High Halstow, St Margaret
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Details of the Bells |
Bell | Weight (most recent) | (As supplied) | Diameter | Note | Date | Founder | Canons | Retuned | ||
® | Treble | 4-1-0 | F | 1794 | Edward Arnold, Leicester | Conventional | 1983 Whitechapel | |||
® | 2 | 4-2-0 | 4-3-0 | 28½" | E♭ | 1861 | John Taylor & Co., Loughborough | Removed | 1983 Whitechapel | |
® | 3 | 5-0-6 | 30½" | D♭ | 1675 | John Hodson, Whitechapel | Conventional | 1983 Whitechapel | ||
® | 4 | 5-3-9 | 31½" | C | 1983 | Whitechapel Bell Foundry | Flat | Never | ||
® | 5 | 6-2-26 | 34" | B♭ | 1825 | Thomas Mears II | Removed | 1983 Whitechapel | ||
® | Tenor | 9-2-17 | 38" | A♭ | 1675 | John Hodson, Whitechapel | Conventional | 1983 Whitechapel |
Bellframes |
Frame | Bells | Year | Maker | Material | Truss(es) | Local Layout | |||
1 | All bells | 1983 | Local | Cast iron |
Inscriptions |
Earlier bells |
Bell | Weight (most recent) | Diameter | Note | Date | Founder | Retuned | Fate | |
3rd (of 5) | 32¼" | B | 1825 | Thomas Mears II | Never | Recast in 1983 | ||
Treble (of 5) | 4-2-5 | 28" | E♭ | 1729 | Richard Phelps | Never | Recast in 1861 |
History |
1420 | Earliest bellframe known to be installed, probably for 4 bells. The tower was probably of timber construction with a spire. | ||
1675 | Present 3rd and tenor cast. | ||
1729 | A bell was cast by Richard Phelps, 28 inches in diameter. | ||
1788 | The first peal was rung on the bells, being 42 "different 5 bell peals". The bells at this time were in the key of A flat minor. | ||
1794 | A bell was cast for St Luke's, Kinoulton, Notts. | ||
1825 | The tower was rebuilt in brick. Some portions of the old bellframe was used in the construction of the roof. A sub frame of the old frame supported a new "X" braced frame. The 4th and present 5th were recast by Thomas Mears. | ||
1860 | Bells were repaired. | ||
1861 | The 1729 Phelps bell was recast to form the present 2nd. | ||
1983 | 01/01/2001 00:00:00 | The bells, fittings, frame and the trusswork beneath were all dismantled. In January, the bells went to Whitechapel where the (then) treble, 2nd, 4th and tenor were tuned and the 3rd recast to place them in a major key. The canons were retained on the then 2nd and tenor. There was a row over the trusswork, and it was supposed to have gone to the (former) Medway heritage centre in St Mary the Virgin, Chatham. The bells were augmented to six with a bell reclaimed from the former ring of five at Kinoulton, Notts. This is the only Arnold of Leicester bell in Kent, and was tuned and fitted up by Whitechapel. In March, the frame having been assembled, R Offen & D Cawley hoisted & hung the bells with an army of local assistance in one day, starting at 9 am. finishing at 6 pm, when they were rung from the base of the tower with no floors between the ringers & the bells. The bells were dedicated in May. | |
1993 | Whitechapel having produced a new type of canon-retaining headstock, the prototype was tried out on High Halstow tenor and, proving successful, was exchanged for the traditional one. | ||
1998 | The experimental headstock on the tenor having proved so successful, it was exchanged for a definitive one, and the old-style headstock of the third was similarly replaced. |
Gallery |
Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent | Page updated: 1 April 2016 |