Love's Guide to the Church Bells of the City of London

St Dunstan-in-the-East, Great Tower St

Photo: Dickon R Love

Formerly ring of 8, 21-0-14
Grid Ref: TQ331807
Rung from: Upstairs Ringing Room
Diocese: London
Building Listed Grade: I. Click for Heritage details.
Peals rung at the tower

♫ Cambridge S Major being rung on the 1951 bells.(John Pladdys)

♫ The tenor being rung up.(John Pladdys)

The original ring of 8 bells

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Treble	5 cwt approx.		D	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Recast 1718
2	5½ cwt approx.		C♯	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Recast 1740
3	7-2-24	33½"	B	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Damaged 1940
4	8½ cwt approx.	36½"	A	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Damaged 1940
5	12-1-20	39½"	G	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Damaged 1940
6	12 cwt approx.		F♯	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Recast 1750
7	15-2-0		E	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Recast 1750
Tenor	22-2-24	50½"	D	1700	Abraham Rudhall	Never	Damaged 1940

Subsequent recasts

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Treble (of 8)	5-0-8	29½"	D	1718	Richard Phelps	Never	Damaged 1940
2 (of 8)	5½ cwt approx.	31"	C♯	1740	Thomas Lester	Never	Damaged 1940
6 (of 8)	12¼ cwt approx.	41"	F♯	1750	Robert Catlin	Never	Damaged 1940
7 (of 8)	15½ cwt approx.	45.5"	E	1750	Robert Catlin	Never	Damaged 1940

The new 1951 ring of 8

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Treble	5-2-8	29"	E♭	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Scrapped 1971
2	5-3-1	30"	D	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Transferred to Stirling Winery
3	6-2-11	31½"	C	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Transferred to Stirling Winery
4	7-2-17	34"	B♭	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Transferred to Stirling Winery
5	9-2-7	37"	A♭	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Scrapped 1970
6	11-0-13	39"	G	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Transferred to Stirling Winery
7	14-1-17	43"	F	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Transferred to Stirling Winery
Tenor	21-0-14	48½"	E♭	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Scrapped 1970

Details of the 8 bells now hanging in Sterling Winery, Calistoga, California

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Treble	4-3-14	27½"	F	1971	John Taylor & Co.	Never	New bell
2	5-1-0	28½"	E	1971	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Former treble, recast
3	5-3-1	30"	D	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Former 2nd
4	6-2-11	31½"	C	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Former 3rd
5	7-2-17	34"	B♭	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Former 4th
6	8-2-17	36"	A	1971	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Former 5th recast
7	11-0-13	39"	G	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Former 6th
Tenor	14-1-17	43"	F	1951	John Taylor & Co.	Never	Former 7th

History

	1382		Church built.
	1543		The Churchwardens wer paid the enormous sum of £500 for "A change of bells and ye underweight of ye same".
	1552		Record of 5 bells, a sanctus bell and a clock bell. [1]
	1666		Church partially destroyed in the Great Fire.
	1668		Church rebuilt by Wren.
	1683		Church rebuilt.
	1699		Spire completed to the height of 180ft".
	1700		A ring of 8 was cast by Abraham Rudhall.
	1702		The bells were given great acclaim in "The Post Boy". [2]
	1718		The treble was recast. The first ever peal of major (Oxford T B Major) was then rung here on 27 Dec by the Union Scholars.
	1746		The second was recast.
	1750		The 6th and 7tn were recast.
	1817		The body of the church was taken down and rebuilt. Work was completed in 1821. The bells were restored and hung in new timber two-tier frame by Thomas Mears II.
	1821		The Church clock was supplied by Moore of Clerkenwell with two 5 foot dials.
	1824		Record of 8 bells.
	1836		The bells were described in The Times as "well toned", but with questionable maintenance. [3]
	1859		A D Tyssen mentions a clock bell or a priests bell.
	1904		The bells were rehung in a cast-iron frame all on one level by Mears & Stainbank.
	1941		On 10 May, the church gutted during a bombing raid. The bells were seriously damaged and three crashed to the ground. The rest were taken down and stored in a vault until 1951.
	1951		A new ring of 8 bells was cast for the preserved tower. Clearly there were 2 goes at casting the 2nd as the discarded bell (30") was put into stock and ended up at St Vincent de Paul, Southmead, Bristol in 1955. All inscription was chipped off apart from the Taylor foundry mark.
	1953		Bells hung in the tower. Since the rest of the church was not rebuilt to buttress the tower, there was significant oscillation when the 8 bells were rung. Therefore, after the initial try out, the bells were only rung singly each year pending the rebuilding of the church. This was not to happen, so the octave remained silent for many years.
	1960		The parish was united with All Hallows, Barking by the Tower.
	1966		Permission was finally given to ring the octave on 10 May, and ringing took place in the tower on several occasions from this date. No peals however were ever rung on them, and the only quarter peal to be attempted was lost.
	1970		The fate of the bells was decided on 26 Nov by the church authorities, the bells were rung for the last time on this date. (The last touch was Stedman Triples.) Dismantling began the following day. It was completed on 6 Dec and the fine tenor was smashed up in the tower as it wouldn't go through the bell hole in the plaster vault which was smaller and circular. A day or two before, a lorry had hit a bollard and clipped Taylor's truck, catching the headstock of the 5th and tipping the bell off on to the cobbles breaking it into pieces. The bells were sold back to their founders for £2,544. Shortly afterwards, the bells were moved to Sterling Winery, Calistoga in California, USA (the treble and 5th were recast and a new treble added).

[1]	Item v greate Bells and a saunce bell. Item a clocke bell. (Edwardian Inventory,1552)
[2]	Whereas Mr. Abraham Rudhall of the city of Gloucester, bell-founder, was lately employed to cast 8 bells for the Parish Church of St. Dunstan's in London. This is to give notice that he has performed his contract to the universal satisfaction of the gentlemen of the said Parish, and in the opinion of the ablest judges has made them the best peal of bells in all England. (The Post Boy, 25 July 1702)
[3]	A very iron-toned peal of eight, a disgrace to the beautiful piece of architecture they occupy, tenor 24 cwt., in E. Sextoness the steeple-keeper, appoints a deputy, who some time back was a femail, a Mrs. Spranger, and she had a deputy. The appendages of these bells have been often damaged. (The Times, 26 Feb 1836)

Articles

"The Lost Bells of London (6) St Dunstan-in-the-East", Cook, William T (The Ringing World) 23 February 1973

"The Lost Bells of London", Not known (The Ringing World) 23 March 1973

"The Last Word in Every Respect. . .", Cawley, David L (The Ringing World) 20 October 1978

"The best peal in England ... The Last Word in Every Respect Part 1", Cawley, David L (The Ringing World) 25 February 2010

"The best peal in England ... The Last Word in Every Respect Part 2", Cawley, David L (The Ringing World) 16 December 2011

Early pictures of the church

Photo: David Cawley collection	Photo: ASCY collection	Following the blitz, the bells lay forlornly at the base of the ruined tower. The metal was saved and earmarked for a new ring of bells to be cast in Loughborough. This picture was taken in July, 1941. Photo: David Cawley collection
Floodlit in 1930. Photo: David Cawley collection	Photo: ASCY collection	Photo: John Pladdys collection
Photo: ASCY collection	The church in 1910. Photo: Spitalfields Life	The church in 1910. Photo: Spitalfields Life
The church in 1911. Photo: Spitalfields Life	The interior of the church prior to destruction in the War. Photo: John Pladdys collection	Engraving Photo: John Pladdys collection
Photo: ASCY collection

The ruins of the church during and after the War

On 10th May, 1941, the church was destroyed by bombs leaving only a shell. Fortunately the tower and spire survived, although there was structural damage and the bells were damaged. Photo: John Pladdys collection	While 5 of the bells were saved, the treble, 5th and tenor were smashed up. Photo: David Cawley, 1970	The bombed out church as it appeared in 1949. Photo: David Cawley collection
The spire was taken down and rebuilt as part of the rennovation of the church. This unusual picture, taken in 1950, is of the church without its celebrated spire. Photo: David Cawley collection.	Photo: John Pladdys collection	Following the blitz, the bells lay forlornly at the base of the ruined tower. The metal was saved and earmarked for a new ring of bells to be cast in Loughborough. This picture was taken in July, 1941. Photo: David Cawley collection
Photo: John Pladdys collection	New York Bureau: "Because many of the City's churches remain filled with debris and buried treasures as municipal demolition workers must concentrate on business and residential bombed areas, the Revd Dr Frederick C Oliver, of the church of St Dunstan-in- Photo: John Pladdys, 7 May 1941	New York Bureau: "In the bomb-scarred ruins of the church of St Dunstan-in-the-East, Idol Lane, London, services are held as part of the National Day of Prayer." Photo: John Pladdys, 9 Aug 1942
The tower and spire in scaffolding in 1949. You can see St Magnus the Martyr and the Monument in the background. Photo: John Pladdys collection.

The 1951 bells in the tower and ringing

This photo was taken on the occasion of the first ringing on the new eight bells since the time of their installation. It is 10th May, 1966 and David Cawley is seen here inspecting the belfry. The 4th is in the foreground and the second behind. Photo: David Cawley collection, 10 May, 1966	The tenor bell in 1966 Photo: David Cawley	John Pladdys ringing at St Dunstan's. Photo: John Pladdys
Bells 1,2,5,7 and 8. Photo: John Pladdys

The removal of the bells in 1971

There was to be no rebuilding of the church and the authorities decided that the bells had to go. The bells were taken out of the tower one by one.
Photo: David Cawley, 1970