Canterbury St George

CITY OF CANTERBURY
St George the Martyr

	Formerly 5 bells
	Tenor: 12 cwt approx. in F# minor

Canterbury District

	Tuning: Never subsequently retuned
	Formerly upstairs ringing room
	Bells destroyed by bombing, 1942

DETAILS OF THE BELLS

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Pitch	Cast	Founder
Treble	4Ľ cwt approx.	28"	C sharp	1616	Joseph Hatch
2	4ľ cwt approx.	30"	B	1627	Joseph Hatch
3	6˝ cwt approx.	33"	A	c.1325	William le Belyetere
4	8˝ cwt approx.	36"	G sharp	1664	Thomas Palmar I
Tenor	12 cwt approx.	40"	F sharp	1623	Joseph Hatch

ioseph hatch made me 1616

ioseph hatch made me 1627


		SATE GEORGI		ORA PRO NOBIS

THOMAS DUNKIN WILLIAM KILCHELL CW THOMAS PALMAR MADE ME 1664

IOSEPHVS HATCH ME FECIT

1623

c.1325		2nd (of 4) cast by William le Belyetere.
1616		A bell was cast for St Mary Magdalene, Canterbury by Joseph Hatch.
1623		Tenor (of 4) and a clock bell cast by Joseph Hatch.
1627		Treble (of 4) (re)cast by Joseph Hatch.
1664		3rd (of 4) (re)cast by Thomas Palmar I.
1788		Base of turret pierced to allow for a pedestrian walk.
1791		The turret was demolished as it was unstable. It had contained a clock bell. A spire was placed on the tower.
1836		A new clock was put on the church striking on the tenor bell. (This is the existing projectory clock.)
1871		Parish united with that of St Mary Magdalene. St Mary's was demolished and its treble bell was transferred to St George to be the treble of a ring of 5 in F sharp minor.
1872		Church was extended following the merge of parishes.
1887		Stahlscmidt recorded 4 bells and a clock bell.
1925		Bells rehung with chiming fittings in the old frame by Mears & Stainbank.
1942	1st June	The church was gutted by fire during an air raid. The clock stopped at 2:18 am). The bells crashed and partly melted - they were subsequently "lost".
1952	October	The church was levelled apart from the tower which stands in the pedestrian precinct as the St George's Clocktower.
1955	May	The clock dials were restored with 2nd hand movement and set going.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CHURCH & TOWER

St George's Church as it appeared before the War.

This picture was taken a few days after the church was damaged by the air raid of 1st June, 1942. The tower was largely intact.

However, just under a fortnight later, the demolition gangs moved in to pull the church down. Part of the tower was dismantled (as can be seen above) before concerned citizens could intervene to save it.

Another picture of the burnt out church.

By 30th July, the scaffolding was complete.

Scaffolding went up to protect the tower of the church as the authorities were persuaded to maintain and rebuild the tower. (Photo 2nd July 1942.)

The St George's Clocktower was finally restored after the war as a free standing tower, although alas, the bells had gone. The tower may well be strong enough for bells to be returned to the belfry - it would be a fitting Civic Ring, and were the bells to be rung from the ground floor, a fine advertisement for the Exercise of Change Ringing.