Header
  
Bethersden
 

Bethersden, St Margaret


Photo: Dickon Love

  • 6 bells hung for full circle ringing
  • Tenor: 15½ cwt approx. in F.
  • Grid Ref: TQ927402
  • Rung from: Glazed Gallery
  • Frame: 1759 John Foster of Egerton, made of timber.
  • 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

Details of the Bells

Bell Weight
(most recent)
Diameter Note Date Founder Canons Retuned
® Treble 5-1-2529¾" D 1953 Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel Flat Never
® 2 6½ cwt approx32½" C 1634 Joseph Hatch, Ulcombe, Kent Removed Never
® 3 8-3-2035" B♭ 1896 Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel Doncaster Never
® 4 10 cwt approx.38½" A 1335 Peter de Weston, London Removed Never
® 5 12 cwt approx.41" G 1662 William Hatch Removed Never
® Tenor 15½ cwt approx45" F 1630 Joseph Hatch, Ulcombe, Kent Removed Never
Sanctus 1 cwt approx.15¼" 1662 William Hatch Never

®  - Hung for full circle ringing

Bellframes

Frame Bells Year Maker Material Truss(es) Local
Layout
1 All bells 1759 John Foster, Egerton

Inscriptions

Earlier bells

Bell Weight
(most recent)
DiameterDateFounderRetunedFate
Treble (of 6)5-0-2230"1759Lester & PackNeverRecast 1953
3rd (of 6)7-3-1935½"1713Richard PhelpsNeverRecast 1895

History

c 1335 Bell cast by Peter de Weston (present 4th).
1552 Record of 5 large bells in the tower. [1]
1557 One of the bells recast by William Oldfield of Canterbury.
1561 Another bell recast.
1588 Tenor recast.
1591 Tenor rehung.
1600 Another bell recast.
1601 4th and tenor recast by Joseph Hatch.
1612 A bell is recast in London.
1613 Joseph Hatch recasts a bell.
1621 Another bell recast.
1623 Bells rehung in a new frame, both by Goodman Crust.
1630 Tenor recast for the last time.
1634 Treble recast - forms the present 2nd.
1662 4th recast (present 5th) along with the Sanctus Bell.
1683 Bells rehung by James Burr.
1713 2nd recast by Richard Phelps.
1759 New frame built by John Foster. Lester & Pack add a new treble.
1760 Robert Gilbert altered the frame and rehung the bells in it.
1787 3rd recast by William Mears. Bells rehung under Mr Steddy.
1895 3rd recast by Mears & Stainbank. Bells rehung with new fittings.
1947 Bells rehung by Mears & Stainbank with new gudgeons and bearings.
1953 Cracked treble removed through the west window of the belfry and recast by Mears & Stainbank.
1996 Upstairs ringing gallery constructed.
[1] Item v great bells in the steeple. Item a Sanctus bell. (Edwardian Inventory, 1552)

Peal Boards

Timber Performance Board dated approx. 1946
24 Dec 1945: 5040 Plain Bob Minor (In memory of William C Roots, a ringer who died of wounds in the Western Desert, Nov 1941.)

Photo: Stephen J Davis, 20 August 2017

Timber Performance Board dated approx. 1980
09 Aug 1980: 5040 Minor (7m) (In memory of Mark W Marshall, Tower Captain and the UK's leading peal ringer in 1973 (209 peals).)

Photo: Stephen J Davis, 20 August 2017

Timber Performance Board dated approx. 1966
14 Nov 1965: 5040 Plain Bob Minor (In memory of Peter James Jarvis, ringer.)

Photo: Stephen J Davis, 20 August 2017

Timber Performance Board dated approx. 1950
19 Aug 1950: 5040 Cambridge S Minor (The birth of HRH The Princess Anne.)

Photo: Stephen J Davis, 20 August 2017

Timber Performance Board dated approx. 1953
02 Jun 1953: 5040 Plain Bob Minor (For the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II.)

Photo: Stephen J Davis, 20 August 2017



Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent Page updated: 1 April 2016