Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent

New Romney, St Nicholas

Photo: Richard Offen, 2005

8 bells hung for full circle ringing and a sanctus bell
Tenor: 15-1-13 in E.
Grid Ref: TR065247
Anticlockwise
Rung from: Upstairs Ringing Room
Frame: 1748 Robert Catlin, strengthened by Whitechapel in 1975.
Denomination: Church of England
Diocese (Anglican): Canterbury
Archdeaconry (Anglican): Ashford
Kent County Association of Change Ringers District: Ashford
Building Listed Grade: I Click for Heritage details.
Peals rung at the tower

♫ Sound clip of the ring of bells.(Mark Chittenden-Pile)

Details of the Bells

	Bell	Weight (most recent)	*(As supplied 1909)*	Diameter	Note	Date	Founder	Canons	Retuned
®	Treble	4-3-7		28"	E	1809	Thomas Mears & Son	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
®	2	4-3-14		29⅛"	D♯	1784	Chapman & Mears, Whitechapel	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
®	3	5-3-26		31⅜"	C♯	1805	Thomas Mears & Son	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
®	4	6-0-1	6-2-2	33"	B	1909	Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
®	5	8-0-22		35¾"	A	1776	Pack & Chapman, Whitechapel	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
®	6	8-1-26		37¾"	G♯	1776	Pack & Chapman, Whitechapel	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
®	7	11-1-3	11-3-19	41½"	F♯	1909	Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
®	Tenor	15-1-13	16-1-4	45¾"	E	1909	Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel	Removed	1975 Whitechapel
҂	Sanctus	4 cwt approx.		27⅞"		1450	Unknown		Never

® - Hung for full circle ringing
҂ - Hung for swing chiming

Bellframes

Frame

Bells

Year

Maker

Material

Truss(es)

Local
Layout

All bells

1748

Robert Catlin, Holborn

Timber

Inscriptions

The 1748 Ring of Eight

Bell	Weight (most recent)	Diameter	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Treble (of 8)			1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1809
2nd (of 8)			1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1784
3rd (of 8)			1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1805
4th (of 8)			1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1805
5th (of 8)			1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1776
6th (of 8)			1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1776
7th (of 8)			1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1805
Tenor (of 8)	16-3-9	47"	1748	Robert Catlin	Never	Recast in 1909

Later recasts

Bell	Weight (most recent)	Diameter	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
4th (of 8)	7-2-8	34"	1805	Thomas Mears I	Never	Recast in 1909
5th (of 8)	12-2-20	43"	1805	Thomas Mears I	Never	Recast in 1909

Prior to 1748

Bell	Date	Founder	Retuned	Fate
Treble (of 6)	1685	John Hodson	Never	Founder? Recast in 1748.
2nd (of 6)		Unknown		Recast in 1748
3rd (of 6)		Unknown		Recast in 1748
4th (of 6)		Unknown		Recast in 1748
5th (of 6)		Unknown		Recast in 1748
Tenor (of 6)		Unknown		Recast in 1748

History

c	1450		A small blank bell was supplied to All Saints, Hope church. The founder is unknown but probably a London founder.
	1549		Tradition says that 5 bells from St Martin's, New Romney, weighing 46 cwt, were transfered to St Nicholas. This is not true.
	1685		The bells were rehung by John Hodson. There used to be 5 bells in the tower, although at this time it is known that there were 6. It is possible that Hodson augmented the 5 with the 6th bell in this year.
	1748	November	A new ring of 8 bells was cast by Robert Catlin and hung in a new anticlockwise frame. These bells probably post date those cast for Faversham in the same year by Catlin.
	1776		5th and 6th recast by Pack & Chapman.
	1784		2nd recast by Chapman & Mears.
	1805		The 3rd, 4th and 7th were recast by Thomas Mears I and the whole ring was rehung by Edward Simmons. The bells were opened on 14 Oct by the Aldington and Hythe ringers. [1]
	1809		Treble recast by Thomas Mears I.
	1887		Record of the 8 bells in the tower and an unhung bell in storage from All Saints, Hope.
	1909		Rehung by Mears & Stainbank. The 4th, 7th and tenor were recast. The old bell from All Saints, Hope was hung as a Sanctus bell.
	1968		The bell from All Saints, Hope was transferred to New Romney as a Sanctus bell.
	1975		Bells retuned and rehung in the Catlin frame by Whitechapel.
	1976		Architect gave approval for the bells to be rung.
	1994	Easter	Bells rung again after a long period of silence.

[1]

RINGING, AT NEW ROMNEY. ON Monday next, the 14th of October, 1805, will opened A Peal of Eight Bells, by the Aldington and Hythe Ringers.Three bells have been recently re-cast by Mr. Thomas Mears, and the whole peal re-hung by Mr Edward Simmons, both of London. A good Ordinary at the Ship Inn, at one o'clock. (Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal (Friday 11 October 1805))

Articles

"Good news from Romney Marsh", Davies, Nicholas J (The Ringing World) 20 June 1994

Gallery

The uninscribed 15th Century chiming bell that came originally from All Saints, Hope, Kent. 1968
Photo: David Cawley, 1968

View of the bells from above.
Photo: Ollie Watson, Aug 2021

Peal Boards

Timber Performance Board dated approx. 2012
16 Jan 2012: 5040 Grandsire Triples (Attempted to mark the centenary of the 1st local band peal but was lost halfway.)