St Andrew by the Wardrobe, Queen Victoria Street

ST ANDREW-BY-THE-WARDROBE
QUEEN VICTORIA STREET

Photo DrL May 2001

	3 bells and a disused bell (the old tenor)
	Tenor: 8-0-8 in A sharp
	Retuning: never subsequently retuned.
	Hung dead from RSJs high in the tower and rung using Ellacombe chiming frame and ropes attached to the clappers..
	Tower Stages: 1. Ground: Ellacombe frame 2. Privately rented office 3. Empty room 4. Bells
	Access: ground floor door staircase in south east of tower to all 4 stages. Ladder to roof.

DETAILS OF THE BELLS

Bell

Weight

Diameter

Note

Cast
Founder

1
5-0-1 29" D
1961
Mears & Stainbank

2
6-3-0 32" C 1961 Mears & Stainbank

3
8-0-8 35" A sharp 1961 Mears & Stainbank

Disused bell
8-1-13 36˝" A flat c. 1420 Worcester Bell Foundry

1. PEACE AND GOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD A%R J757

RECAST

19

61

MEARS, LONDON

2. TAYLORS BELLFOUNDERS OXFORD : 1837 :

RECAST

19

61

MEARS, LONDON

3.

MEARS

19

61

LONDON

D.

MI I (King's Head) DE (Queen's Head) CELI (King's) HABEO (Queen's) NOMEN (King's) GABRIELI

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.

EARLIER BELLS

The tower used to have 4 bells in it, 3 and a sanctus, that were damaged in the War.

Bell	Weight (recorded 1933)	Weight (recorded 1961)	Diameter	Note	Cast	Founder
1	4-2-22	4-3-23	30⅜"	C	1757	Abraham Rudhall
2	6-0-13	6-0-18	32ž"	A	1837	William & John Taylor
3	8-1-13	-	36˝"	A flat	c.1420	Worcester Bell Foundry
Sanctus	3˝ cwt approx.		24"	G	1853	John Warner & Sons

The inscriptions are as reproduced above. The Sanctus was inscribed as follows:

S J. WARNER & SONS, CRESCENT FOUNDRY, LONDON, 1853

PATENT

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.

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. They were left hanging from a girder at the top of the burned out tower and lowered by Mears & Stainbank.
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.

GALLERY


The cross on the mediaeval bell.	The King's Head.	The Queen's Head.

The three bells in the tower.

David Cawley with the mediaeval bell.

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Cast	Founder
1	5-0-1	29"	D	1961	Mears & Stainbank
2	6-3-0	32"	C	1961	Mears & Stainbank
3	8-0-8	35"	A sharp	1961	Mears & Stainbank
Disused bell	8-1-13	36˝"	A flat	c. 1420	Worcester Bell Foundry