Bell Tower - St Mary - Marden, Herefordshire - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

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

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"The south west spire dates from the 14th C, as does the chancel, but the nave is only 19th C. There is plenty of parking on the south side of the church in the churchyard. The tower entrance is through a small door in the east wall of the tower. The steps are in the north east corner, and are through a very low door. The ringing chamber ceiling is rather low, but the bells go quite well, and sound fine. Sharpe gives the tenor weight as 14 cwt. The founder of the 2nd, 3rd and tenor is as yet unidentified.

1. Thomas Rudhall, Gloucester, 1774, 5 cwt
2. Unknown Founder, 1622, 6 cwt
3. Unknown Founder, 1622, 7 cwt
4. Barwell, Birmingham, 1909, 8 cwt
5. Barwell, Birmingham 1909 10 cwt
6. Unknown Founder, 1622, 16.75 cwt in F sharp"

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"Parish Church of St. Mary stands in the S.W. part of the parish. The walls are of local sandstone rubble with ashlar and dressings of the same material; the roofs are slate-covered. The N. arcade and aisle were built c. 1220–30, followed by the S. arcade and aisle immediately after; the varied detail of the renewed E. responds and the skewed line of the chancel-arch may indicate that this wall is of earlier date than the rebuilding of the nave-arcades. The Chancel was re-built at the beginning of the 14th century, and c. 1340 the N.W. Tower and spire were added. A N. porch was added in the angle between the tower and N. aisle, probably in the 15th century, but has now been destroyed. The Nave and Aisles were re-built, largely with the old materials, in 1860.

The North-West Tower (11 ft. wide) is of c. 1340 and of three stages, ashlar-faced and finished with a plain parapet, pinnacles and a stone spire. Internally it was divided into five storeys. The ground storey has, in the E. wall, a doorway with jambs and two-centred arch of two chamfered orders with a moulded label; the N. and W. walls have each a loop-light. On the E. face are marks of the roof of the former porch and the lower stones of the moulded W. jamb of the 15th-century outer entrance. The second storey has, in the E. wall, a single-light window with a trefoiled ogee head and seats in the embrasure. The third storey has a single trefoiled ogee light in the N. wall. There is a similar window in the E. wall of the fourth storey, which retains only the corbels of its former floor. The bell-chamber has, in each wall, a window of two trefoiled ogee lights with a quatrefoil in a two-centred head; beside the E. window is a panel with a shield-of-arms, a bend. The octagonal ashlar-faced spire rises from within the parapet and rests on stone squinches; the upper part has two ranges of crockets.

Bells: six; 2nd, 3rd and 6th, 1622, founder uncertain. In the Hereford Museum—Small bell of early or Celtic form (15 in. high) found in a pond at Marden about 1860"

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"The bell tower was built in the 14th century, around 1320. There is evidence of a yew tree forest in the area and it is possible that the tower is built on a yew foundation as it was widely used as medieval footings. Yew will last in soil for many hundreds of years. There are engravings on the east wall of an axe and a bird (or is it a mermaid?). The origins are unknown.

On entering the ground floor, you notice that the interior of the tower is surprisingly small since the walls are some six feet thick.

At some point, probably during the 19th century, the ringing chamber was relocated to the ground floor from its original position on the first floor in line with the fashion at the time. This made the bells notoriously difficult to ring. The chamber was relocated again, back to the first floor, in the 1950s.

There are 84 steps to the top. The staircase is very narrow and spiral in design. This is in keeping with the practice used in castles where the sword arms of the defenders had more room to manoeuvre.

The first floor was used as the ringing chamber until 2006 when it was deemed generally unsafe to ring the bells until major restoration had taken place.

There is graffiti on the walls of the first floor, especially within the window recess. This dates back to the 18th century, the earliest identifiable example is from 1772.

During the major restoration project in 2015 / 2016 the ringing chamber was again relocated, this time to the second floor, which was previously derelict.

At one time, there would have been an upper chamber with access via a ladder from the second floor.

At the top of the spiral staircase is a small wooden door covered by a wooden hatchway. There is a narrow walkway along all four sides of the tower providing excellent views across the countryside.

There is 18th or 19th century graffiti on the base of the spire.

During the Civil War it is known that there were skirmishes in the Marden area and it is believed that one unfortunate soldier was chased to the tower where he was eventually cornered and killed in the upper ringing chamber.

It is also rumoured that the ghost of the soldier still haunts the tower!

The bells and bell tower underwent a comprehensive refurbishment in 2015/2016 at a cost of approximately £160,000. This was a major undertaking but the bells can once again ring out."

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Address of Tower: St Mary Marden, Herefordshire England HR1 3EN Still Operational: yes Number of bells in tower?: 6 Relevant website?: [Web Link] Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Yes Rate tower: Not listed

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