ST
ANDREW-BY-THE-WARDROBE |
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DETAILS OF THE BELLS |
Bell Weight Diameter
Note Cast Founder 1
5-0-1 29" C sharp 1961
Mears & Stainbank 2
6-3-0 32" B 1961 Mears & Stainbank 3
8-0-8 35" A 1961 Mears & Stainbank Disused bell
8-1-13 36½" A flat c. 1420 Worcester Bell Foundry
INSCRIPTIONS |
| 1 | PEACE AND GOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD A%R J757 | ||
| RECAST | |||
19 |
 |
61 |
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| MEARS, LONDON | |||
| 2 | TAYLORS BELLFOUNDERS OXFORD : 1837 : | ||
| RECAST | |||
19 |
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61 |
|
| MEARS, LONDON | |||
| 3 | |||
| MEARS | |||
19 |
|
61 |
|
| LONDON | |||
PREVIOUS BELLS |
Bell Weight
(recorded 1933)Weight
(recorded 1961)Diameter
Note Cast Founder 1
4-2-22 4-3-23 303/8" C 1757
Abraham Rudhall 2
6-0-13 6-0-18 323/4" A 1837 William & John Taylor 3
8-1-13 8-1-13 361/2" A flat c.1420 Worcester Bell Foundry
(stored in tower)Sanctus 3½ cwt 3½ cwt 24" G 1853 John Warner & Sons
The disused
bell (old tenor) is cracked and stands in the narthex of the church.
It is a fine 15th century casting and retains all its canons and is the oldest bell in the
City of London.
The inscription is in Lombardic Capitals.
| 3 | + MISSI (King's Head) DE (Queen's Head) CELIS (King's Head) HABEO (Queen's Head) NOMEN (King's Head) GABRIELIS |
| S | J. WARNER & SONS, CRESCENT FOUNDRY, LONDON, 1853 |
 PATENT |
HISTORY |
| The church was so named after its proximity to the King's Great Wardrobe, a mansion built by Sir John Beauchamp, and after his death in 1359, purchased by King Edward III and used as an office for the Keepers of the King's Apparel. |
1552 |
Record of 3 bells and a clock bell. |
1666 |
Church destroyed in the Great Fire. |
1685-95 |
Church rebuilt by Wren with a south west tower of 4 storeys to a height of about 86 ft. |
1708 |
Record of no bells in the tower. |
1714 |
Record of no bells in the tower. |
1850 |
Clock installed (from Christ Church Rotherhithe). |
1853 |
A bell was cast by John Warner and hung in the church. |
1933 |
Three bells were acquired from Avenbury, Herefordshire (which was in ruins). They were retuned and rehung dead in the tower of St Andrew by the Wardrobe by Whitechapel to replace the Warner bell, which was hung as a Sanctus bell. |
1941 |
The church and bells were damaged in the War. |
1961 |
The church was restored and the front 2 bells and Warner Sanctus bell were recast into a new set of 3 by Mears & Stainbank. The tenor was preserved in the church. |
OLD PHOTOGRAPH |
