St Mary's Church - Church Lane, London, UK
N 51° 35.098 W 000° 00.721
30U E 706996 N 5719109
The church of St Mary in Walthamstow Village has ten bells in the church's tower. The current bells date from 1778 and 1896.
Waymark Code: WMPQ80
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/06/2015
Views: 1
The Bells of St Mary's Walthamstow website provides the following history:
Very little is known about the bells prior to the peal of eight bells cast by Pack & Chapman at Whitechapel in 1778. Several references to the “bell tower" or "stepyll" have been noted in Walthamstow wills, the earliest being in 1431. The earliest reference to a bell is in the will of Richard Blakegrove “of London" dated 16th January 1525. This reads “--Item that the iijrd parte of the iiijth parte of my goods I will to be geven to Walkamstowe towards the bying of a bell—”
In 1535 the early 12th century Kentish Ragstone tower was partly rebuilt in red brick by George Monoux. In 1552 the Walthamstow Inventory contained the following: “Itm the s’premest bell ? weight. Itm the second bell xvjc weight {16 cwt.). Itm the third bell xc weight (10 cwt.) Itm the saunce (sanctus) bell half jc weight ('A cwt.). Itm a lytell bell xxli wayght.
Unfortunately very little in the way of Parish records has survived from the 16th and 17th centuries, so it is not until the early 18th century that we find records of the bells again.
In the churchwardens accounts for 1710 there are payments recorded for ringing and for repairs to the bells and purchase of new bell ropes. These payments appear throughout the 18th century and into the 19th century.
It is clear from the Vestry Minutes of 11th May 1715 that there were at that time six bells in the tower as it records the decision to pay six ringers one shilling each for ringing on certain special occasions during the year. This included Christmas Day, November 5th, the birthday and coronation of King William and Queen Ann and of King George. They were to ring in the morning at 5 a.m. and again in the evening at 6 p.m. To date no information about these six bells has been traced.
The British History website mentions the bells:
The church had at least one bell in 1431. Richard Blakgrave in 1525 left a share of his goods to buy a bell. In 1552 there were 5 bells, and a hand bell which was sold. The largest bell was recast in 1727 by John Waylett. There were 6 bells in 1768, which were replaced in 1778 by a complete new peal of eight bells cast by Thomas Pack and William Chapman. In 1852 the tenor bell was replaced by one cast by C. & G. Mears. The old bell-frame was replaced in 1896, the eight bells were rehung, no. 3 being recast, and two treble bells were added, all by John Warner and Sons. There were 10 bells in 1969.
The Bells of St Mary's website list the current bells:
| Bell |
Size (in) |
Note |
Weight (cwt qrs lb) |
| 1 |
27.5 |
G |
6-0-15 |
| 2 |
28.5 |
F |
6-1-4 |
| 3 |
30 |
Eb |
6-1-20 |
| 4 |
30.5 |
D |
6-1-27 |
| 5 |
32.5 |
C |
7-0-25 |
| 6 |
34.5 |
Bb |
7-3-13 |
| 7 |
37 |
Ab |
9-2-1 |
| 8 |
39.5 |
G |
11-0-19 |
| 9 |
43.5 |
F |
14-0-13 |
| 10 |
48.5 |
Eb |
19.0-5 |