Bell Tower - All Saints, Murston - Sittingbourne, Kent - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

"All Saints church is notable due to its architect, William Burges. Constructed in 1873–4, the church was built in "an early Gothic Style" and incorporates fragments of the original 12th-century church. The estimate was £3,000 but the public subscription raised only £2,000. As a consequence, the intended tower was truncated. It is a Grade II listed building as of 13 December 1974."

SOURCE - (Visit Link)

"Details of the Bells

Bell	Weight (most recent)	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Retuned
Single bell	3½ cwt approx	25¼"		Mid 16th Cent	William Oldfield

Prior to removal from church in 2013

Bell	Weight (most recent)*	Weight (as supplied)	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Q1	3-2-18	3-2-12	25"	F?	1934	Mears & Stainbank	Never	Cracked in the crown. On offer to Child Okeford, Dorset
Q2	4-1-24	4-1-15	26¾"	E	1934	Mears & Stainbank	Never	On offer to Child Okeford, Dorset
Q3	4-3-24	4-3-19	29"	D	1934	Mears & Stainbank	Never	On offer to Child Okeford, Dorset
Q4	8-0-10	8-0-8	34?"	A	1934	Mears & Stainbank	Never	On offer to Child Okeford, Dorset
Hour	10-3-8	10-3-0	38?"	G	1934	Mears & Stainbank	Never	On offer to Child Okeford, Dorset

Prior to the 1960s

Bell	Weight (most recent)	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Treble	3½ cwt approx	25¼"		Mid 16th Cent.	William Oldfield	Never	Still in the tower
2					Unknown	Never	No details Sold by Faculty from the Old Church in 1767
Tenor	6 cwt approx	33"		1673	James Bartlett	Never	Sold by Faculty 1922

History

c	1250	13th Cent	Old church built.
c	1540		A bell cast for the old church by William Oldfield (according to Stahlschmidt).
	1767		One of the three bells was sold by Faculty, being cracked. The wording suggests that they were originally for selling two, "one being sufficient". The Faculty granted allowed the sale of one cracked bell only.
	1873		Old church pulled down except the chancel. A new church built on new site in an "early gothic style" and incorporated fragments of the original 12th-century church.
c	1880	Late 19th Cent	2 small 'brassfoundry' bells were cast for unidentified building.
	1887		Stahlschmidt records that the larger bell originally came from Leysdown.
	1922		Faculty granted for the sale of one bell, "not rung since 1880 and now in pieces on the belfry floor". This must have been the bell which Stahschmidt says "came from the church of Leysdown", but is clearly one of the survivors of the 1767 Faculty - apparently moved to the new church but never hung.
	1934		5 bells cast by Whitechapel per the Synchronome Clock Co., for the clock at The News of the World offices in Bouverie Street.
	1962		By this year, Murston tower contained the Oldfield bell, hung on its old headstock in a simple pine frame, and two smaller disused bells.
	1964		Bells given to Murston, complete with looped Cambridge Quarter mechanism; hung on the tower roof in 1965.
	1966		Record of the clapper of the larger disused bell in the bell chamber.
	1994		By this year, all bells apart from the chime and the service bell were no longer in the church.
	2006		At the request of the DAC, the KCACR inspected the strange installation for safety. The bells were, as the letter to the KCACR stated, "supported by no recognisable engineering method"
	2013		The bells were removed from the tower with a view to being hung in the tower of St Nicholas, Strood, to form part of a new ring of 8 bells. The press release said the work would be finished by Easter 2014. It never happened. [1]
	2017		It was announced that the former 5 bells were to be offered by the Kelteck Trust to the church of St Nicholas, Child Oakeford, Dorset to replace the heavy six there.

[1]	After 114 years St Nicholas Strood are to have a ring of eight bells to replace the set of ten tubes that replaced the three old bells left from the ring of six which were destroyed in a disastrous fire in 1898."

SOURCE - (Visit Link)

Address of Tower: All Saints 24 Church Rd. Sittingbourne, Kent England ME10 3RU Still Operational: yes Number of bells in tower?: 1 Relevant website?: [Web Link] Rate tower: Not listed Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Not listed

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