Southfleet

SOUTHFLEET, St Nicholas

Photo DrL 15th May 2005

	6 bells
	Tenor 12 cwt approx. in G
	Grid Ref. TQ614712
	Rochester District

	Retuning: Never subsequently retuned
	Anticlockwise
	Upstairs Ringing Room
	Unringable pending restoration (see note below)
	¯ SOUND CLIP (Recording by Dickon Love, 7th May 2005)

DETAILS OF THE BELLS

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Note	Cast	Founder
1	4 cwt approx	29½"	E flat (!)	1705	Richard Phelps
2	4¾ cwt approx	31¼"	D	1794	Thomas Mears I
3	5½ cwt approx	32¼"	C	1610	William Carter
4	7 cwt approx	35"	B	1705	Richard Phelps
5	8¾ cwt approx	38¾"	A	c.1400	William Chamberlain
6	12 cwt approx.	41½"	G	1736	Richard Phelps

RF
R : PHELPS FECIT
1705

ROB^{^T} FRENCH & JOHN COLYER CHURCH WARDENS (2 loops) THE REV^{^D} PETER RASHLEIGH M.A. RECTOR

THO^S. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1794

WILHELMUS CARTER ME FECIT 1 6 1 0

W à C à O à P à CHVRCHWARDENS

1610

R : P : FECT 1705

THE REV^{^D} : W^{^M} : GEEKIE D : D : REC^{^T} : IAMES BIGGS WESTON GOWERS CH : WARDENS

: M : P : C :
(same line) R : B :

RICHARD PHELPS MADE ME 1736

IOHN GARLAND SIDEMAN

Comments on the inscriptions:
Treble	Stahlschmidt considered there to be some defaced inscription. It is not clear whether this is actually a complete inscription or not, but it looks most likely to be complete.
2.	The raised letters in the top line have single stops beneath them. THO^S. appears under the word CHURCH as shown.
3.	The inscription on the waist is engraved in a very poor and wobbly style. The Ws are interlinked double Vs. The letters in very light shade were obliterated during the welding of 1930. The top petal of the 3 petalled symbol has also been obliterated.
4.	This inscription is totally obliterated by the welding. The moulding wires in the inscription band have mainly disappeared too.
Tenor	The letters in very light shade on the inscription band are obliterated. The inscription on the waist is engraved.

1552		Record of 4 bells.
1610		Present 3rd cast. This was bell was given as recorded by a document in latin housed in the Medway Archives.
1672-3		Tenor bell cast. There is a list of contributors in the Medway Archive.
1705		At this time there was a ring of 5 with a tenor of about 18 cwt in a timber frame. The tenor was recast into 2 trebles by Richard Phelps who also converted the tenor pit into 2 pits for the 2 bells. He also recast the then 3rd of 5 (present 4th of 6).
1712		Work took place on the treble bell.
1731		Tenor bell may have been recast. The churchwardens accounts references to the 'five lettell bells' and casting the 'tenner bell'.
1736		Tenor recast by Richard Phelps.
1794		2nd recast by Thomas Mears I.
1832		Vestry minutes record the repair of the bells.
1887		4th recorded as being cracked.
1926		3 bells were recorded as being cracked (the 3rd, 4th and tenor), They were welded by Barrimar. The canons were removed from the 3rd and 4th. Bells rehung by Samuel Goslin with partly second hand fittings (probably from the recently demised Warner foundry) and new brass plain bearings. Ranald Clouston (in 1945) wrote "At the rededication some experienced ringers came over from Northfleet and rang Grandsire for 10 minutes but could not manage more." In those days the bells were rung from the ground floor. The Ellacombe was added after the dedication and the bells were considered unringable for full circle ringing after that.
1945		Ranald Clouston inspected the bells and said "The bells are in plain bearings in the old frame which has been redesigned. All the bells except the treble swing E-W and where 3, 4 & 6 hang great quantities of masonry have been dug out of the walls to allow the bells to swing [actually it appears to be 1,3,4,6; work probably by Phelps in 1705]. The job has been done as badly as I have ever seen."
1973		Paul Smith inspected the bells and said of the fittings generally "a very poor job resulted which is why the bells are in an unringable condition". Of the frame he wrote "the frame is considered to be at the end of its useful life, the joints all being loose and the foundations very poor". Paul was accompanied by Richard Offen.
1992	Easter Day	Bells rung full-circle by a group of maverick ringers after attending to the belfry the previous day. They managed half a course of Plain Bob Minor before "something went very wrong" and ringing stopped. Since a kitchen and toilet block had been built on the ground floor, the bells were rung from the new first floor vestry build behind the organ.
2005	7th May	The belfry was inspected by members of the Kent CACR and a clearer picture of the state of the bells was provided. After a certain amount of work in the belfry (including the temporary removal of some of the ellacombe hammers), it was made possible to ring the bells in rounds, although the roping on the 4th did not permit changes. After more work, the bells were then rung the following Sunday morning for the Rector's last service (ringing which included a full plain course of Plain Bob Minor) before the bells were returned to chiming by Ellacombe only pending further restoration.

NOTES ABOUT THE RINGABILITY OF THESE BELLS

The work on 7th May consisted of tightening the wheels on the headstocks, cleaning and lubricating the bearings, sliders (including the single latchet slider on the 3rd) and pulleys. Bells 4 and 5 are drawn heavily in the intermediate chamber, and the earlier guides through this chamber have gone, as had the ground pulleys. Two second hand ball bearing ground pulleys were fitted as a temporary measure. Since there is a lot of play in the clappers, some of them were hitting the Ellacombe hammers, so the hammers had to be dismantled to allow full circle ringing.

The bells are hung at the very top of this slender tower, a tower which also has a number of cracks in it. A sum exceeding £100,000 is due to be spent on the tower.

Further full circle ringing is not permitted at the church until:
1. The tower masonry has been repaired.
2. The architect is happy that further full circle ringing will not be detrimental to the result.
3. Further studies regarding the safety of the frame are made.
4. Ropes guides are installed in the intermediate chamber.
5. The clappers are attended to prevent impact on the Ellacombe hammers.

This work is the subject of interest to the Kent CACR. Until this time it is not safe for further full circle ringing. Changes to this situation will be advertised here and elsewhere in the normal manner. The tower correspondent is Dickon Love, editor of Lovesguide.

(15th May, 2005)

Photo DrL 6th May, 2005

Samuel Goslin's brass plaque on the Ellacombe apparatus.

A view in the intermediate chamber looking up.

The William Carter 1610 3rd. The remains of the 3-petalled shape can be seen on the waist.

The old William Chamberlain 5th.

The 2nd in the foreground. The treble at the back.

The 5th and the 4th at the back.

The treble in the former tenor pit, since adapted with an additional frame side and a gauge out of the wall behind the bell.