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Kingsnorth, St Michael
 Photo: Richard Offen, 2006
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♫ Sound clip of the ring of bells.(Mark Chittenden-Pile) |
Details of the Bells |
| Bell | Weight (most recent) | Diameter | Note | Date | Founder | Canons | Retuned | ||
| ® | Treble | 2-3-13 | 23¾" | F♯ | 1976 | Whitechapel Bell Foundry | Flat | Never | |
| ® | 2 | 3-1-1 | 25⅜" | E | 1695 | James Bartlett, Whitechapel | Conventional | 1977 Whitechapel | |
| ® | 3 | 3-3-17 | 27¾" | D | 1728 | Samuel Knight, Southwark | Removed | 1977 Whitechapel | |
| ® | 4 | 4-1-6 | 29⅜" | C♯ | 1914 | Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel | Removed | 1977 Whitechapel | |
| ® | 5 | 6-1-25 | 32¾" | B | 1976 | Whitechapel Bell Foundry | Flat | Never | |
| ® | Tenor | 8-1-6 | 36½" | A | 1654 | William Hatch | Conventional | 1977 Whitechapel |
Inscriptions |
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The original Samuel Knight ring of five |
| Bell | Weight (most recent) | Diameter | Note | Date | Founder | Retuned | Fate | |
| Treble | 4-1-21 | 27¹³⁄₁₆" | D | 1728 | Samuel Knight | Never | Now the 3rd in the present ring | |
| 2nd | 4-2-21 | 28¹³⁄₁₆" | C♯ | 1727 | Samuel Knight | Never | Melted down 1976 | |
| 3rd | 5-0-21 | 30¹¹⁄₁₆" | B | 1727 | Samuel Knight | Never | Melted down 1976 | |
| 4th | 6-2-6 | 33⅞" | A | 1727 | Samuel Knight | Never | Melted down 1976 | |
| Tenor | 10-0-0 | 38³⁄₁₆" | G | 1728 | Samuel Knight | Never | Melted down 1976 |
History |
| 1552 | Record of 3 bells. | ||
| 1654 | Tenor bell cast for St Nicholas, Rochester by Joseph Hatch. | ||
| 1695 | Treble bell cast for St Nicholas, Rochester by James Bartlett. | ||
| 1727 | -8 | Ring of 5 cast by Samuel Knight in the Lydian scale. | |
| 1758 | Record of 5 bells in the tower. [1] | ||
| 1900 | Bell frame made for the six bells at Tunstall. | ||
| 1914 | Middle bell added to St Nicholas, Rochester by Mears & Stainbank. | ||
| 1969 | The 5 bells were made ringable for short periods of time after work by Mr B. Johnson of Smarden. | ||
| 1976 | The 3 bells from St Nicholas, Rochester were incorporated as bells 2, 4, 6 of a new ring of 6. The treble of the old 5 became the 3rd. The other bells were recast into bells 1 and 5 by Whitechapel. The bells at Tunstall were rehung in a new frame a year earlier. The parish gave their old frame to Kingsnorth for their bells. The frame was designed by the KCACR (Alan Berry), built at Ashford Railway Works and all the work in the tower (including building the ringing gallery with the old clappers in the balustrade) was carried out by Alan Berry, Nick Davies, Keith Davis, David Joyce, Dawn Petts and Richard Offen. The old tenor was kept for a while as a possible replacement for the cracked 7th at Boughton-under-Blean, but it proved too large. |
| [1] | "In The Tower, which is at ye West End, hang 5 Musicall Bells, with the following Inscriptions. 1. Praise The Lord Your King. 1728. 2. Anthony Jarvis, C.W. S.K. fecit 1727. 3. John Taylor, C.W. S.K. fecit. 1727. 4. Samuel Knight fecit. 1727. 5. Thomas Reader, Rector. S.K. made Me, 1728." (Rev’d Bryan Faussett, 1758) |
Articles
Gallery |
Work during the 1976 restoration. Photo: Richard Offen, 1976 |
The 5th in 1976. Photo: Richard Offen, 1976 |
The tenor in 1976. Photo: Richard Offen, 1976 |
The treble bell before hanging. Photo: Richard Offen, 1976 |
The tenor on its way up. Photo: Richard Offen, 1976 |
The tenor being hoisted up. Photo: Richard Offen, 1976 |
The tenor being hoisted up. Photo: Richard Offen, 1976 |
| Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent | Page updated: 1 April 2016 |