Bell Tower - St Mary - Dinton, Wiltshire - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

Bell tower of St Mary's church, Dinton, with a ring of 6 bells.

Dinton, Wilts S Mary
Bells
Bell	Weight	Nominal	Note	Diameter	Dated	Founder	Canons	Turning
1		1179.5	D	27.00"	1666†	Francis Foster	R
2		1036.5	C	31.00"	1660	? William III Purdue and W&T Covey
3	6-0-1	934.0	Bb	32.00"	1935	Mears & Stainbank	F
4	8-0-6	874.5	A	34.88"	1935	Mears & Stainbank	F
5		786.5	G	41.00"	1661	William III Purdue
6	16cwt	701.5	F	43.50"	c1350†	Salisbury foundry	R

SOURCE - (Visit Link)

The 1907 Kelly's directory of Wiltshire describes the St Mary's as 'a cruciform building of stone, in the Transition Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, porch and an embattled central tower'. The stone was dressed limestone with tiled roof.

"Much of the building, nave, crossing,  transepts, north doorway and square font of purbeck marble date from the early 13th century.
The nave windows were apparently inserted in the 14th century. Later in the same  century  the chancel was rebuilt on a  grand scale.
It is of ashlar masonry externally and on both north and south  sides has three uniform  windows with  reticulated tracery. Two  of these  contain original stained  glass.
The large east window has interlacing  tracery of the same date.

The two upper stages of the tower  were added,  or rebuilt, together with  the vault  above the crossing about  the middle of  the 15th century. At  the same time the  south wall of the  south transept was  rebuilt, and the  north wall of the  north transept repaired and a new  window inserted.
An octagonal stair  turret in the  angle between the nave and north transept is surmounted by a conical roof below the level of the  belfry and is connected to the tower by a short passage.
A great deal of restoration work was carried out during the later 19th century under the direction of William Butterfield, the well-known church architect.

In the churchyard there are the remains of  the steps and socket of a medieval s stone cross.

Architectural historian Pevsner describes St. Mary's as ‘A dignified church with the crossing tower as its centre, essentially Decorated, but with older and younger parts’.

In the west transept are the organ and royal coat of arms of George II, dated 1740, both are memorials to the 17th century composer Henry Lawes, one of the outstanding composers and Court musicians of his day, and his brother William Lawes, a gifted musician, who were born in the village and have both been ‘Masters of the Kings Musick’

The church has a peal of 6 bells, rung from the crossing.
Numbers 1 to 5 are all of 17th-century date. Number 6, dating from about 1350, is the heaviest, weighing 16 hundredweight.  The bells are regularly rung for services and weddings."

SOURCE - (Visit Link)

Address of Tower: St Mary St Marys Road Dinton, Wiltshire England SP3 5HH Still Operational: yes Number of bells in tower?: 6 Relevant website?: [Web Link] Rate tower: Not listed Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Not listed

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