St Nicholas - Little Saxham, Suffolk
Posted by: SMacB
N 52° 14.525 E 000° 38.026
31U E 338445 N 5790601
The Tower is the crowning glory of the church. Of the 41 round towers in the county it is certainly amongst the finest. The Bells consist of two trebles on the floor and one tenor hung in the tower.
Waymark Code: WMMP9G
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/19/2014
Views: 1
"The Tower is the crowning glory of the church. Of the 41 round towers in the county it is certainly amongst the finest. In his Buildings of England series, Nikolaus Pevsner calls it "the most spectacular Norman round tower in Suffolk". The lower part is Saxon and was built for defence purposes against Danish raiders. Later, in the early 12th century, the Normans added the superb blank arcading round the bell-stage, its wide mortar joints indicating its early date. Originally the tower was probably detached, with access by a rope ladder to the opening, which is now on the inside of the church, above the tower arch.!
"The Bells consist of two trebles on the floor and one tenor hung in the tower. The treble standing by the north door, called Gabriel, and that by the entrance, were probably cast by Richard Brayser II of Norwich soon after 1500. He was Mayor of Norwich in 1510 and died in 1513. The tenor in the tower is an early work of Thomas Cheese of Bury St Edmunds and is dated 1603. His other bells cover the period 1618 - 1632."
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"Bell |
Weight |
Note |
Dia. |
Date |
Founder |
1 |
7 cwt |
|
33.375" |
1424 - 1513 |
Brasyers of Norwich |
2 |
8 cwt |
A +29 |
35.875" |
1424 - 1513 |
Brasyers of Norwich |
3 |
11 cwt |
G -14 |
40.125" |
1603 |
Thomas Cheese, Bury St. Edmunds" |
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Sad news as I was preparing this listing from the East Anglian Daily Times (18 Oct 2014) - 'Little Saxham: Fears historic church bells to be melted down for scrap after theft'
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