16 bells (formerly a ring of 8) (a diatonic 12 plus 4 semitones) Tenor: 6-0-10 in C Grid Ref. TQ391757 Lewisham District Hung dead - clavier chime Frame 1874/1886 timber - 5 tiers! Retuning: Never subsequently retuned Bells formerly rung from an upstairs ringing chamber PEALS

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Cast	Founder
1	0-2-21	14"	G	1963	Mears & Stainbank
Sharp 2nd	0-2-22	14½"	F sharp	1963	Mears & Stainbank
2	0-2-21	15"	F	1963	Mears & Stainbank
3	0-3-25	15½"	E	1963	Mears & Stainbank
4	1-1-5	17"	D	1963	Mears & Stainbank
Sharp 5th	1-2-11	18"	C sharp	1963	Mears & Stainbank
5	1-2-24	19"	C	1963	Mears & Stainbank
6	1-3-17	20"	B	1963	Mears & Stainbank
Sharp 7th	2-0-17	21"	A sharp	1963	Mears & Stainbank
7	2-1-26	22"	A	1963	Mears & Stainbank
8	3-0-9	24"	G	1963	Mears & Stainbank
Sharp 9th	3-2-6	25"	F sharp	1963	Mears & Stainbank
9	3-3-3	26"	F	1963	Mears & Stainbank
10	3-3-17	27"	E	1963	Mears & Stainbank
11	4-3-10	29"	D	1963	Mears & Stainbank
12	6-0-10	32"	C	1963	Mears & Stainbank

The bells in the frame are difficult to climb around for the taking of inscriptions, but according to David Cawley on his visit in Sept, 1965, they all appear to read:

19		63
	or
MEARS
19		63
LONDON

These inscriptions are from the records of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry 1840, 1875 and 1886
and differ from those given by Stahlschmidt.

LAYOUT OF THE 5-TIER FRAME

These sketches are taken from a visit made by David Cawley in April, 2001.

North, Central & South Elevations:
Central (main) frame 1874 for 6 bells;
Side frames 1886 to accommodate 2 extra bells.
Adapted 1963 to hold 16 chiming bells.

East Elevation of bell frame as existing
Main braces removed East Side only.
Steel centre-posts inserted 1963
Transmission frame and bars fitted outside for 16 bell chime.

West elevation mirrors original elevation of central 6-bell frame.

Sketch plan of bells in frame

Top tier (originally holding 3 & 4 of 6) è N   Centre tier (originally holding 2 & 5 of 6)   (added on augmentation; 6th bell moved)   Base tier (originally holding 1 & 6 of 6)   (added on augmentation for new tenor)

HISTORY

		There were originally 3 bells in the tower of the old old church which stood on the opposite side of the road (the base of the tower of which is still there).
1813-4		Church rebuilt by Joseph Gwilt.
1839-41		Church again rebuilt by John Brown of Norwich (architect).
1840	Dec.	3 new bells were supplied by Mears & Stainbank with clappers, fittings and frame at the new church.
1841	April	The 3 old church bells were taken by Mears & Stainbank in part exchange for the work they had done the previous year. Weights of two of them were listed as 5-2-12 and 6-2-4.
1874		3 treble bells were added to make 6 by Mears & Stainbank.
1875		Church remodelled by James Brooks (architect).
1886		A treble and tenor bell were added to complete the octave at a cost of £110.15.6. The 8 bells hung in a FIVE tier frame (!) - the middle 6 bells in pairs in 3 levels in the main frame, with a spacer between each making 5 tiers in all, with the 7th hanging above the tenor in pits of their own outside the main frame on the east side.
1956	10th March	The bells became very awkward to ring and were undermining the fabric of the church. They were last rung (it is believed) on this date.
1963		Despite pleas from the bellfoundry and the offer of a new lighter ring paid for by Arthur Mason (one of the Erith "3 Wise Men" with Fred Cullum, Bert Audsley) the bells were recast into a chime of 16 in memory of Mildred Hunter who died at Lee in 1962. The bells were hung from the old frame. A clavier room was set up in the old ringing room where old peal boards are still preserved.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Peal boards and details of the former ring of bells (commissioned as a condition of the faculty to recast the bells). The transmission frame and rods and some of the chiming bells, hung in the old bell frame.

A better view of the old 5-tier timber frame.

Some of the chiming bells.

The clavier at work in the old ringing room of the tower. John Knox, Secretary of the British Carillion Society is at the clavier, watched by Clive Smith, Captain of Lichfield Cathedral and co-carilloneur at Saltley (who was in the band which last rang the bells on 10th March, 1956) and Chris Berry (Loughborough).

MEMORIES of the OLD RING

ERNIE ROWE (RW 7th April, 1989)

"The last time these were rung as an eight was, according to my tower book, on 10th March 1956 at a London County meeting when, during the first touch, GrandsireTriples, the 2nd wheel collapsed and the remains collapsed onto the back six. Whether they were rung again I doubt, but there was a sequel when, years later, I was given the task of removing these bells. They were a front six in three tiers with the 7th above the 8th swinging the other way (similar to those at Camberwell). A ringer whose name I now forget but who was, so he claimed, a person of some means, told me he had offered to defray the cost of recasting the ring into a lighter one. This however, was turned down by the Vicar, who wanted nothing to do with practices, peals and the inevitable complaints. Later I installed a chime of 16, as all are now aware."

W A HUGHES (Letter to David Cawley, 13th Jun, 1967)

"They were a ring of three with a tenor of C10, cast at this foundry in 1840. In 1874 we provided a double 2-tier frame for 8 and added three smaller ones to make six, and then finally in 1886 we made a new treble and tenor to make the peal of eight. The whole installation was a stupid one I fear as the peal was much too heavy for the tower and caused considerable damage. In 1963 we broke them up and cast a most musical chime of 16 bells, a diatonic twelve in C with four semi-tones."