All Saints Church, Church Lane, Little Totham, Essex. CM9 8LU - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

The Parish Church of All Saints in Little Totham is Grade I listed. It has a C12th nave, a C13th rebuilt and enlarged cancel, a C16th West Tower with a possibly C17th/C18th top structure, and a C19th south porch. The plastered walls are probably of flint rubble, the base of the west tower is of brick with knapped flint facing, whilst the upper storeys are timber framed and weatherboarded.

The tower was built in the C16th by John Sammes who lived in Little Totham Hall next door. It has a knapped flint ground floor with stone dressings to the buttresses, stair turret base and the two stage plinth angles. The west doorway has moulded jambs and a four-centred arch in a square head with traceried spandrels and moulded labels, dated 1527 by a shield over the arch. The upper stages are timber framed and weatherboarded, there is a short, hollow, red tiled spire with lead finial and weathervane, and a slanting red tiled roof to the stair turret, this to the north side of the tower. The oak frame incorporates early timber but is of a later date. There is a large louvred window on the south face and a much smaller one to the east side.

The three bells hung in the tower are very old, two of them even older than the structure we see today. The bells are unringable due to a) their age, and b) the state of the frame they are mounted in. The bell chamber floor also needs repair.

The tenor is the only bell we have any reliable weight data for, it's 7¾cwt, ~390kg, and is 35.13" in diameter, about 0.89m, and was cast by Miles III Graye, the third of a famous family of Colchester bell founders, in 1663. The two lightest bells are reputed to have been cast about 1450 by one John Sturdy who cast bells in Lincolnshire and Kent. They are smaller than the tenor bell being 30.13" and 33.25" in diameter, 0.765m and 0.845m. (Data from Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers)

The co-ordinates given are for the south porch. It is possible to access the bell tower, please contact 01621 891667.

Address of Tower: All Saints Church Church Lane Little Totham, Essex UK CM9 8LU Still Operational: no Number of bells in tower?: 3 Rate tower: Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Yes Relevant website?: Not listed

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