The Bells of the City of London
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Love's
Guide to The Bells of the City of London |
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St Margaret Lothbury, Lothbury
 Photo: Dickon Love, 2 Jun 2004
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Details of the Bells |
| Bell | Weight (most recent) | Weight (As supplied) | Diameter | Note | Date | Founder | Retuned | ||
| ꓕ | 1 | 4-1-17 | 4-3-9 | 29" | D | 1841 | Thomas Mears II, Whitechapel | Never | |
| ꓕ | 2 | 5-1-17 | 30½" | C | 1682 | James Bartlett, Whitechapel | Never | ||
| ꓕ | 3 | 8-2-23 | 35½" | B♭ | 1749 | Thomas Lester, Whiechapel | Never |
Inscriptions |
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How the bells are tuned |
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Prior to 1841 |
| Bell | Weight | Diameter | Note | Date | Founder | Retuned | Fate | |
| 1-3-17 | 1-3-17 | Unknown | Never | Not known whether hung or stored, possibly ex-Bart's bythe Exchange. Sold1841. | ||||
| 2-0-26 | 2-0-26 | Unknown | Never | Not known whether hung or stored, possibly ex-Bart's bythe Exchange. Sold1841. |
History |
| 1552 | Record of 3 bells and a sanctus. [1] | ||
| 1571 | Record of sexton's wages for ringing the bells evening and morning and candles to ring with. | ||
| 1583 | Record of charges for ringing for weddings, christenings, churchings and burials - mentions fore bell, second bell, third bell and great bell., and dutites of the clerk, including finding baldricks and bearing other charges of the three lesser bells "except the breking of the bells, wheles of frames or clappers" to be borne by the parish. | ||
| 1590 | The tenor (of 4) was recast. | ||
| 1666 | The church was destroyed in the Great Fire. "... all the bell metle that is left to be kept by Mr. Stonehill until further order." [2] | ||
| 1682 | The present second was cast - possibly 2 bells were cast to occupy the new belfry at this time. | ||
| 1686 | -90 | The church was rebuilt by Wren with a tower at the west end to a total height of 140 ft. | |
| 1708 | Record of 2 bells. [3] | ||
| 1749 | The present tenor was cast (possibly recast from the 1682 bell). | ||
| 1824 | Record of 2 bells. [4] | ||
| 1841 | On 9 Apr a bell was supplied (to be the treble) by Thomas Mears II with frame and fittings, for which two bells were taken in part exchange (13th July). The exchanged bells were not the ones that were in the tower mentioned above and may have come from St Bartholomew by the Exchange. | ||
| 1894 | When the church of St Olave, Old Jewry was pulled down, and the 3 bells and clock from that church were stored in the church. These bells have since been moved to St Olave, Woodberry Down, Stoke Newington. [5] | ||
| 1953 | The bells were quarter turned and rehung dead in their existing pits. The fittings consist of hardwood deadstocks, securing ironwork and Ellacombe chiming apparatus. Each bell has its canons intact and has its cast-in crown staple retained. This work was carried out by Mears & Stainbank. |
| [1] | iij belles and the sayntes belle hanginge in the steple (Edwardian Inventory, 1552) |
| [2] | (Churchwardens Accounts) |
| [3] | () |
| [4] | () |
| [5] | In this tower are now also placed the three bells formerly hanging in the tower of St.Olave, Jewry. The treble is on the 2nd floor of the tower, the tenor and second on the first floor. (CHH March 1907)) |
Pictures of the church |
The church in 1908. Photo: Spitalfields Life |
Pictures from the belfry |
The tenor and treble in their 19th Century frame. Photo: Dickon R Love, Jan 2007 |
The old 2nd frame at the back. Photo: Dickon R Love, Jan 2007 |
The 1682 Bartlett bell. Photo: Dickon R Love, Jan 2007 |
The treble bell. Photo: Dickon R Love, Jan 2007 |
The ceiling under the bells. The three chiming rooms can be seen as well as three holes where the bells were originally rung full circle from. The purpose of this picture is to show that the bells were originally rung from the corner of the tower in a sma Photo: Dickon R Love, Jan 2007 |
| Love's Guide to the Church Bells of the City of London | Page updated: 13 October 2019 |