Bell Tower - St Denys - Eaton, Leicestershire - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

Bell tower of St Denys' church, Eaton, with a ring of 6 bells. Unusually the spire is built of ironstone.

Eaton, Leics S Denys
Bells
Bell	Weight	Nominal	Note	Diameter	Dated	Founder	Canons	Turning
1	2-2-23	1507.0	F#	23.13"	1946	John Taylor & Co	F
2	2-3-19	1343.0	E	24.25"	1884	John Taylor & Co	R
3	3-2-20	1198.0	D	26.88"	1618	Hugh II Watts	R
4	4-0-4	1130.0	C#	28.38"	1628	George I Oldfield	R
5	4-3-23	1007.0	B	31.38"	1858	John Taylor & Son	R
6	7-1-19	897.0	A	34.50"	1902	John Taylor & Co	F

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"Parish church. Early C14 nave, south aisle and west tower, C13 north aisle, mid C14 chancel. C15 re-workings and restorations 1883 and 1923. Ironstone with limestone dressings and lead roofs. 3 stage tower with 3- light intersecting west window embroidered with trefoil motifs. Slit lights to ringing chamber. Diagonal buttresses end below C15 belfry stage. 2-light Perpendicular belfry windows with lozenge tracery. Crenellated parapet above lozenge and quatrefoil frieze. 4 corner pinnacles. 3-light south aisle west window with circular vesica containing more trefoil motifs. Gabled south porch with moulded entrance arch. One 3-light early C14 window to east and 3-light late C14 cusped window east again. North aisle retains a north and west C13 lancet with another blocked to east. Square north doorway. To east 2 3-light windows with ogee heads under square hood. 3 2-light Perpendicular clerestory windows of simple cusped lights under square hoods. 3-light chancel south windows with cusped heads under square hoods and 4-light reticulated east window. Against north chancel is a vestry of 1883. Interior. 4-bay arcade on octagonal piers with double chamfered arches. Polygonal capitals have some nailhead decoration. Tower and chancel arches both mostly of 1883. C15 nave roof of cambered tie beams with arched braces dropping on wall posts to corbels. Ridge piece and one pair butt purlins. Aisle roofs are of principal and purlin type. Early C14 octagonal drum font with 8 different tracery patterns, one to each facet. In south nave wall a late C13 tomb recess. 2 orders of shafts with undercut capitals support stilted arch. Hood mould and outer order of arch with complex undercut mouldings incorporating fleur-de-lys section, rather advanced. Inner order with fleurons. Soffit has cinquefoil cusping. Timber poor box inscribed: Remember the poore (sic) 1709. Pulpit has timber carved sounding board with arcaded centre flanked by strapwork vertical panels. Cornice carried on scrolled consoles. Within centre arch an inscription: Here(sic) the word of the Lord 1604. In east end of north nave aisle a free standing sarcophagus commemorating Edward Manners, 1811: black and white marble with a surmounting urn. Fragments of C15 and C17 stained glass in south aisle windows. Chancel has 2 bay arcade of 1883 leading into north vestry. Roof similar, though thinner, to that of nave. Fragments of C14 glass in chancel windows."

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"Access to the belfry is via an internal Gothic arched doorway and a narrow stone stairway.
BELL DATE WEIGHT* SIZE KEY FOUNDER INSCRIPTION
Treble 1946 2.2.23 1’ 11” G Taylor GIFT OF THOMAS EDGAR PEARSON
Second 1884 2.3.19 2’ F Taylor LAUS DEO
Third 1618 3.2.20 2’3” Eb Oldfield ALL GLORY BEE TO GOD MOST HIGH
Fourth 1628 4.0.4 2’ 4 ¼” D Oldfield GOD SAVE HIS CHURCH
Fifth 1858 4.3.23 2’ 7 ¾” B Taylor S. THOROLD
Tenor 1589 7.1.9 2’ 10 ½” Bb Taylor IHESUS BE OUR SPEED (Recast 1902)

*Bell weights expressed in cwts. qrs and lbs

Query?
The fifth bell, which is much smaller than the others, was purchased by subscription by the inhabitants of Eaton, from Messrs Taylor of Loughborough. The cost was about £45. (What about S.Thorold?)
Around the end of the 18th century, remains of a turret were were still visible at the East End of the nave roof; this housed the Sanctus bell which was always rung when the priest performed Holy Communion. A stone cross now stands on the roof of the Nave were the Sanctus bell formerly hung. (The cross at the East End of the Chancel has now disappeared).

In the 6th year of King Edward VI (1553-4), there were three bells
The fifth bell, which is much smaller than the others, was purchased by subscription by the inhabitants of Eaton, from Messrs Taylor of Loughborough. The cost was about £45. Around the end of the 18th century, remains of a turret were still visible at the East End of the nave roof; this housed the Sanctus bell that was always rung when the priest performed Holy Communion. A stone cross now stands on the roof of the Nave were the Sanctus bell formerly hung. In the 6th year of King Edward VI (1553-4), there were three bells with a small one in the steeple.
The bells hung silent from June 1940 to Easter Day 1943 due to the war. During these three years, the bells were only allowed to be rung, in the event of enemy invasion.

Pancake Bell
There was once old custom of ringing the church bell at 11a.m. on Shrove Tuesday. Known as the Pancake Bell, the custom probably originated from the practice of bell ringing to herald the approach of Lent. This was also a time when shops traditionally closed on Shrove Tuesday, after which a carnival ensued. The old agricultural custom of soliciting a contribution of a penny for every plough to be paid between Easter and Whitsuntide was still observed well into the twentieth-century."

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Address of Tower: St Denys Church Lane Eaton, Leicestershire England NG32 1SL Still Operational: yes Number of bells in tower?: 6 Relevant website?: [Web Link] Rate tower: Not listed Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Not listed

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