Love's
Guide to The Bells of the City of London |
St Mary Abchurch, Cannon St
Photo: Dickon Love, May 2001 |
|
Details of the Bells |
Bell | Weight (most recent)* | Diameter | Note | Date | Founder | Retuned | ||
ꓕ | Single Bell | 5-3-20 | 30" | D | 1675 | James Bartlett, Whitechapel | Never |
Inscriptions |
How the bells are tuned |
History |
1552 | Record of 6 bells in the tower, although they were probably 4 large and 2 small bells. [1] | ||
1666 | The church and bells were destroyed in the Great Fire. | ||
1675 | The present bell was cast by James Bartlett. | ||
1681 | Church began to be rebuilt by Wren with a tower of 4 storeys rising to 51 ft. The bell was hung in a new frame, for ringing. The church was completed in 1687. | ||
1687 | The date of the oak frame in which the current bell hangs. | ||
1708 | Record of 3 bells in the tower. [2] | ||
1714 | Record of 4 small bells in the tower. [3] | ||
1897 | Record of only a single bell. | ||
2016 | The single bell was rehung with new swing-chiming fittings including a wooden headstock, late gudgeons, ball bearings and an iron lever by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. It was not tuned. |
[1] | Item vi belles in the stepull greate & small (Edwardian Inventory, 1552) |
[2] | A tower "wherein are 3 bells". (Paterson, A M, 1708) |
[3] | "four small bells". (Source tba, 1714) |
Pictures of the church |
Photo: ASCY collection |
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The church in c.1910 Photo: Spitalfields Life |
The belfry before the 2016 restoration |
Michael Royalton-Kisch with the derelict bell. Photo: Dickon Love, 18 Jan 2007 |
The service bell. Photo: Dickon Love, 18 Jan 2007 |
The bell in the derelict frame. Photo: Dickon Love, 18 Jan 2007 |
Love's Guide to the Church Bells of the City of London | Page updated: 13 October 2019 |