St. John's Church Levens - Cumbria UK
Posted by: 
martlakes
N 54° 15.899 W 002° 47.482
30U E 513588 N 6013024
Three bells were installed in a Japanese shed in the churchyard of St. John's by the Rev. Sidney Swann in 1912. They hang there today and still have a sweet sound.
Waymark Code: WM3537
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/11/2008
Views: 26
St. John's church is situated in Levens village, at the top of Morecambe Bay. The village is on the side of the hill which bounds the Lyth Valley. This is because the flat ground is really a continuation of the estuary and flooded regularly. A drainage scheme has improved matters. Levens has the look of a small coastal village, but with grass waves instead of sea lapping against its feet.
The Rev. Sidney Swann was only at St. John's for three years but he had a marked impact and changed many aspects of the church. One of his changes was the installation of these three bells.
From his autobiography:
"I made a lych gate , and got three Milnthorpe steel bells which were only used as flower pots, for their tone was so evil. These I hung in a Japanese shed in the churchyard and struck with a wooden mallet that greatly improved their tone. I greatly restored the church considerably in other ways."
The bells are showing signs of weathering, and the inscriptions on them are very hard to read. When tapped with a knuckle they make a reasonably sweet sound. They have no clappers and can only be sounded by striking.
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