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Eltham
 

Eltham, Holy Trinity

Photo: Dickon R Love, 27 Mar 2022

  • 1 bell and 1 cracked display bell
  • Grid Ref: TQ435741
  • Diocese (Anglican): Southwark
    Diocese (Anglican): Rochester
  • Building Listed Grade: II Click for Heritage details.

Details of the Bells
Bell Weight
(most recent)		Diameter Note Date Founder Canons Retuned
Single bell 26" 1961 Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel () Flat
Display bell 1-3-2121" G 1925 Gillett & Johnston, Croydon (1165) Never

History
1868 Parish created from that of St John the Baptist, Eltham. Church built by G E Street, architect and opened the following year.
1903 Church added to by Sir E Blomfield.
1909 A bell was brought back from Sebastopol in the Crimea where it had been rung all night above the monastery hospital during the action of battle. It was later recast 4 times into the Gillett bell. It was the original turret bell. [2]
1925 A new bell was cast by Gillett & Johnston, presumably with the metal of the old Sebastopol bell. [3]
1974 GPE Southwark Survey (Nov) notes the 1961 bell above the north porch and a disused (cracked) Gillett bell in the church by the south wall of the nave. [4]
[1] On Monday last the Bishop of Rochester consecrated the new church of the Holy Trinity, Eltham, Kent. (Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, Sat 11 Sept 1869)
[2] The other churches of Eltham are provided with bells. which are used to proclaim the time of public worship. But none of them is of any particular historical interest. except the one at Holy Trinity. This was brought to England from the Crimea after the great war. Its original home was a turret in Sebastopol where it witnessed the incidents of the terrible siege, and its voice was familiar to the British troops in the trenches. It was afterwards secured, found its way to Eltham, and was placed in the turret of Holy Trinity when the church was built, where it has done its part in proclaiming the message of Peace and Goodwill. (The Story of Royal Eltham, Gregory, R R C, 1909)
[3] HISTORIC BELL. The bell at Holy Trinity Church, Eltham, which the vicar states, was taken from Sebastopol war hospital, and rang all night in the battle of Inkerman in 1854, is to be replaced by a new one. St. Luke's, Eltham, has an old lighthouse bell. (Lancashire Evening Post - Friday 18 September 1925)
[4] Bell above the north porch. 1. Mears & Stainbank, 1961, 26" Disused bell (said to be cracked) in the church by the south wall of the nave. 1. Gillett & Johnston, 1925 , 21" Card alongside states "This bell was brought back from Sebastopol in the Crimea where it had been rung all night above the monastery hospital during the action of the battle. Used as the church bell until recently. It has four times been recast only to crack again at once." (Southwark Survey, Elphick, G P, Nov 1974)

Gallery

The 1961 bell hanging on a bracket from the wall, clearly visible from the street.
Photo: Dickon R Love, 27 Mar 2022

Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent Page updated: 5 April 2022