Bell Tower - St.Mary's Church, Higham Road, Higham, Suffolk CO7 6JY
Posted by: 
greysman
N 51° 58.697 E 000° 57.750
31U E 360063 N 5760583
This tower is older than the rest of the church and contains a complete ring of Gillett & Johnston bells.
Waymark Code: WMRC0N
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/06/2016
Views: 1
The oldest part of this Grade II* listed church is the tower with its C13th origins, the rest of the church is C14th-C15th. The porch was added c.1893 by W.H.A.Berry. Of coursed flint with knapped flint to the chancel and ashlar dressings it has a plain tile roof. The plan is fairly simple, a west tower, a nave with a four-bay north aisle, the porch and two-bay chancel. The three-stage tower has offset diagonal buttresses and a stair turret to the south side. The west door has been renewed, and the basket-arched west window has Perpendicular tracery. There are small lancets to the west and north faces at the second stage and two-light restored bell openings with louvres and the parapet is embattled. There is a clock face mounted on the north side of the tower facing the road.
The complete set of bells in the tower were cast by Gillett & Johnston in 1913 at their foundry in Croydon which was set up by William Gillett in 1844. The foundry stopped production in 1957. The bells are rung for divine service, on practice nights, for weddings, as well as by visiting ringers.
Following is a table extracted from Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers showing the weights in kg, and sounding note of the bells.
Bell Weight Note Dated Founder
1 190.96 F 1913 Gillett & Johnston
2 208.65 Eb 1913 Gillett & Johnston
3 242.67 Db 1913 Gillett & Johnston
4 280.77 C 1913 Gillett & Johnston
5 352.89 Bb 1913 Gillett & Johnston
6 459.94 Ab 1913 Gillett & Johnston
The coordinates given are for the tower.