THE GREAT BELL OF
BRADBOURNE HOUSE, SEVENOAKS

Dickon R Love and Chistopher J Pickford, 2002

"The Great Bell of Bradbourne" is mentioned in several local history books. Investigation led to the discovery that this bell was a real giant weighing over two tons. Of no less interest is the fact that when it was cast in 1871 this bell was one of the thirty or so heaviest bells in the country. Such was the advance of English bellfounding in the years leading up to the Great War that by the time the Bradbourne bell was scrapped in 1918 it had fallen to 100th place in the list.

Probably Bradbourne's most famous resident was Francis Crawshay, a Welsh Iron Baron who owned coalmines and iron foundries. He came to live in Sevenoaks in 1870 and quickly gained a reputation locally for his eccentricity. It was at Bradbourne that he caused great stone monoliths and Druidic circles to be erected within the grounds. Their eerie appearance kept the superstitious ‘locals’ out of the grounds after dark and Crawshay’s obituary mentions his pastime of indulging in midnight druidical processions in the grounds.

He was a man noted for his universal beneficence and charity, but the thing for which he was remembered long after his death was the Great Bell of Bradbourne that was sounded religiously as 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. every day.   This time was checked with London and the sound of the bell was heard clearly as far as Riverhead, Dunton Green and Seal. Apparently Crawshay also used a rope in his bedroom to sound the bell when suffering an attack of gout – usually in the middle of the night – until his neighbours politely petitioned him to desist!

But what do we know of the bell itself? Until recently, very little – although photographs showing the bell hanging from a tall tripod near the house have appeared in various books on the local history of the area. Fortunately, full particulars have recently come to light in the archives of the bellfounding firm that bought the bell as scrap metal in 1918.

In fact, the bell bore the following inscription celebrating the technological advances of the nineteenth century:

BURDIN AINE FONDEUR A LYON

Perhaps to the relief of local residents, Crawshay only lived to enjoy the sound of his bell for seven years or so. He passed away in November 1878. He was buried in the churchyard at Brasted where his distinctive grave stands to the north of the entrance to the church. The cast iron surround is made up of anchors and ropes, and the main inscriptions of the memorial are on an obelisk or monolith. It bears the following inscription:

IN
MEMORY OF
FRANCIS CRAWSHAY
OF BRADBOURN HALL, RIVERHEAD
KENT, AND OF FOREST ISAF
TRE FOREST, SOUTH WALES,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
NOVEMBER 6TH 1878,
AGED 67
THE FAITHFUL AND DEVOTED
HUSBAND FOR 41 YEARS OF
LAURA CRAWSHAY
OF HONINGHAM HALL, NORFOLK,
AGED 67.
AND THE BELOVED FATHER OF
WILLIAM AGED 38 YEARS
LAURA JULIA 36
ISABEL ELIZA 31
RICHARD 10 MONTHS
FRANCIS RICHARD 29 YEARS
TUDOR 28
HELEN CHRISTINE 27
MARY STELLA 25
DE BARRI 21
DEEPLY REGRETTED BY ALL WHO
KNEW HIM
HE RESTS FROM HIS LABOURS.

On the east side of the memorial, there is an inscription in memory of Laura Crawshay, born on born 12 July 1812 and died on 7 August 1896, who was "for nearly 18 years the devoted widow of Francis Crawshay..."

Some years after the death of Francis Crawshay, William Lambarde moved to Bradbourne in 1906. The Lambardes had moved from Park Place to Beechmont before coming to Bradbourne. The Great Bell had become cracked, so it was sold to John Taylor & Co, the Loughborough bellfounders, in May 1918. It was melted down and used as scrap metal.

Bradbourne was sold by Major William Gore Lambarde in 1927 and finally acquired by the New Ideal Homestead Company. The mid-18th century lakes were given to the Urban District Council by an intermediate purchaser, Hugh Goff. The Hall survived for another 10 years, becoming more and more derelict. It was finally demolished in 1937, and nos.16-22 Robyns Way were built upon its site. Some of its ancillary buildings remain, as well as a few of the earlier eccentric owner Crawshay’s druidical monoliths surviving in the back gardens of several local houses.

The Great Bell was not the only bell at Bradbourne, and another still survives in the building known as the Chapel or Clockhouse to the south east of the former mansion. The precise origins of the present building are uncertain. Some believe that it represents the remains of a private chapel built for the Bosville family in the early seventeenth century. A licence for such a chapel was granted in 1614. Anthony Stoyel, on the other hand, has argued that the house is actually an "eye-catcher" or late eighteenth century folly, looking like a distant chapel on the hillside when viewed from the Hall and offering superb views back over the lakes towards the house from the vantage point of its tower.

Bradbourne House Chapel

As this bell is of a different date from the clock, it may have been supplied second hand. That it was used as a clock bell – rather than swung or chimed by clapper – is, however, certain. There is no internal indentation at the soundbow but a mark on the outside shows where the clock hammer once struck the bell. One of the canons (or suspension loops) on the bell is missing, but it is otherwise intact.

So, here we have the story of an important bell and of a local character and eccentric – both gone for ever, but not forgotten.

Bell

Weight

Diameter

Cast

Founder

Clock Bell

1 cwt approx.

16¹/8"

1768

Lester & Pack, Whitechapel

Great Bell

40-1-25

59¹/4"

1871

Burdin Aine, Lyons, France

Below, the Great Bell can be seen in its tripod, next to one of Crawshay's standing stones.

• Gordon Anckorn, author of "A Sevenoaks Camera" (Bath 1979 reprinted 1987)
• Mr & Mrs E. Bell, The Clockhouse, Sevenoaks
• Andrew Higson at John Taylor & Co. Bellfounders, Loughborough
• Michael Holmes, author "The Country House described: an index to the County Houses of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (St Paul's Biographies in Association with Victoria & Albert Museum 1986)
• Christopher Raynor, author of "Sevenoaks Past" (Phillimore 1997)
• … Brooks, article "The Clock House of Sevenoaks" in Byegone Kent Vol.1 no.7 pp.441-2
• Anthony Stoyel, typescript notes on the Clockhouse at Bradbourne

THE HEAVIEST BELLS IN THE COUNTRY AT THE TIME OF THE CASTING OF THE BRADBOURNE BELL