ST DUNSTAN-IN-THE-WEST, Fleet St

1 service bell and 2 clock bells. Bell 11-0-14 in G sharp Formerly 8 ringing bells Former tenor: 18 cwt approx. in E Frame: 1832 Thomas Mears Upstairs Ringing Room PEALS

DETAILS OF THE BELLS

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Cast	Founder
Service	11-0-14	387/16"	G sharp	1961	Mears & Stainbank
Clock 1	¾ cwt approx.	14½"		1739	Robert Catlin
Clock 2	1 cwt approx.	16"		1739	Robert Catlin

S.
	MEARS 19 61 LONDON
C1	WILLIAMS GIBBON UICAR IOHN COLES WALTER CARTER CH WS J739
C2	WILLIAM GIBBON • VICAR • IOHN COLES WALTER CARTER CHWS J739

THE FORMER RING OF BELLS

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Cast	Founder
Treble	4¾ cwt approx.	29"	E	1832	Thomas Mears II
2	5¼ cwt approx.	30½"	D sharp	1832	Thomas Mears II
3	6¼ cwt approx.	32½"	C sharp	1832	Thomas Mears II
4	7½ cwt approx.	34"	B	1832	Thomas Mears II
5	8¾ cwt approx.	37½"	A	1832	Thomas Mears II
6	10 cwt approx.	40"	G sharp	1832	Thomas Mears II
7	13 cwt approx.	42¾"	F sharp	1832	Thomas Mears II
Tenor	18 cwt approx.	47¼"	E	1832	Thomas Mears II

1	T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832
2	T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832
3	T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832
4	T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832
5	T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832
6	T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832
7	T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1832
8
	THIS PEAL OF EIGHT BELLS WERE RECAST ANNO DOMINI 1832 T. MEARS OF LONDON 1832 REVD RICHARD LLOYD RECTOR               HENRY BURNELL JOHN HOPKINS VESTRY CLERK         EDWARD WILLIAMS } CHURCHWARDENS

HISTORY

1237		Patronage of the church was given by Richard de Barking, Abbot of Westminster, to King Henry III
1552		Record of 4 large bells and a small bell. "An olde bele weighing 6¼ cwt sold to Simon Pounder for £8..16..0."
1666		The church escaped the Great Fire, but only just. The tower was later to contain 6 bells.
1671		The famous clock was made by Thomas Harries. It bears "two figures of savages or wild men well carved in wood and painted natural colours appearing as big as life standing erect with each knotty club in his hand wherewith they alternately strike the quarters, not only their arms, but even their heads moving at every blow."
1714		Record of 6 bells in the tower (Paterson).
1727		The first peal of Double Bob Major was rung here, by the Ancient Society of College Youths.
1739		Two new clock bells were supplied.
1829		The old church was pulled down.
1830		The bells and figures were bought by Lord Hertford for £200 and moved to what was then Lord Aldenham's villa in Regent's Park.
1831	27th July	First stone of the new church was laid. The architect was John Shaw. He died before it was completed, so the work was continued by his son. The 90 foot tower is surmounted by a pierced octagonal lantern raising it to 130 feet.
1832		The 8 bells from the old church were recast by Thomas Mears.
1833	31st July	New church consecrated.
1833		According to the Whitechapel Index Book, "an old London Newspaper" dated 1833 gave the weight of the tenor as 1908 lbs, i.e. 17-0-4.
1935		The clock bells and figures were restored to the church, with Mears & Stainbank facilitating the rehanging. Mr A. Hughes from Whitechapel who rehung them, reported them as been very poor bells.
1969		The 8 bells were removed from the tower and scrapped by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The tower was thoroughly cleaned, inside and out, and a single (stock Whitechapel) bell was hung on RSJs, rung with a lever clapper.
1970		Clock bells rehung and shotblasted by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. They hang on wrought ironwork and have only the clubs of the figures and the hour hammer to the largest as fittings. They retain their canons but the cast-in staples are drilled out.

GALLERY

The clock bells and figures hanging outside the church.		The church in 1829 (Thomas Talbot Bury)