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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>The medieval St Mary Matfelon was rebuilt in 1633. =
; This=20
would be the church in which the peal referred to was rung. A Faculty=
was=20
granted on 7th November 1874 to demolish the building, which was in a bad s=
tate=20
of repair and to build a new one on the site at a cost of =A318000, of whic=
h Mr=20
Octavius Coope MP gave two-thirds, the parish raising the remainder. =
The=20
foundation stone was laid on July 20th 1875 and it was consecrated on Febru=
ary=20
2nd 1877. Then on August 26th 1880, that church was destroyed by fire=
,=20
excepting for the tower and spire; its successor was consecrated on Decembe=
r 1st=20
1882. It was gutted by incendiaries on 29th December 1940 and stood=20
roofless until 1952 when it was demolished.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Strangely, the Diocesan authorities united the parish w=
ith=20
those of St Philip,Newark Street (now the Royal London Hospital Library)=20
together with the parishes of St Jude, Commercial Street (dem 1929) and St=
=20
Augustine, Settles Street (gutted, demolished 1964) as the parish of S=
t=20
Augustine w St Philip - after six centuries even the name was=20
dropped. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I remember the site, which is close to the Whitechapel=
=20
Foundry, being laid out in 1966 as an open space. The site of the=20
foundations of the medieval and the Victorian churches are marked out in pa=
ving=20
in the grass. Behind is the slender tower of St Boniface RC Church wi=
th=20
four Mears bells hung dead and very open to view. These bells were ca=
st=20
for St Boniface and were hung in the previous church on the site, also bomb=
ed in=20
1940.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>The notorious go of the bells was attributed by some to=
the=20
passage of District Line trains whose tracks run beneath Whitechapel Road,=
=20
imeediately in front of the site of the tower. More likely it is beca=
use=20
the tower was tall and quite slender, and of brick, with a heavy stone=20
spire, The story of the stealing of the bells is true and was told to=
me=20
by the late Harry Parkes and confirmed by Bill Hughes, of=20
Whitechapel.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>J. R. Jerram records the bells as a ring of eight, teno=
r=20
47.1/2", 19cwt in E. All originally by Lester & Pack 1754 wi=
th=20
the fifth recast by Robert Patrick in 1783. There was also a clock be=
ll by=20
L&P dated 1762.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>A footnote states that the bells were destroyed in the =
1880=20
fire, so the so-called "slaughterhouse" conditions presumably date from aft=
er=20
that event.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Hopefully CJP can come up with fuller details than I=20
have.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>DLC</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LE=
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<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV=20
style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>Fro=
m:</B>=20
<A title=3Djim@p...=20
href=3D"mailto:jim@p...">baldhu2002</A> </DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A=20
title=3Dbellhistorians@yahoogroups.com=20
href=3D"mailto:bellhistorians@yahoogroups.com">bellhistorians@yahoogroups=
.com</A>=20
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 24 August 2002 15:22</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Bell Historians] St Mary=
=20
Matfelon, Whitechapel.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><TT>Whilst browsing through J R Haworth's notebook I came=
=20
across the <BR>following interesting peal record:-<BR><BR>On Tuesday Janu=
ary=20
7th 1875 Holt's Ten Part peal of Grandsire Triples <BR>containing 5040 ch=
anges=20
was rung at St Mary's Whitechapel in two <BR>hours fifty three=20
minutes.<BR><BR>1. J R Haworth &=
nbsp;=20
5. S Reeves<BR>2. W=20
Jones &n=
bsp;=20
6. W Tanner<BR>3. G=20
Tanner =
7. J=20
M Hayes<BR>4. E. Wallage &=
nbsp;=20
8. W Greenleaf<BR><BR>Conducted by J R Haworth.<BR>The last peal on the b=
ells=20
before the demolition of the tower and <BR>bells.<BR><BR>There is also a =
press=20
cutting stating the following:-<BR><BR>"The old church of St Mary,=20
Whitechapel, now in course of demolition, <BR>was for over 400 years a ch=
apel=20
of ease to the mother church of <BR>Stepney. The monuments in the=20
church, which are both ancient and <BR>numerous will be carefully removed=
and=20
re-erected in a new church, a <BR>strange pecularity being that the bulk =
have=20
been erected by master <BR>mariners in memory of their wives. In th=
e=20
churchyard lie the remains <BR>of Richard Brandon, the supposed execution=
er of=20
Charles 1."<BR><BR>What was the reason for the demolition of this old old=
=20
chuch and its <BR>replacement by a new one? The timing of the above=
peal=20
suggest's the <BR>bells ( a 20 cwt 8 by Whitechapel 1754)went a bloody si=
ght=20
better in <BR>the old tower. The old boys ( Taffender, Langdon, Pec=
k=20
etc) always <BR>said that the St Mary Matfelon bells in the 'new' church =
were=20
<BR>difficult to handle with the brick tower moving all over the=20
shop.<BR>Following severe war damage, I was told, the bells were stolen w=
ith=20
<BR>the police actually assisting the lorry to back into the churchyard <=
BR>to=20
load up the bells!<BR><BR>Jim Phillips.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></TT><BR><TT>T=
his=20
message was sent to you via the Bell Historians' Mailing List. To unsubsc=
ribe=20
from the list send an email to=20
bellhistorians-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com<BR><BR></TT><BR><BR><TT>Your u=
se of=20
Yahoo! Groups is subject to the <A=20
href=3D"http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/">Yahoo! Terms of Service</A>.</=
TT>=20
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