Header
  
Coldred
 

Coldred, St Pancras


Photo: Richard Offen, 2006

  • 1 bell hung dead with lever clapper in open gable and ancient bell on display
  • Tenor: 2-1-9 in G♯.
  • Grid Ref: TR274475
  • Along with Whitfield and the Iwade pair, one of the 4 most ancient bells in the county.
  • Denomination: Church of England
    Diocese (Anglican): Canterbury
    Archdeaconry (Anglican): Ashford


Details of the Bells

Bell Weight
(most recent)
Diameter Note Date Founder Canons Retuned
҈ In church 1¾ cwt approx.18¹¹⁄₁₆" c.1175 - 1200 Unknown Never
Open gable 2-1-922" G♯ 1939 Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel Never

 - Hung dead
҈    - Unhung

Inscriptions

History

c 1200 Bell cast, founder unknown. [1]
1758 Record of 1 small uninscribed bell in the tower. [2]
1795 Record of 1 small bell in the tower. [3]
1887 Stahlschmidt notes the medieaval bell stored in the church and badly cracked.
1939 Bell cast by Mears & Stainbank and hung in one of the two arches in the western gable.
[1] The former bell which broke in half is riveted together and preserved in the church. It is 18¹¹⁄₁₆" diameter; lip to shoulder 15¾" (PH); internal height 16½" (TPH); shoulder circumference 27¾"; soundbow thickness 1⁹⁄₁₆" 5 canons 4¼" high, one single canon and loop of argent missing. Moulding wires 0:1-1:1-1:0. It resembles the ancient bell of the neighbouring parish of Whitfield (c.1150) in many respects. The lip, which is also the soundbow here, is dead flat. Unlike Whitfield it has a cast-in crown staple, but the moulding wires are very similar. Probably cast c.1175 - c.1200. (David Cawley's description of the bell)
[2] It is a very small mean building of one aile, and a chancel, with a turret at the West end, containing one little uninscribed bell. (Rev’d Bryan Faussett, 1758)
[3] It is a very small mean building of one aile, and a chancel, with a turret at the West end, containing one little uninscribed bell. (Zechariah Cozens, 1795)

Gallery


The canons of the old bell in the church.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The old bell.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The old bell.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The old bell showing the crack.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The old bell showing the crack.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The old bell.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The plaque above the old bell.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The new bell in the gable end.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006

The new bell in the gable end.
Photo: Richard C Offen, 2006


Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent Page updated: 28 June 2020