The history of our bells

The church tower was completed in about 1478 and the first mention of bells was in 1550 when a new bell frame was installed. An inventory of 1552 recorded five bells and a Sanctus bell. Richard Holdfield of Cambridge recast at least three bells of the five in 1602 and John Darbie of Ipswich recast the tenor bell in 1682. In 1772 a bell fell down out of its frame and cracked and was recast the following year by Thomas Pack and William Chapman of the Whitechapel Bellfoundry.

A new clock by Thwaites and Reed of Clerkenwell was purchased in 1800 and with it a bell to strike the hours; this bell was cast at Whitechapel by Thomas Mears Senior. A sixth bell was added to the ring in 1806 by Thomas Mears and Son. All the old bells in the ring, with the exception of the 1806 bell were recast by Mears and Stainbank (of Whitechapel) in 1872.

In 1895 Mears and Stainbank added two smaller bells to complete the octave. In 1902 John Warner of Cripplegate, London added two more smaller bells to complete a ring of ten bells and at the same time recast the 1872 tenor bell.

By 1967 the fourth bell had become cracked, this bell was recast by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough. In the early years of the 21st century the frame installed by John Warner was deteriorating and needed replacing. The opportunity was taken to replace the bells which had been cast at five different dates by four different founders. A new ring of ten bells was cast at the Whitechapel Bell foundry in 2010, who also replaced the framework and fittings.

A secondhand bell, previously at St. Mary at Walls, Colchester which had been stored for many years, was acquired as a service/funeral bell. This bell was cast by John Darbie in 1679 who had originally cast our tenor bell in 1682. Nine of our old bells are now in use elsewhere, three in Malta, the others in this country in London, Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire and Essex (at Willingale).

Submitted by David Sloman