Untitled Document
      Love's Guide to

 The Bells of the City of London
St Alphage
 

St Alphage, London Wall

Photo: ASCY Archive

  • Formerly 2 bells, 14 cwt
  • Grid Ref: TQ324815
  • Church pulled down leaving the tower standing. The 3 crossing arches of the ground floor of the tower are all that survived the bombing.
  • Diocese: London
  • Building Listed Grade: II. Click for Heritage details.

Prior to 1923
Bell Weight Diameter Note Date Founder Retuned Fate
Service bell14 cwt approx.44"1777William SavilleNeverRemoved 1923
Priest's bell3 cwt approx.24"1777William SavilleNeverRemoved 1923

The old ring of 4
Bell Weight Diameter Note Date Founder Retuned Fate
Treble?UnknownNeverRecast 1638
24-1-19?UnknownNeverRecast 1638
3?UnknownNeverRecast 1638
Tenor8-3-2?UnknownNeverRecast 1638

The 1638 ring of 5
Bell Weight Diameter Note Date Founder Retuned Fate
Treble3-0-241638UnknownNeverSold 1747
24-0-71638UnknownNeverSold 1747
34-1-01638UnknownNeverSold 1747
45-2-31638UnknownNeverSold 1747
Tenor9-0-201638UnknownNeverReplaced 1777

History
1532 Original church built.
1535 Records about the sale of bells and framework.
1552 Record of 3 bells and a sanctus bell. [1]
1564 The saints bell was recast (at 49lbs).
1613 Indication of 4 bells.
1638 A subscription was started "for repairing the steeple, making a turret for the saint's-bell, recasting the four bells, and adding a tenour." The weights of the 5 bells are recorded as are the 2nd and tenor of the old ring of 4.
1649 The whole of the upper part of the steeple was rebuilt.
1666 The church escaped the Great Fire with just a little damage.
1708 Record of 5 bells.
1747 The church had become very dilapidated so it had to be taken down and re-erected. The tower had become so unsafe that the bells could not be rung, so four of them were sold. It was resolved to re-equip the tower with "one tenor of 12 cwt and the saint's bell 3 cwt."
1776 The church was completed with a somewhat heavier bell installed in the tower. The bell chamber was given a frame for 5 bells. Two bells were ordered to be hung "one a tenor of 12 cwt, and the saint's-bell 3 cwt)". The service bell was hung in one of the pits, but the other four were not wide enough to have ever contained four bells of size large enough to have formed a ringing peal with this bell as the tenor. The pits were arranged in a row. The small bell was hung in a cage on the top of the frame.
1777 The church was much altered. The "12 cwt" bell appears to have been replaced with the current (slightly heavier) bell.
1824 Record of 2 bells.
1897 The 2 bells were noted in a frame with 5 pits. [2]
1917 The parish was united with that of St Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury.
1919 The whole church was rebuilt after damage in an air raid in the First World War.
1923 The nave was pulled down leaving the tower and porch standing. Until the Second World War, the tower was maintained with an altar and chairs as a place for prayer.
1940 The tower was gutted by fire.
1954 The parish was united with that of St Giles, Cripplegate.
[1] (Edwardian Inventory, 1552)
[2] Tower filled with a clumsy cage, probably of great antiquity, divided into five pits very long and narrow except that in which no.2 hangs [sketch plan given]. No.1 is in a small more modern cage above the pit next to no.2 on the north side. The breadths of the pits from the north side are 23½" (empty), 28" (empty), 23½" (empty - no.1 in small cage above), 47" (no.2) and 28" (empty). (Tyssen, Amherst D., 1897)

Photographs

The ruins in 2004.
Photo: Dickon R Love, 24 April 2004
The East Front of the church in c.1830.
Photo: DLC collection

Engravings

Love's Guide to the Church Bells of the City of London Page updated: 13 October 2019