. KIRBY BELERS. S. Peter. 5 Bells. I. PRAISE THE LORDE 1614 [ U i- 1 ( Diam. 32 in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. igy 2. SIT * NOMEN * DOMINI * BENEDICTUM ^ JONATHAN FOX & SAMUELL HAYNES C. Ws. 1755 THOMAS EAYRE -^ FECIT ( Diain. 34 in. ) 3. IH'2 : NAZARENVS REX IVDEORVM FILI DEI MISE- RERE MEI 1617 W F J B C [ ^ I. ] 4. IHS NAZARENE REX IVDEORVM FILI DEI MISERERE MEI -^ ANNO DOMINI 1730 (a hell and coin of Queen Anne) ( Diam. 38 in. ) 5. GOD SAVE THE KINGE 1614 [XJ u] ( Diam. 42 in. ) In 6 Edward VI. there were " iiij bells." There is a tradition that a bell intended for the neighbouring parish of Asfordby was brought by mistake to Kirby. KIRBY MUXLOE. S. Bartholomew. 3 Bells. 1. [ + 22] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT • DOTH ME • SEE • THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER MADE • MEE • i6og. 2. IH'g : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [ 9 ] MISERERE : MEI [ 9 ] 1636 [ 9 ] [ U i- ] 3. [ + 22 ] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT • DOTH • ME • SEE • THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE • 1606. KIRKBY MALLORY. All Saints. 3 Bells, I. { + 1.] M M- ^M im. 2. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH 1658 [ n 10. ] ( Cracked. ) ig8 Tlie Inscriptions on the .3. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1629 [ ij i. ] KNAPTOFT. The church here is in ruins. Nichols says it was standing in 1630, and that in 1625 the inhabitants bought a new beh, which was after- wards transferred to Shearsby Chapel. See under Shearsby as to this bell. KNIGHTON. S. Mary Magdalen. 4 Bells. 1. ROBERT SMITH CHURCHWARDEN EDWd. ARNOLD LEICESTER FECIT 1796. ( Diam. 33 in. ) 2. WILLIAM BEATES CHURCHWARDEN JOSEPH EAYRE ST. NEOTS FECIT 1770. ( Diam. 34 in., cracked. ) 3. WILLIAM BEATES CHURCHWARDEN JOSEPH EAYRE FECIT 1769. ( Diam. 36-^ in. ) 4. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1627 [ y i. ] ( Diam. 41 in. ) KNIPTON. All Saints. 3 Bells. K [ a 37 ] [ U 32 ] m> [ D 38 ] 2. ROBERT JONES RECTOR RICHARD MARRIOTT CHURCHWARDEN ANNO DOM 1731 T. EAYRE FECIT CJiiirch Bells of Leicestershire. 199 (Under which is apparently a coronet and a crest, the latter a boar's head erased close.) 3. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH C WRIGHT RECTOR W. HARVEY V^ARDEN 1717. In 6 Edward VI. there were " iij bells and a sanctus bell."' The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday at 11 a.m. KNOSSINGTON. S. Peter. i Bell. I. COME COME AND PRAY. ALEXr. HALLSAL RECTOR Rd martin churchwarden 1731. ( Diam. 31 in. ) The Inscription is probably a repetition of that on a former bell cast by \\'atts of Leicester. There is also a small Priest's Bell — 13 inches in diameter — bearing the date only, " 1735," which is rung for five minutes before the com- mencement of Divine Service. There is a tradition that one or more bells were removed many years ago from this church to its neighbour at Owston. [ Langton — see Church Langton.] LAUGHTON. S. Luke. i Bell. I. EDWd ARNOLD ST. NEOTS FECIT 1777 Wm. JOHNSON WARDEN. ( Diam. 24 in. ) 200 The Inscriptions on the LEICESTER. All Saints. 5 Bells. 1. WILLIAM RVDIARD MINISTER 1595. 2. ^ampana X^^floi^if 9t«t nomen 3. [ + 22 ] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT • DOTH • ME • SEE • THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE • 161 1. 4. [ + 44 ] M(B^M-:simM :ei :e. -^m- mmmi^ w.M^:i^ X3Q-:e, 1586. 5- [ + 45 ] w.m^MM-THIsim'^ i is)€r : m.wM-'M- William Rudiard was descended from a Staffordshire family. See his Pedigree in Visitation of the Co. of Leicester, 1619, published by the Harleian Society, p. 202. The inscription on the 2nd bell is incomplete. A morning bell is (or was until recently) rung daily at 6 o'clock a.m., and an evening bell at 7 p.m. during the winter months. Sunday ringing: — ist bell is rung at 7 a.m. ist and 2nd bells at 8 a.m. For services the bells are tolled irregularly for ten minutes, chimed ten minutes, and then the sermon bell is rung for ten minutes. LEICESTER. S. Margaret. 10 Bells. 1. T. EAYRE EX DONO GUIL. FORTREY DE NORTON IN AGRO LEICESTRIENSI ARMIG : 1738. 2. The same. 3. T. EAYRE RETT : RICH : DENSHIRE AND ROB : PAGE : C.W. 1738 • OMNIA • FIANT • AD • GLORIAM • DEI Church Bells of Leicestershire. 201 4. T. EAYRE KETT : RICH : DENSHIRE AND ROB : PAGE : CHURCHWARDENS ANNO • DOM : 1738. poi^ ^iXG^siwQy 1633. 6. HUGH WATTS OF LEICESTER THE FOREMOST IN HIS ART CAST THE 6 LARGEST BELLS 1633. T. EAYRE KETT: RECAST THIS 1739. MORTE BEATA NIHIL BEATIUS. ^:^mMjh xiio:EiJ 1633. (On the top of the bell are the letters M V + B. W.) 10. ©-xgcx^Q, » ^m:m^(B ♦ ^j * :m,©::oi * "yri:^ ♦ :^:mj^m-M.m * mx^^jj^^ * x^:^ 1633 [^ i.j ( Weight 30 cwt. ) Brand says: — "The noblest peal of ten bells, without exception, in England, whether tone or tune be considered is said to be in S. Margaret's, Leicester." This opinion was confirmed by that of the Rev. W. Ludlam.* Unfortunately there are no parochial records to tell anything about the early history of the ring. Nicholst says that Thomas Newcombe "who cast the six great bells of S. Margaret's" was buried 20 May 1594. It has already been shown (p. 52) that Thomas Newcombe was buried 7 Feb. 1579-80. Pre- suming Nichols to be correct in his statement as to the casting of the bells of S. Margaret's by Thomas Newcombe, they were cast some time prior to 1579 and were at that time six in number. * See Nichols' Leicestershire, under King's Norton. f Vol. i, part 2, p. 552. 2 C 202 The Inscriptions on the These bells could not have been satisfactory, for within sixty years, that is in 1633, the whole six were recast by Hugh Watts as is recorded on the sixth bell of the present ring. The 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and loth bells were from Watts' foundry. For an anecdote relating to the casting of the tenor bell see p. 65. In 171 1 two treble bells were added to the ring from the foundry of Abraham Rudhall, of Gloucester: towards the cost of these the Corporation subscribed ;^20., as is recorded in the Chamberlains' Accounts. They were inscribed : 1. A. R. 1711. 2. Prosperity to all our benefactors 171 1. In 1738 the ring was made up to ten bells by a gift of two more treble bells by Wm. Fortrey, Esq., of Norton by Galby. Eayre at the same time recast the then ist and 2nd bells, recently added, and the whole ring was rehung, Mr. Fortrey bearing the greater portion of the expense. In 1739 the sixth bell was recast by Thomas Eayre, who placed upon it his testimony to the great reputation attained by its previous founder. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday from 11 to 12 a.m. Sunday ringing: — Treble from 7.15 to 7.30 a.m. for early celebration. For services : all the bells are tolled consecutively (commencing with ten or twelve strokes on the treble) for ten minutes, then chimed for ten minutes, after which the sermon bell is rung for ten minutes. LEICESTER. S. Martin. 10 Bells. 1. JOHN TAYLOR AND SON FOUNDERS OXFORD AND LOUGHBOROUGH 1854. ( Diam. 28 in. ) 2. The same. (Diam. 29^ in.) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 203 3. JOHN TAYLOR AND SON BELLFOUNDERS LOUGH- BOROUGH LATE OF OXFORD, BUCKLAND BREWER, DEVON, AND ST. NEOTS HUNTS. ; SUCCESSORS TO THE OLD AND CELEBRATED FOUNDERS NEWCOMBE, WATTS, EAYRE AND ARNOLD OF LEICESTER, NAMES OF HIGH REPUTE, DATING AS EARLY AS 1560. ( Diam. 30^ in. ) 4. JOHN TAYLOR AND SON FOUNDERS OXFORD AND LOUGHBOROUGH 1854. ( Diam. 31^ in. ) 5. LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD. (Diam. 34 in.) 6. PRAISE HIM UPON THE WELL TUNED CYMBALS : PRAISE HIM UPON THE LOUD CYMBALS. (Diam. 37^ in. ) 7. H. WATCHORNE ESQUIRE MAYOR. J. NICHOLS AND W. CAPP CHURCHWARDENS. EDWD. ARNOLD FECIT 1781. (Diam. 381 in. ) 8. The same. (Diam. 40^^ in. ) 9. The same. ( Diam. 43^ in. ) 10. The same. (Diam. 52i in. ) In the time of Henry VIII. there were five bells. The charges for ringing at Burials and Obits never mention more than that number. From the Churchwardens' Accounts I make the following extracts : — 1544. Buryals of wyche the bels be not p"* for [Here follows a list of receipts for the burials of many persons. The payment for three bells was 8^., for four bells 20 pence, for five bells 204 The Inscriptions on the c^s. 4^. For burial in the church 65. 8i.] More oying to ye chirche ye same Day for the bels as aperyrith on this syde of this Leflfe xxxvijs. iiiji. Obbytts of the gylde. Mr. Parsons obbit v bels iiijs. Mr. Lyles obbyt iiij bels xxd. Mr. Suyks obbyt iij bels viiji. Mr. Davers obbit iij bels viiji. Mr. Baylies obbit iiij bels xxi. Mr. Hursts obbit iiij bels xxi. Mr. Whitwels obbit iij bels viiji. Other obbytts. Rychard Fynnes obbyt iiij bels xxd. Itm Thorns Draks obb3^t iiij bels xxi. Itm Mr. Ihon Wigstons obbit v bels iiijs. Itm Mr. Wymeswolds obbyt iiij bels xxd. Itm to Syr Will" Boroughe for the cloke & chime viiji, 1546-7. Itm p'' to the ryngers ror Kynge Henry the eyght xiji. Itm p'' to the belman the same tyme* ij^. Itm p"* for medynge of the barrell that the chyme goyth w'*" to the smyth at the west brydge xiji. 1547. Solde to Mr. Newcome iiij hundrith and a qr of bras at xixs the hundrith Summa iiij//. ix5. Sold to Mr. Newcome 1. pound waight of the Organe pypes xvJ5. Itm for iij bell ropps one catche cope rope iiJ5. iiiji. 1549-50. Itm rec of Will" Taylor S'gant (?) in ernest of the iij catch coppe bells aff xxv5 a hundryth xiji. Itm p** to Thomas Wylmore for hys qrt wags for rynging of the day bell xx^. Itm p'^ to W" Smyth for mendyng ye gret bell clapp' ijs. * i.e. for summoning the people to church to hear mass for the late King's soul. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 205 Itm p"* to Robt Sekerston & Rog. Johnson for takyn downe the iij catche coppe bells xij^. 1 550- 1. Itm rec. of Mr, Lambt (?) & Mr. Herek for the leyst catche cope bell xxviJ5. X]d. Itm rec. of Will™ Tayllor & Willm Syngylton for tow of the same bells iij/?. xjs. viijrf. I558-9- P" fo^ ^^^ to the Ryngers when the quenes grace was pclamyd viijrf. 1560- 1. [ A Gable rope sold. ] 1561-2. [ Another Gable rope sold. ] 1585-6. Reseaved of the pishners of S. Martins for the charges and castinge of the forr * bell as followethe : [ Here follows a list of donations ; the Mayor and nine of his brethren, or Aldermen, giving 6s. 8^. each, twenty-one of the company of forty-eight, or Common Councillors, 3s. 4^d. each, several individual donors sums from 55. to 15. each, and the commoners in each of the five wards various small sums; the whole producing £11. 185. 6\d. ] Charges for castinge the forr bell of the parishe of Saynt Martin in Leicester, in the yeare of our lord 1585, Master James Clarke then beinge Mayor: Imprimis payd for castinge the forr bell to the bell- founders \U. Itm payd for a hundred wayght of mettell in the bell more than it wayed before at v]d. the pounde lvJ5. Itm payd for fourescore and too pounde of mettell that was wasted in the castinge at V]d. the pounde xlJ5. Itm payd for takinge downe the bell out of the steeple xx^. Itm payd for a baudrike f for the same bell xijW. Itm payd for gettinge the bell out of the churche into y* carte iiiji. * Fore or treble bell. f A thong of whit-leather with which the clapper was fastened to the bell. 2o6 The Inscriptions on the Itm payd for a beridge* when the bell was meltinge at Mr. Newcomes ijs. v]d. Itm payd to the belfounders servantes when the bell was taken out of the grounde and finished xvji. Itm bestowed of them in ale and bread at the same time V]d. Itm payd to John Harris for carrtinge the bell to the founders iiijrf. Itm payde to robart talor for bringeinge the bell to the church agane iiiji. Itm payde for gettinge the bell into the steeple agayne xvji . Itm payde to John bayly for takinge downe the bell and hanginge it up in his frame agayne ijs. Itm payd to John bayly for mendinge the for bell frame x^. Itm payd to Christopher Needam for an lorne t band for the same vj^^. Itm payd for the belfounders bounde t makinge ... xij^. Itm payd to Christopher Needam for braddes to hange the for bell in his frame and for setinge the chime in order xij^. The whole sum of the payments for the bell is ;^io. iis. 8d. 1588-9 [ and following years the bells were rung on S. Hugh's Day. ] 1597-8. P"* for 3 yards great wyer to make a Soon Dyall with which master Belgrave made to set the clock by at the end of the New Ospitall § xij^. 1603-4. Item payd to the Ringers when her Ma"' was in this town ijs. iiij^. 1604-5. Item leade forth when the greate Bell fell downe xxijs. xj^. ■ * Probably a corruption of bever or at Winchester for a measure of College beverage, i.e. drink. Mr. Walcott informs ale in the summer season. f Iron, me that "Bever" was until recently used J Bond. § Wiggeston's Hospital Church Bells of Leicestershire. 207 Item payd for mendinge the chyme when the greate bell fell downe iJ5. The bell was rehung by Mr. Newcomb. 1610- 1 1, Item payde for takeinge the seconde bell downe out of the steeple iJ5. ixd. Item given to the bellfounders at the wayinge of the bell to drmke vj^. Item given to them for their beridge at the castinge of the bell iJ5. vjrf. Item to drinke at the wayinge of the bell againe [i.e. after the recasting.'] vjrf. Item payde to William Symson for hanginge of the bell X5. Item in drinke to the workemen that hunge the bell xij^. i6ii-i2. Item to Robte Newcome* vij/z. ix5. Item payde to Mr. Mortin for old Mr. Edwarde Newcome in full payment for castinge of the seconde bell v]li. 1612-13. [Payments for " 4 notes for the chymes."] Item p"* to the Ringers for Ringinge 3 days when the Kinge and prince was here xviijs. \'']d. 1614-15. Item payde to the Ringers for Ringinge when his Ma"' came to Leicester xiiJ5. 1616-17. [A similar payment.] 1617-18. M. That if the seckerston shall Ringe at any tyme when any nobleman cometh to the towne he must have iJ5. \]d. from the churchwardens if he have nothinge sent him from the Inn where they lye. 1618-21. [ The clock face or dial placed.] 1621-2. To Mr. Wattes for a brasse for the bell ffor ringeinge to praiers every sabboth and holie daie iiJ5. • Son of Edward next mentioned. 2o8 The Inscriptions on the 1624-5. Paid for 5 Ringers for Ringinge at the first and second time pclaiminge the Kinge \s. In 1629-30, a new frame being required for the bells, nine shillings were spent in going to Lutterworth to view the frame there. The timber was bought at Beaumanor : ten pounds is charged in part pay- ment thereof to Mr. John Hericke and three shillings was expended for work at " beamaner." 1 630- 1. Paid for Ringinge of the Bells when newse was brought the Queene was brought to bed ijs. vj^. 1634-5. P** the ringers beeing viij for the tj-me that his maiestie staj-ed in Leic xv5. Thus far I have given the extracts from the manuscript Accounts of the Churchwardens of the parish ;* for the next few I am indebted to the pages of Nichols and Throsby, the originals for those 5'ears being missing. 1640. Paid for Bow-bell when Cockle lay sick o . o . 6d. [ see page 115.] 165 1. Paid for casting the third bell and charges in Court £11 . 11 . 10 In the year 1657 the ring of five bells was converted into one of six. It was agreed in that year "that the ring of bells be made into six tuneable bells ; the treble and tenor to be cast into three bells tuneable under the other three, and the fourth bell that now is, to be made a tuneable tenor without casting." This business was undertaken by Mr. Norris (Thomas, I suppose) of Stamford, but he failing to please the ears of the churchwardens or of the parishioners of S. Martin's, the bells being perhaps not "tuneable," an agreement was made with Mr. George Oldfield, of Nottingham, to recast the whole six for ;^5o. For a full account of this interesting collection see North's Chronicle 0/ the Church of S. Martin in Leicester. — Crossley and Clarke, Leicester. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 2og 1687. A new clock was made at the charges of the parish, the old clock being sold the following year to Mr, Wilkin, a local clock maker, for 205. i68g. July r. Agreed that all the bells be rehung. 1700. The fifth bell was recast by William Noone of Nottingham, for the doing of which he was to receive 205. per cwt. 1702. New chimes were again ordered this year, and the tenor bell being cracked, it was sawn at a cost of £1. 4s. od. 1704. Mr. Noone of Nottingham was engaged to recast the tenor bell, which had been cracked for some time previously. Upon being taken down the bell was found to weigh ig cwt. i qr. 16 lbs. The casting cost £26. 8s. od. The extracts that now follow are from the original accounts of the churchwardens preserved in the church chests : 1747. April 21. It is agreed that the Prayer bell from Lady day to Michaelmas shall begin to ring at Ten in the morning and three in the afternoon ; and from Michaelmas to Lady day at Eleven in the Forenoon and Two in the afternoon, and to ring each time a quarter of an hour. 1754. Oct 16. Agreed to take down the Ringing loft and make a new Ringing loft with a ceiling under ; at a cost not exceed- ing ;^20 — and the old materials. 1765. Jany 24 Agreed that the churchwardens be fully empowered to take down the second Bell which is become crakt and unfit for use, and that they cause the same to be recast and replaced at y" expence of y^ Parish, and do therein what further repairs shall appear necessary. Feb 6. Postage to and from St. Neots about the bell o . 1.4 Mar. 4 Spent at the Cranes on account of Mr. Ayres o . 3.0 Paid for carriage of a bell to St. Neots i . 7 . 6 Paid porterage for Do o . 3.0 May 5. Paid Mr. Eyre his bill 21 . 13 . o 2 D 2IO The Inscriptions on the In 17S1 Edward Arnold of Leicester recast the whole ring: the six heaviest of the present bells are of this date. The Churchwardens' Accounts for the year 1 780-1 are unfortunately missing. It is fair to presume that Arnold cast the six old bells into eight, to which were added two more in 1787, thus making a ring (as Nichols describes it) of ten light bells. This idea is corroborated by the following note of the weight of S. Martin's bells taken about this time by Thomas Hedderly, a Nottingham Bellfounder, and preserved in a Pocket Book formerly belonging to him and now in existence : — S. Martin's, Leicester. 7 9 10 II H 21 Tons 4 . 10 12 3 24 23 II 6 3 6 20'* 1786. July 13. The clock and chimes being apparently worn out, it was resolved to have new ones. It was reported at a meeting that ;^i5o had been raised by subscription for that purpose, and that much more was expected. Mr. Edward Arnold was contracted with to make a clock and chimes, immediately, for the sum of ^240. Soon after having passed this resolution it appeared necessary to some of the inhabitants of the parish to have an addition of two bells to the ring " in order that the set of chimes now making may be the more perfect." * For this transcript I am indebted to W. P. W. Phillimore, Esq. It may be noted that the 3rd bell is given as lighter than the 2nd, and that the total weight is not correct. Cliurch Bells of Leicestershire. 211 As, however, they were to be " erected and set up at the expense of the parish by monies to be collected by levy," there was some opposition to this proposal, which, nevertheless, was carried by a large majority at a public meeting of the parishioners held 10 July, 1787. These two treble bells making a ring often were inscribed, according to Nichols : — 1. Edwd. Arnold, Leicester fecit. 2. T. LocKwooD, E. Webb, J. IMallett Churchwardens 1787. E. Arnold fecit. In 1791-2. There are payments to Mr. Arnold probably for keeping the clock in order, and that gentleman's name occurs again everj'^ year in the Churchwardens' Accounts until the year 1798-9. In 1854. The four lightest bells were recast by Messrs. John Taylor & Son of Loughborough : upon them was found the following inscriptions : — I & 2. As just given. 3. Omnia Fiant ad Gloriam Dei Edwd. Arnold Fecit. 4. Praise Him upon the Well Tuned Cymbals. Praise Him upon the Loud Cymbals. In this way the present ring of ten bells was completed. The chimes are not now used. The morning bell rings at six o'clock in the summer and at seven o'clock in the winter. The curfew (8th bell) rings at nine in the evening. At the death-knell thrice 3 tolls are given for a man ; thrice 2 for a woman ; thrice i for a boy, and twice i for a girl. The same custom is universal at the old parish churches of Leicester. Sunday ringing : — The treble bell is rung at 7 a.m. Two bells at 8 a.m., excepting when there is a Celebration of the Holy Communion, when they are rung at 7.35, after which the 6th bell is rung. For services: — The bells are tolled irregularly for ten minutes, then chimed for ten minutes, after which the sermon bell is rung for ten minutes. 212 The Inscriptions on the LEICESTER. S. Mary. 8 Bells. 1. T. HEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1830. JOHN MOORE BORN JUNE ig, 1787. 2. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1830. JOHN WARBURTON BORN AUGUST 20, 1778 PARISHIONER JOHN BAXTER BORN OCTOBER 14, 1774 PARISHIONER. 3. 4. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1830. W. L. FANCOURT D.D. VICAR. SIMEON MORRIS THOMAS DEXTER CHURCHWARDENS. 5, 6, 7. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1830. 8. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1631. T.W ISC [ij i-] ( Weight 18 cwt. Key F. ) The Church Records are lost. Nichols preserves a few entries in the Churchwardens' Accounts from which we learn that there were five bells only in 1495 : — 1495. The frames for the five bells made this year: wages to workmen were : — Carpenters per diem 6d. Inferior servants under them 3^. Labourers 4^. Wm. Gibson subscribed four shillings and fourpence "to the frames of the bells for Margaret his wife's soul." 1504. Paid to the bellringers quarterly lod. iS^T- Paid to Henry Yerle Pye bellringer for his quarter of Michaelmas 2od. 1509. Paid to the ringers of all the bells for our King Harry the Seventh, the which deceased the £ s. d. 25th April 0.1.2 Church Bells of Leicestershire. 213 In 1830 one of the ancient ring of five bells being cracked, it was agreed that the 4th should be retained as the tenor for a new ring of eight bells, the other four being taken away. Mr. T. Mears of London cast the new bells, which, when hung, completed the present ring. It was "opened" on Monday, 7th March, 1831, by the ringing of a complete peal of 5040 grandsire triples in three hours and three minutes. The Curfew at 8 p.m. and the morning bell at 6 a.m. regularly sounded here until Easter 1856, when both were discontinued. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. Sunday ringing: For services the bells are tolled irregularly for ten minutes, chimed ten minutes, and sermon bell rung for ten minutes. The early Sunday morning peals have lately been discontinued. LEICESTER. S. Nicolas. 3 Bells. 1. IH'g : NAZARENVS REX 1656 G. OLDFIELD ( Diam. 28 in. ) 2. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH HENRY SMITH RICHARD HVNT WARDENS 1710. ( Diam. 28 in. ) 3. CELORVM CHRSTE PLATIAT TIBI REX SONVS ISTE 1617 [ u I- ] ( Diam. 32 in. ) There were bells here in 1321, see p. 8. Sunday ringing: — For services the bells are tolled singly a few minutes, then chimed, after which the sermon bell is rung. LEICESTER. Christ's Church. i Bell. I. Blank. (Diam. 24 in.) 214 The Inscriptions on the LEICESTER. Holy Trinity. i Bell. I. THOMAS MEARS OF LONDON FOUNDER 1837. THOMAS FREWEN ESQr. 1837. ( Diam. 29! in. ) LEICESTER. S. John. i Bell. I. J. WARNER & SON CRESCENT FOUNDRY LONDON. LEICESTER. S. Andrew. i Bell. Small bell in external turret. Church consecrated 20 Feb. 1862. LEICESTER. S. Luke. i Bell. I. 1707 A. R. (two hells.) This is a second-hand bell, which has had a further inscription, now carefully filed off. LEICESTER. S. George. 6 Bells. 1. JOHN TAYLOR & SON BELLFOUNDERS LOUGH- BOROUGH 1856. ( Weight 5 cwt. 3 qrs. ) 2. The same. ( Weight 6 cwt. ) 3- The same. 4. The same. 5. The same. 6. The same. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 215 ( Weight 6 cwt. 2 qrs. ) ( Weight 7 cwt. ) ( Weight 8 cwt. 2 qrs. ) (Weight 12 cwt. F sharp. ) The cost (according to the newspapers of the day) was ^320. exclusive of the old bell. Sunday ringing : — Treble bell at 7 a.m. Treble and second bells at 8 a.m. For services the bells are irregularly tolled for ten mmutes, chimed for ten minutes, and sermon bell is rung for ten minutes. LEICESTER. S. Paul. i Bell. I. J. TAYLOR & CO FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1871. ( Diam. 32 in. ) LEICESTER. S. Peter (Modern). i Bell. A small bell in temporary external turret. LEICESTER. S. Mark. 8 Bells. 1. J. TAYLOR & CO BELLFOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1872. (Weight 7 cwt. o qrs. 8 lbs. ) 2. The same. ( Weight 7 cwt. 2 qrs. 18 lbs. ) 2i6 The Inscriptions on the 3. The same. 4. The same. 5. The same. 6. The same. 7. The same. 8. The same. ( Weight 8 cwt. 3 qrs. o lbs. ) ( Weight 9 cwt. I qr. 18 lbs. ) ( Weight 1 1 cwt. 2 qrs. 24 lbs. ) ( Weight i;2 cwt. i qr. 12 lbs. ) ( Weight 16 cwt. 3 qrs. o lbs. ) ( Weight 22 cwt. 3 qrs. 24 lbs. ) The total weight of this fine ring of bells (the gift of the munificent founders of the church, W. Perry- Herrick, Esq., and the late Miss Herrick,) is 96 cwt. 2 qrs. 20 lbs ; the Key E flat. The cost was about ^960. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. At the death- knell thrice 3 tolls are given for a man, thrice 2 for a woman, twice 3 for a boy, and twice 2 for a girl, after which the age is tolled. Sunday ringing : — Treble and second bells at 8 a.m. For services the bells are irregularly tolled for five minutes, chimed for fifteen minutes, the first and second bells are then rung for five minutes, after which the sermon bell is rung for five minutes. LEICESTER. Wiggeston's Hospital (old). I, WILLIAM WIGSTON FOUNDER JOHN PIKE WARDEN 1689. This bell was removed on the ist of April, 1874, by order of the Trustees, from the ancient Hospital then standing on the west side of S. Martin's Church but since taken down. There is a small modern bell at the New Hospital. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 217 LEICESTER. S. Peter (destroyed). 4 Bells. This church, which formerly stood in Leicester, possessed, previous to its destruction, four bells. Mr. Thompson incidentally shows the existence of a bell here in 1306. He says : * " On Saturday ' in the vigils of the Nativity of our Lord ' (Christmas Eve), 1306, and about midnight, Simon the Waleys, clerk, went to the church of S. Peter to strike the bell, early in the morning, as was his custom. He there found William the Vicar, standing in the church, who asked him why he had delayed so long before coming ; and there- upon struck him on the head with a meat knife, called a ' misericorde," the blade of which pierced to his brain. The clerk lived but two da5's. Matilda Brodey was with him when he died, and immediately gave the alarm to the townsmen, at the gates, and informed the coroners and bailiffs of the circumstances. An inquisition was taken before them and they said that suspicion as to the death rested upon none other than William the Vicar. He sheltered himself in the church for seven weeks. At last he gave himself up to the King's peace, and was con- fined, in prison, in the custody of Hugh the Mercer. There is not, however, any record of the punishment awarded to him." The materials of the church were sold to the Corporation of Leicester by Queen Elizabeth for £},^. paid to the Duchy of Lancaster, and on condition that it should erect a Schoolhouse with them where an old one stood before time, and the overplus, if any, to be employed in bringing a conduit of fresh water into the town. From the Hall Book t we learn that on the Feast of S. Matthew the Apostle, 5th Elizabeth, it was notified : The weight of the bells of Seynt Peters weyd before Mr. Davye Mayor, Mr. Darker, Mr. Pare, Mr. Norys, Robert .... & Robert Davye Chamblyns & Thomas Newcombe w*** others * Hist. Leicester, p. io8. f In MS. vol. ii. p. 92. 2 E 2i8 The Inscriptions on the The great bell weys xi". xvj". the third bell viij". D qr xxvj". the second bell vj'. D qr xviij". the fore bell v^ x". Sni totlis xxxij^ xiij''. At a Common Hall, held 30th June, 1564, it was ordered that one of the bells of S. Peter's be sold for the repair of the Schoolhouse. From the Chamberlains' Accounts (in MS.) for the year 1563-4 we learn the following particulars of this sale, and from the weight observe it was the great bell which was then sold : 1^63-4. It. Receyved of Thomas Newcombe & Mr. Norys for j bell of sent Peters church weying xj^ xvj". xiiij/z. xvJ5. viiji. It. Receyved of the same Thomas for viij brases weyinge xxxviij pounds & iij bell clappers of the same sent Peters church weying Ixxxxv pounds ...xxijs. It. Receyved for j bell whele of the same church js. Mr. Noris also bought some of the lead. The other bells were quickly disposed of: 1^64-5. Itm. receyved of ffrauncis Watts for the bell wheles of Seynt Peters xiJ5. 1565-6. It. of Thomas Newcom for three Bells wayinge xxi'. xij". cxxxs. the hundreth xxxj/i. xiJ5. LEICESTER. The x\bbey of S. Mary de Pratis. Dugdale says* " at the time of the Dissolution the bells were valued by estimation at ;^88." The great bell (and so probably the whole ring) was purchased by Robert Newcombe, of Leicester, Bellfounder (see p. 47), and shortly * Mon. vol. vi. p. 462. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 219 afterwards (in 1542) exchanged by him — in the way of his business — with the churchwardens of the parish church of Peterborough — S. John Baptist — for their great bell which was then "brokyn," and the difference of value in money. A full account of this transaction is preserv^ed in the Accounts of the Churchwardens of " the Parrysh cherche of Petborow " {i.e. of S. John the Baptist), and is so curious and full of interest that it is here given entire : * Churche Wardens Recytts By Rye' Morgan John German Rye' Baylyff and Thorns Marrett / The charge for changyng the great bell in the xxxiij yer of the reigne of o'Sov'eigne Lorde Kyng Hen. the eight for the great bell of the Abbey of Leicester iiiji. / Imp'mis Receyved of the great box ' in the chirch at the syght of dyv'se honyst men in the pyshe as ap- Vvij//. peryth by a byll in the saide Chirch boxe / Itm Receyyed moor by the gyfte of ] John German by quest ) Itm Recevede moor by the gyfte of ] Robart Tochis bequeste ) Itm Receyvede at the gyfte of John ) yjs. viij<^. Shepe ' Sm Recepte iydi. xvJ5. XX5. XX5- * For this transcript from the original manuscript I am much indebted to James Cattel, Esq., of Peterborough. He informs me that the Church of S. John Baptist at Peterborough had formerly six bells, and that in 1S08 these were cast into the present ring of eight, so that the ancient bell from Leicester Abbey in all probability then disappeared. 220 The Inscriptions on the Payments for the change of the bell Itm payde to Robarte Newcom Bell j founder in Lecysf for the onely I exchaunge of the holl bell for the brokyn Itm payde moor to the sayde Robarte \ Newcom for that his bell weyde moor then o' bell by iij". a qt^ & iiij". at iiij^. the pounde \]li. \]s. viiji. as thus on hunderde & xxxix". of mettell that was the chirches at iiij^. the li. which came to xxxiijs. & ixi. & for the rest redy money Itm payde moor to hym for that his clapper weyde mor then o' clapp by xxviij'' in]li. y iiij/z. iiiJ5. xj^. iiij^. Expences & chargis for the said Bell. Itm payde to the man at Wyttyllsey for a gable to tacke down the olde bell & hang up the new Itm payde for drynk at the takyng down of the olde bell Itm payde to John Whell wright for makyng of a carte & axlyng of the whells w' o'things for ij days worke Itm for his meat & drynke that ii \ days ) Itm for a Rygewyth for the same ] carte i Itm for Carte clouts & naylls for the first clowtyng xxi. \']d. x\]d. m]d. \]d. xvjrf. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 221 Expences & Charges for the saide Bell The first days charge beyng fryday going w' the carte. Itm for meat & drynke for iiij men that went w* the carte the sayde first day Itm for the chaj-ngyng of a strocke & for iiij carte naylls at Uppinghm the first nyght Itm for horsmet of xv horsis that went w' the bell the same first day & nyght at Uppingham On Sat'day. Itm for meat & drynke for v men that day Itm for bayting of horses the sam day by the way Sm of the payments & expences ix//. iiji. ( The end of one page. ) On Sunday in Lecester all day. Itm for iiij carte clowts and a wynd- yng for the whells Itm the mens sop* the same nyght... Itm for horsmet of xv horssis for ij | nyghts & a day ther in Lecester... ] xiijW. xiji. ns. \xd. i]s. \n]d. ixd. xjd. xijd. vs. viijJ. * Supper. 222 The Inscriptions on the On Monday comyng whom wards. Itm for meat & drynke for the men \ that da}^ j Itm for horsmet that day & nyght... Itm for iiij new Carte naylls & shott- yng a strock & settyng hyme on agajm at Uppingham 115. iis. xj^. On Tewisda3^ Itm for meat & dr5mke for the men | that day ) Itm for baytyng ther horses the same day Itm for a wynding & ij dowledgs for the whells Itm payd for drynke for carters & ^ other men that helpyd owt w' a tree in a dycke that my lorde* gave the chirch to mack ij yeocks at Westwood Itm payd for fetchyng the same in a Carte Itm payd for ij sawyers for ij days worke Itm payde for gresse at dyv's tymes for the Carte & the burrells in the Chirch at the takyng down of the bell & wyndyng up the other bell v']d. \d. iiijrf. viij^. xv}d. vjd. Lord Bishop. Church Bells of Leicestershire. Itm payde to RafFe for the takyng down the olde bell & yowkyng the new & hangyng hym up Itm payde to John Smyth formakyng ) the Yronworke of the great bell . . . ' Itm payde to John Gadney for the | hyr of iiij horssis & hymselfe to V goo w' them for vij days j Itm payde to Robarte Allyn for vj ] horsys & ii men for viij days > Itm payde to Rye' Hewet for mend- ] yng & shootyng of the Roope we t borowyd at Wittyllsey j Itm geven to a man to cary hit to ] the wat'syde that shold cary whout \ the rope to Wyttyllsey j Sm liiiJ5. vi]d. 223 xs. iiiji. vs. VJ5. XIUJS. Xlllji/. ij^. LEIRE. S. Peter. 3 Bells. 1. EVS BEE OVR GOODE SPEEDE 1654. 2. HENRICUS BAGLEY FECIT 1675. 3. RECAST ^ A.D. 1755 JOHN SLEATH C.W. THOS. EAYRE DE KETTERING FECIT. Round the rim : GIVEN BY JANE CART RELICT OF JAMES CART OF LEIRE, DAUGHTER OF THOMAS CHEW AND ELIZABETH HIS WIFE, WHICH ELIZABETH WAS DAUGHTER OF W. M. MARSH OF DUN- STABLE A". D. 1732. 224 The Inscriptions on the [ Little Ashby — see Ashby Parva. ] [Little Dalby— see Dalby Parva.] [ Little Peatling — see Peatling Parva. ] [ Little Wigston — see Wigston Parva. ] LOCKINGTON. S. Nicolas. 5 Bells. 1. "y^ov &ni ilju ^pi bov tvultationis • • • [ U ^ ] [ D 28 ] [ + 42 ] [ n\6. ] ( For initial letter see fig. 81. ) 2. GOD [ 12 ] SAVE [ 12 ] HIS [ 12 ] CHVRCH 1692. 3. RVNd. PHILLIP STORY VICAR T. PALMER C. W. JOHN BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT 1806. 4 and 5. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832. In 6 Edward VI. there were " foore great bells." Previous to 1832 the fourth, and then tenor, bell, was inscribed : — " William Bainbrigge and Edward Burton Churchwardens 1650." The Curfew is rung during the winter months at 8 p.m. A morning- bell is rung on Sunday at 8 a.m. LODDINGTON. S. Michael. 3 Bells. I- [ + 45- ] M-^m ■. miMSM^M- \ ^^lM^m%M^ ! ( Diam. 30 in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 225 2. ©cd:3d mm-'w:e^ mM^ mM'w:mmM 1602. ( Diam. 30^ in. : Watts' letters. ) 3. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI t GLORIA DEO SOLI .:. T. EAYRE KETT. 1737. EDMUNDUS MORRIS ARMIGER. ( Diam. 31^^ in. ) At death-knell thrice 3 tolls are given for a male, thrice 2 for a female. LONG CLAWSON. S. Remigius. 5 Bells. 1. LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD. EDd. WRIGHT CH. WARDEN T. HEDDERLY OF NOTTINGHAM FECIT 1782. ( Diam. 36^ in. ) 2. IH'g : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI ! DEI [9] MISERERE ! MEI [9] 1631 [\J i.] ( Diam. 37I in. ) 3. all ■ men • t^at • htnxt ■ m» • montfull ■ souuir • repent • before • ijou lj)c • in • ground 1608 [ n 8. ] (Diam. 38* in.) 4- i + 55^ ^MW-M. [ a 59 ] mM-m:^MJ^J^ [ ° 59 ] -MM-^mM- [ ° 59 ] E-B^? [ ° 59 ] IlM m(B:(hoi)anntS 3. ^it nomen i3omint benetJictum; lautiate ilium cymbalisi Sonoiisi 4. ^oS SumuS tonStvurti aO lauUem Somini 1616. 2 G 234 ^'^^^ Inscriptions on the 5. ^I'r (^forg flasttnges matie me anno Somim 1586. 6. ?^ec campana iSacra fiat Evinitatc JSeata 1613. The Churchwardens' Accounts also contain frequent entries of sums of money paid to the ringers, thus : £. s. d. 1642. Pd to the Ringers for his majesty o 10 . o Pd to tlie same when prince Rupert went to Leicester o . i . o Pd to the same when prince Rupert came to view the Trayne band o . i . o Pd to the Ringers when the King was here anotlier tyme 0.5.2 1645. It. payd to ye Ringers when ye King's Ma*' came by 0.2.6 1646. Spent on ye Ringers whe S' Tliomas ffarefax passed by o . i , o 1649. It is agreed at this Assembly by the consent of all present that the great Bell shall not be rung at any buriall except once for the passing peale & that there shall be no other ringinge but all 5'e belles or 2 or 3. 1657. Spent on ye Ringers when the Lord Protector was proclaimed 0.4.6 1664. Pd to ye Ringers to drinke on St Georges day ... 0.5.0 [ Entries frequently occur of sums paid to the ringers on St. George's Day ; also on Candlemas Day and on November 5th. ] In the Account Books of Thomas Burton's Charity, which are complete from 1570 to the present time, there are frequent entries of a similar nature. The following are instances : 1686. Paid Js. Dalby for Towleing the Bell o . i . o 1702. Given to the Ringers & at the Burnfires Nov. 5 0.2.6 Given to the Ringers on the Thanksgiving Day 0.2.6 1713. Given ye Ringers ye same day (Ma)?^ ye 3rd) 0.2.6 July 7. Given ye Ringers of ye Thanksgiving for ye peace o . 2 . 6 ChurcJi Bells of Leicestershire. 235 The whole ring of six bells were recast in the year 1754 by Thomas Eayre of Kettering, the cost being defrayed by public subscription. The following particulars are preserved in The Chirchwardens' Book : 1754- 1754- Reced of the Subscribers for recasting 5 of the Bells, and for all materials necessary for them as follows. [ Here follows a list of Subscribers' names and the amount of their subscriptions. The Total was ] ^m 14 . 8* Pd W"" Underwood for going to Kettering to see the Bells weigh'd £1 . Pd Do for going to seek after y" o . Pd Mr. Eayres for recasting five Bells & providing all necessaries for them &c 107 . 108 0/ Balance in hand Sep. 3. At a Vestry Meeting this Day held it is agreed that Mr. Eayres shall by the present churchwardens be paid at Giving up their Accounts the sum of eleven pounds seven shillings being due to him, by verbal agreement for i"'. 3'*^ 16"'. of metall more than where in the old Bells. The Six Bells where all recast by Mr. Eayres of Kettering and the Weight of them are as follows : c. qr. lb The ist Bell 10 . 3 . 10 2nd ,, II . o . II 3rd 4th 5th 6th II 2 5 12 3 15 14 • I 10 24 2 14 85 I 9 236 The Inscriptions on the The Weierht of old Bells where as follows : The I St Bell 2nd ,, . 3rd ,, . 4th „ .. 5th „ ., 6th „ . c. qr. m 9 . I . II 9 . I II . 3 14 . 2 20 15 . 2 I 23 • 3 19 83 . 2 . 26 The new Bells heavier than the old ones i . 2 . 11 The old Crown Staples o. i . 5 The whole difference is i . 3 . 16 Which at 6 ;^ a Hundred is ^i i . 7 . o 1754. March 26. Pd Mr. Stockdale for ye 5th Bell being cracked and not recast before ye Visitation £fi . i . 6 The inscriptions on the six bells now cast by Eayre were : i. vox mea dulcis mea scintillans vultus. 2. Statutum est omnibus semel mori; omnia fiant ad gloriam Dei. 3. NOS SUMUS CONSTRUCTI AD LAUDEM DoMINI ; IN DeI GLORIAM *, IN ecclesiie commodum. 4. Sit nomen Domini benedictum, laudate ileum cymbalis sonoris. 5. MORTE BEATA NIHIL BEATIUS. ThOMAS EaYRE FECIT ; RiCHARD Mansfield and John Warren Sidesmen. 6. Thomas Alleyne rector; Francis Winfield and Edward Savage Churchwardens. Thomas Eayre fecit, anno Domini 1754. Mr. J. W. Taylor of Loughborough reports that these old bells (recast in 1840) were in E flat, and weighed 83 cwt. i qr. 2 lb, showing a considerable difference between the actual weight and that quoted in the Churchwardens' Accounts. In the year 1840 these six bells were recast and formed into the present ring of eight, by Messrs. W. and J. Taylor, who came from Church Bells of Leicestershire. 237 Oxford for the purpose, and who finding Loughborough a central and convenient place for their calling settled there and erected their foundry. A tablet in the belfry records the ringing of several peals. The Curfew still rings every evening at eight o'clock, after which the day of the month is tolled on a smaller bell. The morning bell rings every morning in summer at six, in winter at seven o'clock. The Pancake-bell rings on Shrove-Tuesday.* At the death-knell three tolls are given for a male, two for a female, both before and after the knell. LOUGHBOROUGH. Emmanuel. i Bell. I. THOMAS MEARS OF LONDON FOUNDER 1837. LOWESBY. All Saints. 3 Bells. 1. GOD [ 13 ] SAVE [ 13 ] HIS [ 13 ] CHVRCH [ 13 ] 1657 [ n 10. ] ( Diam. 34 in. ) 2. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1265 [\) 1.] ( Diam. 37 in. ) 3- M.i^m:mm :K©:&iJK jhm:M(B 1613 [ u i- 1 ( Diam. 40 in. ) The figures of the date on the 2nd bell mean 1625. LUBENHAM. All Saints. 5 Bells. I. IHS NAZARENE REX lUD^ORUM FILI DEI MISERERE MEI WILLIAM SPRIGG BENEFACTOR A.D. 1724. * For the inscriptions on the Lough- to the industry- and courtesy of W. G. borough bells, and for all the extracts from Dimock Fletcher, Esq. the parochial records, I am much indebted 238 The Inscriptions on the 2. IHS NAZARENE REX IUD.EORUM FILI DEI MISERERE MEI THO : • EAYRE DE KETTERING CAMPANA- RIUS 1724. 3. IHS NAZARENE REX lUD^ORUM FILI DEI MISERERE MEI GLORIA DEO SOLI T : • EAYRE : • KETTER- ING : • 4. GLORIA DEO SOLI OO 1724 O JOHN ASHTON MINISTER 00 JOHN CAVE & WILLIAM ILIFFE CHURCH- WARDENS O 5. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] miserere: MEI [9] 1624 [ U i. ] Previous to 1724 there were four bells only; all — like the present tenor — from the foundry of Hugh Watts of Leicester. The Rev. H. E. Bullivant kindly supplies the following extracts from the Churchwardens' Books : 1723. Oct. Sp* with the Bellfounder and nabors ye £. s. d. first time 0.3.0 Sp* with nabors another time when we met ab* the Bells 0.1.6 for wood for the steeppel Brought from Har- borough o , 8 . o Spent on Nabors who w** confermd the Bargin to have the Bells Rund o . 3 . o for Mr. Ashton's expenses writing for the Bell- founder o . o . 4 Spent on ye nabors and workmen when the Bells were taken Dound and wayed o . 2 . o Pd for Will" Spriggs charges and men y* helpt to unlood the Bells at Kettering o . 2 . 8 for a journey to Kettering when the Bells went... 0.3.0 1724. Pd for Bell rops wayed 27 pounds att 6d. per lb o 13 . 6 Church Bells of Leicestershire. 239 Sep. 18. Spent with the Bellfounder & nabors £. s. d. when he came to hing the Bells and paid John Mansfield for the Bell caps o . i . 9 1725. May 12. Pd Mr. Eayre part of his Bill 10 12 . 3^ [William Iliffe Churchwarden for the "open field side" of Lubenham also charges " Pd my part of Mr. Eayre's Bill ;^io . 12 . 3i"] 1726. Jan. 12 [there are charges for additional " mettel " for th^ third bell. ] For my journey and teams to fetch the new bell from Kettering o 10 . o Pd for Bell loding at Kettering o . i . o Pd for unloading the Bell and getting up in y^ Stepel 0.1.6 The Ringers and "Nabors" spent los. amongst them — most probably in beer. There is a tradition that in some unexplained way the bells of Luben- ham and Foxton were exchanged by the Bellfounder. LUTTERWORTH. S. Mary. 6 Bells. 1. HENRY ; MERITON : RECTOR ; THOMAS i ILIFFE ; AND : JOHN j WRIGHT : CHVRCH i WARDENS ; ALEXANDER ] RIGBY ; MADE : ME : 1705. ( Diam. 32 in. ) 2. J. BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT 1814. (Diam. 32^^ in. ) 3. MLKIHG FEDCBA XWVT SRQP ON MLKIHG 1640 [U I- ] (Diam. 33 in.) 4. FEDCBA ' MLKIHG SRQPON XWVT FEDCBA 1640 [U I.] ( Diam. 36 in. ) 240 The Inscriptions on the 5. T MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1828. ( Diam. 39 in. ) 6. THE HONble. & REVnd. HENRY RYDER RECTOR W. MASH & J TILLY C. W. JOHN BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT 1812. (Diam. 40 in. ) " Sacrament Belly [ + 3 ] :e^'h: [ + 3 ] wac:Ei. ( Diam. 18 in. ) The Rev. S. J. Walker has kindly made the following extracts for me from the Churchwardens' Accounts : — £. s. d. 1639-40. J any. 29. To Mr. Watts in earnest for the Bells and beare which was drunkt with our neighboures o . i 10 June 6. Payd for mending the bell wheele 0.0.4 16. Payd to George Johnson for keeping the clocke and chymes i . o . o Nov. 5. Giuen to the Ringers 0.2.0 December 24. Payd to Francis Callis for 4 Bellropes o 10 . o 5 yard shooting to the great bell rope 0.0.9 February 7. Payd to John Robinson for mend- ing the saint bell o . o . 4 March 17. Payd for Letting downe the 2 Bells 0.2.0 1640. April 7. Payd George Johnson for breaking and weighinge the Bells 0.1.4 Payd to others for helpe in beare o . i . o Payd Obediah Wightman for going to M" Watts to Leicester about the Bells o . i . o It. paid for earring y^ bells to Leicester and bringing them backe againe 2 . o . o June. It. paid for letting downe ys 2 Bells 0.2.0 It. spent at loading the 2 Bells o . i . o Church Bells of Leicestershire. 241 It. giuen to William Wall in earnest to hang the £. s. d. Bells o . o . 6 It. spent at Casting y* bells and weaying them of my selfe and George Johnson & our horse meat & hire 2 dales & a night o 11 . 6 July. It. giuen to Mr. Watts his men in beare and money at weaying and loading of y" Bells ... 0.4.6 It. spent of my selfe and my partner and George Johnson at weaying and fetching away the bells & of our horses 0.5.4 It. spent of them that did help me load ye 5 bells & on the carters o . i . 6 It. spent when we drew up the 3 first bells o . i .0 It. paid to IVIr. Parker for boardes and w^ood for the bell wheeles o . 8 . 9 It. paid to Lucas the Woodman for Postes for the new bell wheeles o . i . 8 It, paid to Francis Callis for 3 Bell ropes for y' least bells o . 5 . 6 August. It. paid to Hugh Russell (?) & his son for mending ye floure which ye bells had broken 0.1.8 October. Paid to George Johnson for Ironworke mending the bell irons & a new claper and ironing the new bell 5 . 8 . o Nov. 5. Giuen to Ringers 0.2.0 February. Paid to Mr. Watts of Leicester 18 15. o April. It. for peicing the great bell Claper & laying iron to it o 10 . o It. for setting ye Chimes upon 5^e 5 Bells i 15. o It. for 2 new roules for ye chime rope to go on 3 irons 0.1.6 1641. December. Item paid to Mr. Watts for the bells 17 . o . o 1644. November 6. It. to George Johnson for the clock & chimes for plates and brads for the Bell wheele 2 H 242 The Inscriptions on the for pins and neales for a balrig & for the Steeple £. s. d. dore Lock & thick house dore lock i . 7 10 1645. For Bellropes and Ringings at Gunpowd Trea. ... 0.8.0 1647. Paid for worke abought the Belles and the hang- inge of a new Claper o . 2 . 8 Spent in beere when the bell weare taken downe and hunge up againe o . i . 6 Dec. Paid for mending the Gudgings of the fore bell o . o . 6 1 65 1. May 21. Paid George Johnson for a balrige for the greate Bell o . o 10 Spent uppon the men that Helped to raise the greate bel o 1 68 1. Pd for a Bolrill for ye forth bell claper o 1684. Spent upon the Ringers ye Day the King was proclaimed in Lutterworth o 1 730. Spent when all set ye bell o Gave to the men that helped take it down in ale o Casting ye bell and new mettle 20 il Horse hire and expenses to Kettering to bring home ye Bell o Pd for takeing up ye 5th bell o Pd for a messenger to Mr to know when we should come for ye bells o For altering 5th bell 3 1774. Sept', Paid to Mr. Jeaks for chime Rope 2 A Morning-bell is rung daily at 5 a.m. in summer, and 6 a.m. in winter. The Curfew is rung at 8 p.m. every night. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday from 12 to i. At the death-knell thrice three tolls are given for a man thrice two for a woman ; the bell is then rung for an hour, after which the tolls are repeated : for a child under ten years of age the 4th bell is rung for half-an-hour. The ancient Sanctus bell, now called "the Sacrament Bell," is rung , , 6 I . , 6 6 , . 6 , . 5 ■ . 8 , . 5 • . 3 . 2 , . 3 • . 2 . I Church Bells of Leicestershire. 243 in place of the Sermon-bell on Sunday, when there is a Celebration of the Holy Communion. MARKET BOSWORTH. S. Peter. 5 Bells. 1. EX BONO BELLAM0NTI2 DIXIE IN FELICCISSIMVM CAROLI REGIS SECVNDI REDITVM. [ n 7 ] 1660. ( Diam_. 33 in. ) 2. "^ov [ + 3 ] i^iu [ + 3 ] ib« [ + 3 ] ^i [ + 3 ] fcoov [ + 3 ] f*-ult;utouis [ a 49. ] a ( Diam. 36 in. For initial letter see fig. 81. ) 3. IH'g : NAZARENVS [g] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1630 [ u i- ] ( Diam. 38^^ in. ) 4. The same dated 1624. ( Diam. 41 in. ) 5. "yjoi- [ □ 43 ] i>iu [ □ 43 ] ibu [ □ 43 ] W [ a 43 ] toox [ a 43 ] «uUationis [ □ 49- ] m [ + 53 ] Til" I [ + 53 ] ^.^mr [ + 53 ] -^ [ a 49- ] n a ( Diam. 44 in. For initial letter see fig. 81. ) Sir Beaumont Dixie (the second Baronet) was born in 1629, and died in May 1692. The bells were rehung in 1788. The Pancake-bell is lately dis- continued. MARKET HARBOROUGH. S. DioNYsius THE Areopagite. 6 Bells. I. THOMAS MEARS FOUNDER LONDON 1841. 2. ^:^M^^M'^ [ 9 ] wj&c [ 9 ] j2i(Dm:iDM [ 9 ] 1613 [9] [UI-] 244 Tlie Inscriptions on the 3. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI GLORIA PATRI FILIO ET SPIRITUO SANCTO : T : EAYRE KET : 1740. 4. ©(1):e) ^,^^'a: wM^ k^e:^© 1609 [ u i- ] 5. CELORVM CHRSTE PLATIAT TIBI REX SONVS ISTE 1614 [ IJ I. ] 6. ©€):e) [9] MMSTrM. [9] mM'si [9] ^jlm^^ [9] 1613 [ u I- ] There is also a small Priest's bell without inscription. Nichols says five of the six bells here were recast between the years 1608 and 1614 "as appears from the town accompts" . . . "by the famous Mr. Watts and one Narum of Leicester." Unfortunately these accompts, as I am informed by W. H. Gatty, Esq., who has kindly made a search for me, are not now to be found. The treble bell previously to the year 1841, when it was recast, had no inscription, but bore several impressions of coins issued in the reign of Queen Elizabeth— one clearly dated 1567. The bells cast by Watts would therefore be the other five (four of which are still hanging) in which work he was assisted by Newcombe of Leicester (Narum being a misreading by Nichols for Nucom). Rouse in his Harhorough Charities and Donations, 1768, gives the following dimensions of the bells : NO. DIAMETER. FROM TO SHOULDER SKIRT. THICKNESS. F. I. F. I. I. T. I. 2 . 8 I . iH 2 . 2. 3 • 2 • 2i 2 . 4 3- 3 • U 2 • 2i 2 . 5 4- 3 • 4i 2 • 4i 2 . 3 5- 3 • 8 2 . 8 2 . 7 6. 4 • of 2 . II* 3 . I There were chimes here at an early date, as appears by a Bond dated CJiuvcJi Bells of Leicestershire. 245 14 April 1602, formerly preserved in the parish chest, by which John Lea of Lutterworth, clockmaker, bound himself, in consideration of 6s. 8d. paid to him yearly in the south porch of the chapel of Har- borough, to keep the chimes "in as good, sweet, solemn and perfect tune of musick as ever the same was at the sight and judgment of a skilful man in musick to be chosen by tlie townsmen of Harborough." — Nichols. The ringing of the Curfew has been recently discontinued. At riuLnn"- the death-knell (6th bell) three tolls are given for a man, two for a woman; for a child under twelve the ist bell is used in a similar manner; all both before and after the knell. A "Call-bell" rings an hour before funerals for a short time. The funeral-bell is tolled in a similar manner to the death-knell. MARKFIELD. S. Michael. 3 Bells. 1. GOD [12] SAVE [12] HIS [12] CHVRCH 1747. ( Diam. 26 in. ) 2. IH'8 : NAZARENVS REX : IVDEORVM FILI : DEI MISERERE : MEI 1617 [ ^ i- ] ( Diam. 28 in. ) 3- [ + 83 ] ;i?Xomcn ;i^c tcUs j^bco XHitadis .S^issi. And round the rim : — [ + 83 ] robarte . arke antr awnis Ijgs facfe mabe me. ( Diam. 32 in.) In 6 Edward VI. there were " iij belles." The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. MEDBOURNE. S. Giles. 5 Bells. I, 2, 3. JOSEPH EAYRE ST. NEOTS 1768. 246 The Inscriptions on the 4. ARNOLD LEICESTER AND ST. NEOTS JOHN MEADOWS 1784. CHURCHWARDEN. 5. I TO THE CHURCH THE LIVING CALL AND TO THE GRAVE DO SUMMON ALL. Previous to 1768 there were four bells only. MELTON MOWBRAY. 5. Mary. 8 Bells. 1. TW^O BELLS WERE ADDED TO THE PEAL BY SUB- SCRIPTION ANNO DOMINI MDCCCII THOMAS FORD LL.D. VICAR VINCENT WING AND JOHN MOWBRAY C : WARDENS JOHN BRIANT OF HERTFORD FECIT. GLORIA DEO IN EXCELSIS. 2. STATUTUM EST OMNIBUS SEMEL MORI. OCTO CAM- PANAS SACRA EXAUDIMUS IN ARCE DULCES ALTISONAS O HILARES HILARES. JOHN BRIANT HERTFORD FECIT ANNO DOMINI MDCCCII. 3. BENEFACTORS TO THIS BELL: DUKE OF RUTLAND SIR T. BARKENS T. BENNETT ESQ. E. SMITH ESQ. MRS. D. L. FOUNTAINE MRS. GREENE, MR. J. REEVE MR. S. STOKES MR. J. BROWNE MR. T. CRAVEN MR. J. BREWIN A.D. 1728. 4- 'M'w%"WM Mj^^Mmw^ mij^:E^%M. In early Gothic capitals, 2 inches high, under which is [ IJ 68. ] 5- [ + 53- ] b« a ta ma ri a [ n 49 ] [ U 6- ] 6. GLORIA PATRI FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO 1730. CCELORUM CHRISTE PLACEAT TIBI REX SONUS ISTE. ( Under which is an impression of Queen Ann's groat. ) 7. ROBERT WARTNABY RICHARD WORRILL CHURCH- WARDENS WILLIAM DURRANCE WILLIAM HILL MATTHEW SIMPSON OVERSEERS 1766. ( There is an impression of George the Second's farthing. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 247 8. EYRE DE KETTERING FECIT, JAMES FOWKES AND JAMES DURRANCE C. Ws. Ao. Di. 1753. WILLIAM HOWES AND JAMES FOWKES C. Ws. Ao. Di. 1754. SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM. LAUDATE ILEUM CYMBALIS SONORIS. CUM SONO SI NON VIS VENIRE NUNQUAM AD PRECES CUPIES IRE ( Weight 35 cwt. Note E flat. ) There is also a Priest's bell without inscription but dated 1688. In 6 Edward VI. there were " v Great bells in the stepyll w"" y' sance bell." The Churchwardens' Accounts supply some interesting particulars. I extract the following entries : — 1546. Itm peyde for ij bawdryckes to ye bells xxd. Itm peyde for a wele to on of y^ bels V5. j^. Itm peyde for medyng of the lytyll bell vJ. 1547. Itm pd to y^ smyth of Kyrkeby for peesyng the Grett beill clapper vs. Itin pd to ij Ryngers w"" rong to y^ S'mon when the bisshop of lincoln was here ij^- 1549. Paid for mending the cloke and chyme iJ5. ij^. 1553. October. Itm payd to John Hynmane & to Robert Bagworth for rynginge of y^ great bell for master latimore* sarmon ij'^- Itm payd to the Ryngers at the dyryge for the Kyngt Itm paid the x daye of Aprell to Thomas Owefeld % for castyng of the sants bell xs. Itm payd for iij" & d° of bell mettell for the sanctus bell iJ5. Itm payd for a clapper for y*^ bell viij J. Hugh Latimer. f Service for the Dead. Edward VI. + Probably one of the Nottingham founders. 248 The Inscriptions on the Itm payedd to goodman hobbs for hangyng of the saunce bell \]d. 1557-8. Itm pd for a galland of ale to y^ Reyngars when y" bycchype was here iij*^. 1558. Pd ffor makynge y" greyt bell claper vjs. viij J. Pd lor caryinge y^ bell clap & y' fetchynge v]d. Pd to Pykeryng ffor mendyng y^ for bell x^. 1562. Pd for drinck at the lifting up of o' Ladye bell nx]d. Pd for a bawdrick viijrf. The Town wardens' Accounts tell us more about "our Lady bell" (the fifth of the present ring). 1562. Itm to Willm tille for takinge downe the bell X5. Itm to John Hindman his wife for ale at the takinge downe of the bell xxij^. Itm to John Poley for carrying a Letter to Lester... xij^. Itm in earnest to the bell fovnder iiiji. Itm to Willm freers for worke for the bell xvjV. Itm to Albyne Alee for carrying the Bell to Lester & bringing it home xijs. Itm for ij gallons of ale for them w'''' blewe the bellows at Lester at the casting of the bell viijrf. Itm at the same tyme for fishe ijs. \d. Itm for breyd & ale iiJ5. \\\\d. Itm for our obligacon making viij^. Itm to Mayster Newkom the halfe of his money dew at the casting of the bell iiij//. \ni]d. Itm more to hym for mettill r xliJ5. Itm to fravncis his s'vunt viijW. Itm our charge at the casting of the bell at Lester viiJ5. Itm for breade & ale at the hanging up of the bell... xvjfl'. Itm to tilley for hanging up the bell X5. Itm to Mayster Newkom for the full payment of the bell more than was gathered viJ5. x^. Chiircli Bells of Leicestershire. 249 Itm for a quarte of wyne at Lester v^. 1584. ( " five catches for y'^ chyme." ) 1592-4. Payde for mendinge the clappers at Nottingham for castinge of them & for caringe in An° 1594 xvs. vj^. I now return to the Churchwardens' Accounts : — 1 60 1. Rec. of the Bell founder for mettell w"^" was over- plus of the forthe Bell w"*" was caste by him xxiijs. It. pd Will™ Smarte and his men for hanginge the bells & mending them vjs. viiji. Nichols preserves the inscription on this bell which was : — " I will sound and resound unto thi people Lord With my sweet voyse to call them to thy word. Thomas Owndle Thomas Clowdesley Wardens 1619." The date was miscopied. 1 610. Another levie made the x of december for castinge the third bell and other nedefull charges about the churche w'" came to xli. ixs. w'lijd. This bell, according to Nichols, had the inscription :— " Hec campana sacra fiat Trinitate Beata 1610." 1612. The Churchwardens' charge for "Yokes for the Bells"— " pynes for the greate bell "— " cappes sheres the crowne stapell and the Kayes aboute the greate bell "— " mendinge the Anselltree of the greate bell "— " ij Bavdrickes for the greate bell." 1656. The ancient great bell of the ancient ring of five appears, from the inscription preserved by Nichols, to have been recast in 1656, and to have then had this inscription placed upon it: — "Glory be to God on high. Roger Waite and John Hodgkins Churchwardens 1656." 2 I 250 The Inscriptions on the In 1728 the present third bell was added as a treble making the ring six in number, and in 1802 two more trebles were added, completing the present ring of eight bells. At the latter date a new set of chimes and a clock were erected. The chimes still play every third hour. At a town meeting held 23rd September, 1708, it was agreed "that the four of clock bell shall cease, and not be rung any longer." The Curfew (the 5th bell) is rung from Michaelmas to Lady-day at 8 p.m., after which the day of the month is tolled. At the death-knell three tolls are given for a male, two for a female. At the close of a funeral in the churchyard the tenor bell tolls until the mourners reach their home. This ancient custom is not followed after funerals in the cemetery. The 6th bell is tolled fifteen minutes to call Parish Meetings. On Sunday the treble bell is rung for ten minutes at 7 a.m. ; the ist and 2nd bells are rung at 8 a.m. For service the bells are chimed three times, the sermon bell (tenor) is then rung for a few minutes after which the Priest's bell calls the parson. Nichols says : — " the great bell is traditionally supposed to have been taken from the Lazar-house at Burton," and the sanctus bell to have been "brought hither from Ej^e-Kettleby Chapel." I heard the following tradition in Melton some years ago : — When the Prince Regent visited Belvoir Castle early in the present century he stayed at Melton to see the horses belonging to the many sportsmen then in that metropolis of hunting. The ringers hearing of his approach rang out a full peal, and in due time made their application to the Prince for a gratuity. This, however, not being forthcoming, they began to hint, then to say, that he was something which sounded the very opposite of a gentleman, and the townspeople being generally of the same opinion, they saluted him upon his appearance in the streets with a strong volley of snowballs, no doubt very much to his astonish- ment. ■ We have dictated to several of our monarchs and beheaded one, but this is the only instance probably in which a monarch, or his representative, has been dealt with in such a style as that in which the Bell ringers of Melton, according to this tradition, expressed their opinion to the Prince Regent. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 251 MISTERTON. S. Leonard. 4 Bells. 1. HENRY BAGLEY MADE MEE 1675. 2. [ + 22 ] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT • DOTH • ME • SEE • THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE • 1607. 3. IH'2 NAZARENVS ! REX : IVDEORVM : FILI : DEI : MISERERE : MEI : 1620 \_\J i.] 4. [ + 22 ] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT . DOTH • ME • SEE • THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE • 1607. MOUNTSORRELL (NORTH). 5. Peter. 3 Bells. 1. GOD SAVE HIS CHURCH 1614 R SMALLEY R HOOD WARDENS. 2. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1627 [ U i- 1 3. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT. JOHN SPICER THOMAS BRIERLEY CHURCHWARDENS 1813. In 6 Edward VI. there were "in the chapel of Saynt John Baptyste" — now called S. Peter — " seven litell bells in the steple ther." MOUNTSORRELL. S. Nicolas (destroyed). In 6 Edward VI. the Commissioners report that there were "in the chappell of Saynt Nicholas a sacringe bell, a hand bell, a saunce bell wythe other tow bygger belles in the stepell." This chapel was " wholly decayed " before 1622. 252 Tlie Inscriptions on the MOUNTSORRELL (SOUTH). Christ's Church. i Bell. One small bell cast by Taylor of Loughborough. MOWSLEY. S. Nicolas. i Bell. A small bell cast by Taylor and Son, Loughborough, about the year 1856. The Parish Register gives the following information : — "July I, 1659. It is agreed upon by the inhabitants of Mowsley that having but two bells in our chapel, and the lesser of them being cracked and of no use, we whose names are underwritten do give our consents that the bell shall be sold, and the money laid out upon the repairs of the church, viz. : Imprimis to build it a steeple to hang our other bell in," &c., &c. Signed by William Burdett and nineteen others. MUSTON. S. John Baptist. 4 Bells. I. j:mm ^^M:m.^M^ [U5I-] 2. GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH AND REALME AND SEND VS PEACE IN CHRIST AMEN [ n 8. ] [n*] [Dt] [024] an ( * A slipped Pomegranate (like fig. 79) ensigned by the Tudor crown. The Pomegranate was the badge of Queen Katharine of Arragon and so became a Tudor Badge, f A Tudor rose ensigned in the same way. The two last marks are apparently Tudor Badges, but I am unable to give them.) 4. ;iU mtn tljiit l^enrc mn monrfitl sonnb repent before gou hje ht gronb 1605 [ D 8. ] ^ Church Bells of Leicestershire. 253 There is also a small sanctus bell, now unhung. It is without inscription or marks. In 6 Edward VI. there were " iiij bells of one ryng w*^ a lyttell bell." The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. Tradition says that the Rev. Charles Holmes, who was Rector in the troublous times preceding the Commonwealth, presuming to baptize a child according to the Office in the Book of Common Prayer, was sought for to be hanged by the Roundheads, but he gave them the slip. How- ever they caught the Parish Clerk, and trussed him up in one of the bells. NAILSTONE. All Saints. 3 Bells. I. THE GIFT OF THE RIGHT HONble EARL HOWE 1843 J. TAYLOR FECIT LOBRo. 2. [ + 3- ] -^- :^mwmm:mtmm- [ □ 49 j [U6.] 3. THOMAS HARMON FARMER ROB. ALDRIDG WARDENS 1611. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. NARBOROUGH. All Saints. 5 Bells. 1. I SWETELY TOLLING MEN DOE CALL TO TASTE ON MEAT THAT FEEDS THE SOVLE 1672. ( Diam. 33 in. ) 2. FEARE GOD HONOR THE KING 1672. (Diam, 34 in. ) 3. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [ 9 ] MISERERE : MEI [ 9 ] 1623 ixj i.] ( Diam. 35I in. ) 254 T^^^^ Inscriptions on the 4. S):E a □ O [ ° 49 ] ©CD [ U I ] [ a 28 ] [ + 17. ] D (Diam. 37^ in. Several of the marks on this bell are too much worn to be deciphered. ) 5. M-:^<^:xs>m:E{ [9] ^M^:^j^m. [9] j^m^^im^^ [9] :Ei^5i^"l3:^ [9] 1640 [9] [UI-] (Diam. 41 ^ in. ) NETHER BROUGHTON. SS. Mary and Joseph. 3 Bells. 1. THOMAS HILL C. W. THOMAS HEDDERLY FOUNDER NOTTm. 1766. (Diam. 30 in. ) 2. [ + 21 ] GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH 1613 [ d 8. ] (Diam. 32+ in. ) 3- [ + 34 ] j-'M^^~^^ :©^ cD-yrm©" M:^m:m^ (Diam. 35+ in.) The ist bell was previously inscribed : " God save the chvrch 1639." [Nether Seile — see Seile Nether.] NEWBOLD VERDON. 5. James. 2 Bells. 1. THE CHVRCHIS PRAIS WE SOVND ALL WAYS 1754. 2. GOD [ 14] SAVE [ 14] HIS [ 14] CHVRCH [ 14] 1663 [ n 10. ] NEWTON HARCOURT. S. Luke. i Bell. I. [ 4- 20 ] j_-M<^ \ :i^M-'^M:mM:MTrm \ ^mm. \ (Diam. 27 in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 255 NEWTOWN LINFORD. All Saints. 4 Bells. (Diam. 26 in. ) 2. THE GIFT OF THE EARL OF STAMFORD A.D. 1842. CAST BY JOHN TAYLOR OF LOUGHBOROUGH. (Diam. 29 in. ) 3. CELORVM CHRSTE PLATIAT IBE REX SONVS ISTE 1614 [ u I. ] ( Diam. 30 in. ) 4. RECAST BY JOHN TAYLOR BELLFOUNDER LOUGH- BOROUGH 1842. (Diam. 35 in.) In 6 Edward VI. there were " three belles and a lytell bell." Holy Trinity. NORMANTON-LE-HEATH. FARMER R. 2 Bells. KIRKBY 1. GOD SAVE THE KING WARDENS 1677. 2. LESTER AND PACK OF LONDON FECIT 1769. The three bells of Ravenstone, Derbyshire, i^ mile distant, are traditional rivals of these two at Normanton. The first have long been supposed to say : — V X t^ "^ C"^ — . ^ ^^ ^^ C5 ^-^ vu Who beats us ? Who beats us ? Normanton- — the notes being an interv^al of a third — to reply :- y tK\ ^^ c^ iry ^^ c-^ C-i We do! We do! 256 The Inscriptions on the NORTH KILWORTH. S. Clement. 5 Bells. I, 2. RICHARD BANBURY JOSEPH HIPWELL CHURCH- WARDENS 1764. Wm. hunt sexton 0000 3. IH'S : nazarenvs : rex : ivdeorvm : fili : dei : miserere : MEI 1641 [ U I. ] 4. T. WHITEMAN C. WARDEN 1853 TAYLOR BELL- FOUNDER LOUGHBOROUGH. 5- M.iBm':m^ :H©:Bi3EK jhmi:m^©. miS{ 000 { coins. ) ( Diam. 34 in. ) The Pancake-bell (the 4th) is rung on Shrove-Tuesday at 11 a.m. A correspondent in a local newspaper writes : — " The oldest family supposed to live in this village are the Ludlams ; and up to 1844 they claimed the distinction of having the deceased members of the family ' chimed to church,' and asserted that it had been the custom to do so 2 K 258 The Inscriptions on the from time immemorial. I remember it being observed on three separate occasions ; the last being in the case of a very old inhabitant, named Richard Ludlam, who had served his country during twenty-one years in the Peninsular war. He died in the said year 1844, and the then vicar (the Rev. F. R. Phillips) declared that such a distinguished privilege should no longer be allowed whilst he remained vicar. Tradi- tion states that the next oldest family in the village, that of Norman, was also so distinguished, but I cannot remember any of them being so honoured." THE OAKS. S I Bell. I. ARCHDEACON PARKINSON 1845. (Diam. 27 in. ) [ Old Dalby — see Dalby-on-the-Wolds. ] ORTON-ON-THE-HILL. S. Edith. 4 Bells. 1. GAVDETE [12] IN DOMINO [12] ET EXVLTATE [12] IVSTI [12] 1701. ( Diam. 28:^ in. ) 2. MORABOR [12] IN DOMO DOMINI IN LONGITVDINEM DIERVM 1701. (Diam. 29J in. ) 3. PRAYSE GOD 1595. ( Diam. 32^ in. ) 4. JESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDEORVM FILI DEI MISE- RERE MEI [ 12 ] J. POYNTON T. MORHALL CHURCHWARDENS 1701. ( Diam. 36! in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 259 OSGATHORPE. S. Mary. 2 Bells. In 6 Edward VI. there were " tow belles." The present bells are in an almost inaccessible bell turret, and are reported by the Rector to be without interest. [ Over-Seile — see Seile Over. ] OWSTON. S. Andrew. 3 Bells. 1. EVERET BRITTON VICKER JOHN RIPPIN C. W. 1754. THOS. HEDDERLY FOUNDER. ( Diam. 30 in. ) 2. 9961 • EM • TSAC • SIRRON • EYBOT • SEKWAF • NHOI. (Diam. 31 in. Reads backwards.) 3. JOHN TAYLOR & CO. LOUGHBOROUGH i860. ( Diam. 34 in. Weight 7 cwt. ) In i860 the ancient treble — said to have been inscribed "Johannes Shevt fecit me" — was taken away, and the present tenor added, thus making the ring heavier. It is the custom to ring a peal after service when Banns of Marriage are first published. When new ropes are substituted for old ones, the custom is for the two churchwardens to take each one of the latter, and the parish clerk the third. Tradition says that one or more of the bells here came originally from the neighbouring parish of Knossington. The Revd. Everard Breton was instituted 1724, died 1755. He was also rector of Withcote. 26o The Inscriptions on the PACKINGTON. The Holy Rood. 4 Bells. :BI.:©. CHVRCHWARDENS 1695 [ 12.] (Diam. 28 in.) 2. jhM-m [ 12 ] WMM. [ 12 ] ©<&>^^-MJ^Jh [ 12 ] :H:ii^(i)m3E^:fei [ 12 j 1695 [ 12 j ( Diam. 29 in. ) 3. GOD [ 12 ] SAVE [ 12 ] HIS [ 12 ] CHVRCH [ 12 ] 1695 [ 12 ] (Diam. 31 in. Cracked.) 4. ROBERT HASTINGS VICAR. THOMAS POTTER & RICHARD HARRISON CHURCHWARDENS E. ARNOLD LESTER FECIT 1793. ( Diam. 34 in. ) In 6 Edward VI. there were " three belles." The ancient tenor was cracked by lightning in 1790. PEATLING MAGNA. All Saints. . 4 Bells. 1. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX I IVDEORVM [9] FILI \ DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1619 [ U i- ] (Diam. 33 in.) 2. CELORUM CHRSTE PLATIAT TIBI REX SONUS ISTE 1617 [ U I. ] ( Diam. 35 in. Broken and unhung. ) 3. ~^m [ D 28 ] bni [ □ 28 ] i^tt [ a 28 ] ^^ [ a 28 ] faa^ [ a 28 ] eraltanonis [ d 49. ] ( Diam. 40 in. For initial letter see fig. 81. ) 4. [ + 44] M.i^m:m-MiE{m'M%:^'M^mi:^:^:H©:BiiKJ^<3Ei. 4. lE sbrctig tolmg mat bo tall to task oit meats tljat fccbs tlje soole 1607 [ a 8.] 5. [ + 21] GOD • : • SAVE • : • THE • : • CHVRCH • : • OVR • : • QVEENE • : • AND • : • REALME • : • AND • : • SEND • : • vs • : • peace • : • in • : ■ CHRIST • : • AMEN ■ : • 1601 [ n 8. ] The Curfew is rung at 8 o'clock during the winter months, excepting during the interval between the death and burial of any parishioner, when it is discontinued. In a map of the lands inclosed in 1659 there are two parcels of land (Nos. gi & 92) marked " Bell-rope Piece," and across both is written as the owner " Great Sheepy Parish Clerk." These lands were left to the Parish Clerk for providing Bell-ropes and for ringing the 8 o'clock bell at night. — (See Charity Commissioneys' Report 1837, p. 209.) SIBSTONE. S. Botolph. 4 Bells. 1. [ + 22 ] BE • YT • KNOWNE • TO • ALL • THAT • DOTH • ME • SEE • THAT • NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • MEE 1605. ( Diam. 34 in. ) 2. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. T. EAYRE RETT. FECIT JOHN FARMER CHURCHWARDEN 1751 O O ( Diam. 36 in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 277 3. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI : • GLORIA PATRI FILIO ET SPIRITUI SANCTO : • ANNO DOM. 1733 : • (Diam. 39 in. ) 4. ALL YOU THAT HEAR MY MOURNFULL SOUND : REPENT BEFORE YOUR LAYD IN GROUND. OO THOs. BERRY & JOHN FARMER CHURCHWARDENS. THOs. HEDDERLY FOUNDER NOTTINGHAM 1779. ( Diam. 42 in. ) The following extracts from the Parish Books are kindly supplied by the Rector— the Rev. T. Douglas Page. 1750. N.B. Agreed at the meeting when the Accounts were given up, that the Bell Ropes, when they are weared out, shall be produced by the Parrish Churchwarden at the Parrish meet- ing when the Accounts are given up, and be sold by Auction, and the money to be disposed of to the use of the Parrish. £. s. d. 1751. Paid Mr. Eayre for Runing the Second Bell 18. 7.0 Spent when it was tane down o . 4 o Spent when it was Loded o . 2 6 Paid 3 men for hanging y" second Bell 0.5.0 Spent when I paid Mr. Eayre o . 8 . 6 John farmer for Carige i . § 6 Tho. farmer for Carige j . q o Mr. Eayres his Bill 6.1.0 1778. Pd at a meeting about the Bell 0.1.6 To extra expence applying about the Bell & taking it down Q y g To the Carriage of the Bell to & from Leicester by Whitmore i 18 q Allow" to the Ringers in helping up the Bell 0.5.0 278 The Inscriptions on the To Mr. Hedderly of Nottingham for recasting HD. Q. lb. the Tennor Bell weighing 13 . i . 7 taking from Leicester & Returning it there again & replacing it finished in the steeple 21 Rec" by a 5^. Levy 35 • 9 • 2 Rec*^ by sale of the old Communion cloths... 0.5.1 35 14-3 The Curfew is rung during the winter months at 8 p.m. The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove-Tuesday. Tradition says that a field, called "the Bell Field," in Congerstone parish, was given for the tenor bell: and that a field called "Eight Lands " was given to ensure the ringing of the Curfew by a man, who having lost his way, regained it by hearmg the sound of the bell. This field is said to have been afterwards bartered to the Rector by the Clerk for his Sundays' dinner. This field has formed part of the glebe from time immemorial. SILEBY. Nativity of B. V. Mary. 5 Bells. I. IN HONOREM GULIELMI CUMBRI2E DUCIS REBELLES SCOTOS VICTRICIBUS ARMIS DEBELLANTIS 1745. ( Diam. 38 in. ) 2. jM^M-w^ [35] PB©- [35] -^m M:^%:m ( Diam. 30! in. ) 2. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [ 9 ] MISERERE : MEI [ 9 ] 1631 [ u i- 1 (Diam. 32+ in. ) 3. ^m:m MMrwM. m^stM m.^^MM:mM. 1599 [u ^-i ( Diam. 35 in. ) 4. M-:^m:m [ □ * i -mm-^mj- [ ° t ] -^jhmi^^m^ip. (Diam. 38 in. ) [ * A Portcullis with its chains, ensigned by the Tudor crown, t A Tudor Rose ensigned in the same way. This bell I believe to be from the Nottingham foundry. ] At the Death-knell thrice three tolls are given for a male, and thrice two for a female, both before and after the knell. A morning-bell is rung on Sundays at 7 a.m. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 291 SWITHLAND. 5. Leonard. 6 Bells. I & 2. THE GIFT OF SIR JOHN DANVERS BART. 1760. 3. THE GIFT OF SIR JOHN DANVERS BART. EDWARD ARNOLD LEICESTER FECIT 1793. 4 & 5- THE GIFT OF SIR JOHN DANVERS BART. 1760. 6. THE GIFT OF SIR JOHN DANVERS BART. 1760. LET EVERYTHING THAT HATH BREATH PRAISE THE LORD. JOSEPH EAYRE St. NEOTS. ( Weight 8 cwt. ) Sir John Danvers died 21 September, 1796. For an account of him, his family, and a magnificent monument erected to his memory during his lifetime, see Nichols' Leicester shive under Swithland. SYSONBY. I Bell. I. [ + 20.] %_:isi ■: MO'MmMM •: MM^MmmJ- (Diam. 18 in.) SYSTON. S. Peter. 6 Bells. 1. GOD [12] SAVE [12] QUEEN [12] ANNE [12] 1704 [12] (Diam. 32 in. ) 2. GOD [ 12 ] SAVE [ 12 ] HIS [ 12 ] CHVRCH 1704. W NORTH [ 12 ] J WHATTOFF CH. WV\RDENS. (Diam. 34 in. ) 1634 [9] [UI-] ( Diam. 351 in. ) 2g2 The Inscriptions on the 4- [ + 42 ] MTw:^ [ □ 43 ] miMSMitM^ t ° 13 ] ©:blS- [ D 43 ] '^Jh'M^iElM. [ □ 43 ] :J^'MM [ □ 43 ] ( Diam. 37 in. ) 5. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX I IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [ 9 ] MISERERE ! MEI [ 9 ] 1628 [ U i- 1 ( Diam. 40! in. ) 6. The same dated 1619. ( Diam. 45! in. ) The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove- Tuesday at noon. On Sundays one bell is rung at 7 a.m. ; two bells at 9 a.m. At the Death-knell three tolls are given for a male, two for a female, on all the bells, beginning with the treble. THEDDINGWORTH. All Saints. 5 Bells. 1. PRAISE THE LORD 1595. (Diam. 33 in.) 2. CELORVM CHRSTE PLATIAT TIBI REX SONVS ISTE 1615 [ U I- ] (Diam. 34 in. ) 3- [ + 42 ] ^ [ n 43 ] ^^ [ a 43 ] W©" [ a 43 1 [ U 6. ] ( Diam. 37 in. ) 4. NOS SUMUS CONSTRUCTI AD LAUDEM DOMINI : • LAUDATE ILEUM CYMBALIS SONORIS f A D 1757. ( Diam. 40 in. ) 5. + J. TAYLOR & Co LOUGHBOROUGH 1873 + LAUS DEO ( Diam. 48 in. ) Until 1873, when the present fine tenor bell was purchased by sub- scription, there were only four bells. , The Pancake-bell is rung on Shrove- Tuesday. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 293 THORNTON. S. Peter. 3 Bells. 1. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1626 [XJ i.] (Diam. 32 in. ) 2. SERVE GOD HONOVR THE KING 1663. (Diam. 35 in. ) 3. FOR CHVRCH AND KING WE ALLWAYS RING 1757 M. PAYNE C. WARD : THOMAS HEDDERLEY FOUNDER. ( Diam. 39 in. ) THORPE ACRE. No Dedication. 1 Bell. A new church with a small bell in an external turret. THORPE ARNOLD. S. Mary. 3 Bells. I. i&Tf^m. ^nnffl. MsmM )@>mj^g 1597 [ u i- ] 2. IH'2 [12] NAZARENVS [12] REX [12] IVDEORVM [12] FILI [12] DEI [12] MISERERE 1685. 3. [ + 3 ] M m^ [ u i- ] 2 and 3. IH'2 : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [g] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1638 [ U i- ] 4. The same dated 1640. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 297 TUGBY. S. Thomas a Becket. 4 Bells. 1. + A ; RIGBY : MADE : ME ; 1702 \ WILLIAM : PAR- TRIDGE : CH : W. ( Diam. 26^ in. ) 2. THOMAS MEARS & SON OF LONDON 1809. ( Diam. 27I in. ) 3- myr^Ei ^rwm^ m-:ei:e> :p:ei,^© 1602 [ui-i ( Diam. 29 in. ) 4. M^i^m :mMis{ ©^3ek [u^-i (Diam. 31 in. ) TUR-LANGTON. S. Nicolas. i Bell. I. EDWARD ARNOLD LEICESTER FECIT 1794. ( Diam. 23 in. ) TWYCROSS. 3 Bells. 1. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH J. W. J. O. WARDENS 1691. 2. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT RECAST 1S14 Wm. CLARE CHURCHW^ARDEN. 3. THOMAS MEARS LONDON RECAST 1814. TWYFORD. S. Andrew. 3 Bells. 1. [ + 22.] NEWCOMBE • OF • LEICESTER • MADE • ME • 1604. ( Diam. 30 in. ) 2. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1602 [9] [TJ i.] ( Diam. 31 f in. ) 2 P 2g8 The Inscriptions on the 3. ^aast bg Jahxi ^nglor anb son of J^otrg^boroug^ 1853. ( Diam. 36 in. Weight 7 cwt. ) Mr. Higgs writes : — " The inscription on the previous Tenor bell was 'cvm cvm and pray 1600.' Perhaps I may be permitted to add that it was principally by my own exertion that the old cracked bell was recast, and the church clock — the old Leicester Exchange clock — purchased in 1853, having raised by subscription for both purposes a sum of between ;^8o and ;^90." WALTHAM-ON-THE-WOLDS. S. Mary Magdalene. 5 Bells. 1. SURGE • AGE : HENRY • PENN ; MADE • ME ; 1726. 2. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI THO : EAYRE • : • KETT : • • FECIT • : A : D. 1744. 3. OMNIA FIANT AD GLORIAM DEI. . ! CAST: • 1744 : • 4. [ + 21] GOD • : • SAVE • : • THE • : • CHVRCH • : • OVR • : • QVEENE • : • AND REALME • : • AND • ; • SEND • : • vs • : • PEACE • : • IN • : • christ • : • AMEN [ n 8. ] 5. OMNIA FIANT • AD GLORIAM • DEI • ; • GLORIA • PATRI • FILIO • ET SPIRITUI SANCTO • \ • ANNO • DOM ••:•• 1744 In 6 Edward VI. there were "iiij belles and a lyttle bell." There is a piece of land called the "Bell-close" which forms an endowment for ringing a bell at 4, 5, or 6 o'clock (according to the time of year) in the morning, and the Curfew at 8 o'clock in the evening, excepting on Saturday evening, when it is rung at 7 o'clock. After the ringing of the Curfew (the 3rd bell) the number of the day of the month is tolled on another bell. (See Report of Charity Commissioners for Leicester- shire 1837, page 455.) The Gleaning-bell (4th) is rung during harvest. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 299 There is a tradition that there were here, formerly, six bells, and that the tenor was appropriated by a neighbouring parish. There is no evidence in support of this. WALTON ISLEY. All Saints. 2 Bells. I- [ + 39] M-'WM. \ miM-^^M- \ ^jh-M.:mj^ \ (Diam. 18 in. ) 2. [ + 41 ] X3a M- :Ei 3^ M- ( Diam. 21 in. ) In 6 Edward VI. there were "tow belles (small) in the steple." WALTON-LE-WOLDS. S. Bartholomew. 3 Bells. 1. GOD SAVE THE CHVRCH ROBERT BLUNT 1656 [a 11.] 2. J'ohn ^tijrlor & ^oii of J^ouc|i)borouglj fomibcrs 1853. 3. J PALMER AND JOHN BRYANT HERTFORD FECERUNT 1807 REVd PHILIP STORY RECTOR J SHUTTLE- WOOD C. W. ( Weight 7 cwt. ) WANLIP. S. Nicolas. 3 Bells. [ D 62 ] 1. ©tret ^omcn X^Elagbulcnc CSI"ain}?uu;i. [U I] 2. [ n 80 ] [ + 55 ] [ D 80 ] ^auttc iH^icoIanc ©ra )Pro ^obis. 3- [ + 3 ] ©:H."yr:E. [ + 3 ] m'M.M.:m:^:^M mm [ + 3 ] ©cd:e). 300 Tlie Inscriptions on the In 6 Edward VI. there were " thre greate bells and a saunce bell tow hand bells." WARTNABY. S. Martin. 2 Bells. 1. GOD SAVE HIS CHURCH 1731. ED. GVI CH.WARDEN. ( Diam. 24 in. ) 2. JOHN TAYLOR & SONS LOUGHBOROUGH 1857. ( Diam. 25 in. ) WELBY. I Bell. I. [ + 3 ] M. i^m :mM. jm© :Bi.i. ( Diam. 24 in. ) In 6 Edward VI. there were " ij bells." The second bell is said to have been removed many years ago from the church to a farmhouse in the parish, on the occasion of a wedding, and instead of being returned, to have been broken up and sold for old metal. WELHAM. S. Andrew. 2 Bells. ^ [ D 67 ] ^ [ D 67 ] :Ei [ D 67 ] :m.^ I. [ + 72 ] MVLTI [ D 67 ] VOCATI [ n 67 ] PAVCI [ n 67 ] ELECTI [ D 67. ] M:Mmi%^j^:jsi 1604 [ + 72 1 { Diam. 31 in. ) Church Bells of Leicestershire. 301 [ D 52 ] 2. ^florum x\t placent tibi rev sonns istc [ U 32- ] [ □ 75. ] 000 ( Diam. 35 in. ) There were formerly three bells here : the ancient second, which is said to have borne the letters S PAQEGT, was cracked about tlie year 1820, when it was very improperly taken out of the church, and disposed of, for what purpose is unknown, as there is no entry in the parish books respecting it (see Hill's Hist, of Langton, S'C., p. 328). William Halford, Esq., was the owner of Welham by purchase before 1590. His grandson and heir, William Halford of Welham, was High Sheriff in 1617, and died in 1628. The Rev. Assheton Pownall, F.S.A. (a member of the London Numismatic Society) kindly informs me that the three corns on the present 2nd bell are certainly fifteenth centur}' groats, and probably those of Henry VI. WHATTON (LONG). All Souls. 3 Bells. I. [ + 70 ] €)i?ix3^ [ □ 49 ] :e [ + 70 ] ci):mxaEi [ □ 49 ] .i; ( Diam. 32 in. ) 2. [ + 21 ] GOD SAVE OVR CHVRCH [08.] (Diam. 35 in.) 3. ALL YOV THAT HEAR MY MOVRNFUL SOVND REPENT BEFORE YOV LYE IN GROVND J. STEVENSON G. PEAT C. W. 1756. ( Diam. 40 in. Cracked. ) In 6 Edward VI. there were "three belles wythe a small bell." WHETSTONE. S. Matthew. 4 Bells. I. THOMAS MEARS OF LONDON FOUNDER 1834. 302 The Inscriptions on the 2. IH'a : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [g] 1640 [XJ i.'] 3. The same dated 1623. 4. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1824. The ringing of the Curfew is lately discontinued. WHITWICK. 5. John Baptist. 4 Bells. 1. GOD SAVE THE kING 1628 [XJ i.] ( Diam. 32 in. ) 2. CELORVM CHRSTE [9] PLATIAT TIBI [9] REX SONVS ISTE 1628 [ U I- ] ( Diam. 34 in. ) 3. IH'S : NAZARENVS [9] REX : IVDEORVM [9] FILI : DEI [9] MISERERE : MEI [9] 1628 [ u i- ] ( Diam. 38 in. ) 4. The same. ( Diam. 41 in. ) In 6 Edward VI. there were "three belles a saunce bell and a hand bell." WIBTOFT. Assumption of Our Lady. i Bell. I. WILLIAM : BALLARD : C W THOMAS HEDDERLY FOUNDER NOTTm. 1758. ( Diam. 16^ in. ) WIGSTON-MAGNA. All Saints. 6 Bells. I. CUM • SONO • SI • NON • VIS • VENIRE • NUNQUAM • AD • PRECES • CUPIES • IRE. [ n see below ] JOHN TAYLOR & CO. FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1874. Church Bells of Leicestershire. 303 2. IH'S : [ 12 ] NAZARENVS [ 12 ] REX [ 12 ] IVDEORVM [ 12 ] FILI [12] DEI [12] MISERERE [12] R. B. T. D. WARDENS 1682. 3. IH'g : [ 12 ] NAZARENVS [ 12 ] REX [ 12 ] IVDEORVM [ 12 ] FILI [12] DEI [12] MISERERE 1702. 4. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1824. JOHN RAGG ESQ. THOMAS WILSON CHURCHWARDENS. 5. J. BRIANT CORT & CO. FECERUNT 1804 HERTFORD. J. LANGHAM AND J. HUNST C. W. 6. GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH. R. BREWIN T. DAVEN- PORT WARDENS 1632. The ist bell was the gift of Thomas Ingram, Esq., of Hawthorn-field in this parish : it bears his crest, a Forget-me-not, and the motto "Slntc^ mtb gglork." The 2nd and 3rd bells bear the letters previously used by Hugh Watts, of Leicester, showing that his foundry gear passed into the hands of the Nottingham founders. The tenor bell is also from Nottingham. Unfortunately the Churchwardens' Accounts, which were ancient and full of interest, have, I understand, passed into private hands. They ought to be restored to the parish. Nichols gives a few extracts, from which the following are quoted : — " Extract from earliest Register beginning 1569 : — 1682. New Bells a free gift; from the married men ^43 ; from the batchelors ;^i2. Extracts from Churchwardens' Accounts 1591 — 1660: — 1 59 1. A bell new cast at Leicester. 1597 1601 1613 1620 1634 Fore and great bell cast. £. Paid for casting the third bell metal 5 Paid Ringers on St. James day o Paid Ringers on Coronation day o Gave the Ringers when the King & Queen came o 5. d. 19 8 2 6 I 8 304 The Inscriptions on the Extracts from more modern Account Books : — C s. d. lyd^. Paid Mr. Racket court charges on account of bells 2 . 3 10 1764. Paid Cornelius Parker for carriage of third bell to St. Neots 3 - 3 • o Paid Mr. Eayre for casting third bell and tuning the other 17 . i 10 At the death-knell three tolls are given for a male ; two for a female. WIGSTON-MAGNA. S. WoLSTAN. No Bell. WIGSTON-PARVA. Assumption of our Lady. i Bell. I. 1758. ( Diam. 15! in. ) WILLOUGHBY WATERLESS. S. Mary. 4 Bells. 1. THOs. PERKINS Ch. WARDEN 1818. ( Diam. 25 in. ) 2. IHS NAZARENE REX lUDEORUM FILI DEI MISERERE MEI ANNO 1730. ( Diam. 29 in. ) 3. [ + 69 ] -^M-Mmm^ JhM-'WM.^:^^!- )^ [9] :Ki:m©M [9] 1611 [ u I- ] 2. ^im [9] M:E.:MMn [9] :©:E.mK:iarE [9] ':^M^^M.M-:Ei:m.'m.mm [ + 22] and lady KATHEREN HI8 WIFE GAVE MEE AND MOVLDED VS ALL 161 1 [XJ arms. ] Church Bells of Leicestershire. 309 3- MXM [9] :Bi:E::m:Eip [9] ^M:m:^j^i^ [9] i^M.:BiM-:^:i^>Mm i^u [9] [ + 44 1 [ u «^""- ] 4. The same. 5- [u «''"«] ^■3[:Ei [9] :M:E::Eims [9] :©:e.:bik:e.j2£:e.s [9] ixjctrms^ :jQM-:m.isi- with great skill ■ • • [The]^ volume is not only ably compiled, but handsomely got up. Its special public may be within the shire of Leicester, but there is matter in it that may interest antiquaries beyond those limits." — Athenaum. has produced a volume, which while throwing much light on the History of the church to which it is more specially dedicated, illustrates in a very interesting manner the social and ecclesiastical condition of England at the time of the Reformation, and for some years after. Not the least novel and curious part of the volume is the section in which Mr. North treats of the Guilds, secular and religious, which formerly existed in Leicester. These Guilds are of the highest antiquity, but their history has never yet received the attention from English antiquaries which it deserves. Mr. North's is a valuable contribution towards such a History." — Notes and Queries. The account of the religious Guilds attached to the church is, however, the most interesting part of the volume • • • • Mr, North has taken great pains with the book, which is a good specimen of its class." — Guardian. " Lovers of Archaeology will hail with delight this handsome little quarto, containing the history of the curious old Church of St. Martin, Leicester, with illustrations, docu- ments, and all necessary adjuncts. • • • • All this, and much more, equally worth the study, may be gathered from Mr. North's interesting pages • • • • and we earnestly recommend those interested in such matters to read the book for themselves." — Church and State Review. "This beautifully printed volume consists of abstracts from early Churchwardens' Accounts, and from Records of Ancient Guilds, which possessed chantries in the old church of St. Martin, Leicester, together with copious annotations, in which Mr. North explains the ancient ritual of the church, the furniture, and the ornaments of the fabric and of the officiating clergy, and the origin and history of the Town Guilds • • • • which does not, however, consist of dry details, such as we have indicated, but is made up, independently of these, with pleasant discussions and with much information on matters which just now are assuming importance." — The Churchman. "Mr. North • • • • has done really good service to archaeology by the publication of his present work, which is, without exception, the best of the kind we have seen • • • • his volume is not only one of local but general interest, and one which serves in an important degree to illustrate the general history of the Church and of those its most troublous and trying times." — The Reliquary. . "Local histories possess an interest and do good far beyond the original circles for which they were intended. So we welcome and commend Mr. North's Chronicle of the church of S. Martin, at Leicester." — Ecclesiastic. "Mr. North has successfully attempted to place before the reader 'A Chronicle of the Church of St. Martin in Leicester,' • • • • and his narrative naturally shows, to a great extent, the progress of the Reformation in that parish, as exemplified in the changes made in the furniture of the church, and the accessories of the worship, and by the abrogation of local customs and peculiarities • • ■ ■ his book is a valuable addition to our local histories and ecclesiological literature. It is well printed and illustrated with five curious engravings." — Church Review. ' carefully compiled and valuable work • • • • There is a great deal of curious matter connected with the various changes in religious worship which occurred during the years over which the before-mentioned Churchwardens' Accounts range, and a good index furnishes a ready means of reference to any item to which the reader may desire to turn. • • • ■ " — Church Times. " Mr. North ■ • • • has done his work carefully and judiciously. He has produced a book abounding in interesting memories of past times." — Leicester Advertiser. " All who would encourage the preservation of a knowledge of the past, whether as a beacon to guide us in the future, or as a subject of pleasing retrospect, will find Mr. North's book a record complete and faithful, as far as it proposes to go, of the matters to which it relates, and is worthy a place in the library for perusal now and hereafter." — Leicester Chronicle. " Mr. North • • • • then passes on to elucidate all the conditions affecting the church above-named, its chapels, appointments, furniture, vestments, vessels, altars, processions, relics, obits, images, plays, books of office, customs and usages, guilds, &c. Of these and many other matters, his work, beautifully printed and illustrated, is a veritable storehouse of information, showing the state of things prior to, and during the progress of the Reformation. • • • ■ We would strongly recommend Mr. North's book to the archajological world, as one in which they will find great store of information, well- digested and arranged, and presented in a most attractive form." — Worcester Herald. The whole work we find carefully authenticated with references, and it possesses a copious index ; it is amusing for the drawing room ; a thoroughly furnished handbook for the ecclesiologist ; and precious to the conservator of parish memories . . " — Leicester Journal. a very trusty and instructive monograph he places before us, throwing light and interest over a transition period of English history. It is of much more than parochial value. It illumines the broad story of our country." — Newcastle Daily Chronicle. enough has been shown to satisfy the lovers of Archaeology that Mr. North's book abounds in interesting and valuable matter." — Northampton Mercury. r./^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-100m-9,'52(A3105)444 212 The church belli r.liN8l or Leicestershire! CC 212 Li4N8l UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001 211078 9