All Saints' Church Tower, Mill Lane, Bradbourne, Derbyshire. DE6 1PA
Posted by: 
greysman
N 53° 04.295 W 001° 41.459
30U E 587701 N 5881034
This massively built church tower has a ring of six bells, Two over two hundred years old, the other four just over 100.
Waymark Code: WMQPT8
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/14/2016
Views: 2
The Church of All Saints in Bradbourne is Grade I listed. It was founded in Saxon times but little remains of this C11th church, some masonry and long and short quoins at the northeast corner of the nave. The Norman tower and chancel were added in the early C12th, the whole church was re-fashioned in the late C13th or early C14th and there was a complete restoration in 1846.
The massive tower is late C11th/ early C12th, built thus to provide refuge in times of trouble. It is of three stages with an embattled parapet above a stringcourse supported by carved heads. The south wall has an elaborate Norman C11th doorcase with attached shafts and three order arch moved here from being the main entrance to the nave in c1340 when the nave and chancel were rebuilt in the Early English style. The two inner orders are carved with various birds and winged animals, the outer order with a simplified beak-head design. The west wall of the tower has a round-headed door with keystone. The projecting staircase in the north east corner of the tower is original. The bell openings with narrow twin round headed openings under zigzag arches in the third stage are similar on all sides.
The bells are of three different ages. The oldest are the 5 and 6, the two heaviest bells, cast in 1708 by Daniel Hedderly. The next oldest are the 3 and 4 cast in 1863, and the youngest are the 1 and 2, the lightest bells, cast in 1895. These last four by John Taylor & Co.
The following table is taken from Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers with amendments to the weights, now in metric units.
Bell Weight Note Casting Date Founder
1 211.88 E# 1895 John Taylor & Co
2 220.45 D# 1895 John Taylor & Co
3 237.29 C# 1863 John Taylor & Co
4 236.78 B# 1863 John Taylor & Co
5 297.10 A# 1708 Daniel Hedderly
6 451.32 G# 1708 Daniel Hedderly
John Taylor & Co was the foundry at Loughborough from 1849 until 1977, run by a succession of Taylors in the premises started in 1735 by Joseph Eayre. It is still casting bells today, both tower and hand bells for clients the world over.
Daniel Hedderly started to cast bells in 1703 in Hanbury, Staffordshire where he worked until 1720 and then moved to Bawtry in Nottinghamshire. 17 years later, 1737, he moved to Lincoln and stayed there until 1764. His son, Thomas, meanwhile moved to the Nottingham foundry in 1741. Daniel joined his son in Nottingham in 1764 and died there in 1766.