ST MAGNUS THE MARTYR, Lower Thames St |
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DETAILS OF THE BELLS |
Bell Weight* Diameter
Note Cast Founder Treble
5-1-4 275/8" F sharp 1843
Thomas Mears II 2
5-1-26 285/8" E 1748 Robert Catlin 3
5-3-16 301/2" D 1714 Richard Phelps 4
6-1-6 301/2" C sharp 1714 Richard Phelps 5
7-1-26 34" B 1714 Richard Phelps 6
8-2-15 361/2" A 1714 Richard Phelps 7
10-0-27 391/2" G 1714 Richard Phelps 8
12-1-5 431/2" F sharp 1714 Richard Phelps 9
16-0-4 46" E 1714 Richard Phelps Tenor
21-1-3 511/4" D 1831 Thomas Mears II Clock
251/2" 1845 Charles & George Mears
* As measured at Whitechapel at the time of scrapping in 1976.
INSCRIPTIONS |
| 1. | THOMAS MEARS FOUNDER LONDON 1843 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | THOS GILLMORE IOS ISMAY THOS HUX CHURCH WARDENS RT CATLIN FECIT 1748 C.N. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. | THE GIFT OF MR RICHARD WEST OF ST MAGNUS PARISH: FISHMONGER. R:PHELPS FECIT: 1714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4. | RICHARD CAMBRIDGE AND THOMAS PRESTON, ESQRS : BOUNTIFUL BENEFACTORS, 1714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. | SIR : GEO : MERTINS KT : ALD OF THIS WARD & SIR FRA : FORBES KT : ALD : OF DOWGATE WARD BENEFACTORS 1714 R : P : FE: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6. | RICHARD TUSTIAN, GENT: BENEFACTOR. RICHARD PHELPS MADE THESE BELLS 1714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. | RICHARD PHELPS MADE ME 1714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8. | THESE
FIVE BIGGEST BELLS WERE ALL MADE AT THE CHARGE OF THE UNITED PARISHES OF ST:
MAGNUS AND ST: MARGARET
1714 BY R:PHELPS |
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| 9. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 10. | T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT, 1831 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| C. | C. AND G. MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON 1845 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The RT on the second has a star under the T. |
HISTORY |
| 17th Cent. | Record of 6 bells in the tower. |
| 1666 | Church destroyed in the Great Fire, which itself started near the church. It also destroyed the neighbouring church of St Margaret, New Fish Street. The latter was not rebuilt and the two parishes were united. |
| 1676 | Church rebuilt by Wren. |
| 1704 | Tower and spire added to the existing church rising to a height of 185 feet. |
| 1714 | Ring of 8 bells cast by Richard Phelps. |
| 1748 | Two trebles were added by Robert Catlin to augment the ring to ten. The existing frame was altered to accommodate the new bells. These bells were a gift from two ringing societies, the Eastern Youths and the British Scholars. |
| 1831 | Treble and tenor recast by Thomas Mears. |
| 1843 | Treble again recast by Thomas Mears. |
| 1917 | Bells overhauled by Mears & Stainbank. The treble, 3, 4 and tenor were rehung with entirely new fittings. The 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th were lifted out and the gudgoens and bearings turned afresh and refitted. |
| 1940 | The bells were removed from the tower and stored in the church lest they be destroyed in the War. The roof and ceiling of the church were damaged in the air raids, but the tower was safe, and indeed the bells would not have been damaged. |
| 1949 | Negotiations for rehanging the bells began with Mears & Stainbank, although the church was unwilling to commit substantial sums to undertake this work. |
| 1951 | The bells were taken to the Whitechapel where they were found to be very heavily corroded indeed and although one or two were believed to be cracked the matter of the soundness of the bells could not be established without cleaning. At the expense of Mears & Stainbank, and with the approval of the church, the bells were removed from Whitechapel for cleaning inside and out by sand blasting after which it was clear that four of them were indeed cracked. Negotiations continued in to the early 1950s with a number of detailed proposals being submitted by Mears who, to assist the church with their financial difficulties, offered a 5-year interest free loan. |
| 1971 | The bells had been moved about the foundry premised as rebuilding work went on. For some of the time they were stored under railway arches in Bethnal Green. They were finally moved into the big yard at Whitechapel. |
| 1976 | After a long period of indecision by the church, pressure was put on them and a number of alternative and less costly schemes were proposed. The foundry also offered to assist in finding donors/sponsors to help with financing and again offered an interest free loan. All these offers were ignored. The church finally instructed the foundry to scrap the bells, which they did. The tenor was used briefly in a performance of Tchaikovsky's "1812" in the Royal Albert Hall before it followed the same fate as the other nine. The revenue from the scrapped bells went to the church with an amount deducted to settle basic insurance premiums owed for the period 1972-6. |
| 2006 | An appeal was launched to install a new ring of 12 bells to the tower in a new frame. The St Magnus the Martyr Bells Fund was established as a charity the year before, supported by the ASCY. The aim is to have the bells installed in 2008. |
| Two very notable peals were rung at St Magnus: 25th Jul 1931 - Spliced Surprise Royal (3m) - this
was the first peal of Spliced Surprise Royal |
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ENGRAVINGS |
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