St Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street

THOMAS MEARS FOUNDER LONDON 1843

THO^S GILLMORE I^OS ISMAY THO^S HUX CHURCH WARDENS R^T CATLIN FECIT 1748 C.N.

THE GIFT OF MR RICHARD WEST OF ST MAGNUS PARISH: FISHMONGER. R:PHELPS FECIT: 1714

RICHARD CAMBRIDGE AND THOMAS PRESTON, ESQ^RS : BOUNTIFUL BENEFACTORS, 1714

SIR : GEO : MERTINS KT : ALD OF THIS WARD & SIR FRA : FORBES KT : ALD : OF DOWGATE WARD BENEFACTORS 1714 R : P : FE:

RICHARD TUSTIAN, GENT: BENEFACTOR. RICHARD PHELPS MADE THESE BELLS 1714

RICHARD PHELPS MADE ME 1714

THESE FIVE BIGGEST BELLS WERE ALL MADE AT THE CHARGE OF THE UNITED PARISHES OF S^T: MAGNUS AND S^T: MARGARET 1714 BY R:PHELPS

M^R	:	CHARLES WALKDEN		CH : W : OF S^T MARGARET NEW FISH STREET
		WILLIAM STANDART		CH : W : OF S^T MARGARET NEW FISH STREET
M^R	:	GEORGE BROWNE	CH : W : OF S^T MAGNUS THE MARTYR
	:	NOY WILLEY	CH : W : OF S^T MAGNUS THE MARTYR
R : PHELPS 1714 ¢ I GUY SEXTON ¢

10.

T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT, 1831

WILLIAM SMITHERS HADAZER WHITFIELD SHARP	}	S^T MAGNUS THE MARTYR
THOMAS LINDLEY JOSEPH CARPENTER	}	S^T MARGARETS NEW FISH STREET
EDMUND RONALDS WILLIAM MATTHEWS	}	S^T MICHAELS CROOKED LANE
CHURCH WARDENS

C. AND G. MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON 1845

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 20th Nov 1922 - Middlesex Surprise Royal - this method was earlier considered too difficult to be rung.

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