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<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Never a steel ring, but quite an
interesting history<BR><BR>Prior to 1877, Holy Trinity had a Mears ring - built
up piecemeal between 1825 and 1861. These bells (their dates removed) are now
the middle six of the eight at West Teignmouth, Devon. They were installed at
Teignmouth, with added treble and tenor to make eight, in March
1879.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face="Comic Sans MS">Basically (I'll omit the detailed
evidence from which I know all this to be correct) the Bolton ring (and the
Teignmouth middle six) were / are as follows:<BR><BR>1. Mears & Co - i.e. G.
Mears & Co 1861. 5-1-23<BR>2. Mears Founders - i.e. C. & G. Mears 1853.
5-3-14<BR>3. G. Mears & Co – 1861. 6-3-21<BR>4. Mears Founders - i.e. C.
& G. Mears 1853. 6-3-7<BR>5. Mears & Co - i.e. G. Mears & Co 1861.
8-1-4<BR>6. Mears of London Fecit - i.e. Thomas Mears II, probably 1825 (when
the Bolton church was first built). 10-0-2<BR><BR>These weights are as recorded
when the bells returned to Whitechapel in 1877. The records show that the two
bells of 1853 were originally supplied for the quarter chimes of the clock.
Mears supplied a six-bell frame and five sets of ringing fittings (with bells 1,
3 and 5) in 1861. So, Holy Trinity had a ring of six (tenor 10-0-2) from 1861 to
1877.<BR><BR>In 1877, Mears & Stainbank supplied a new ring of eight -
5-1-11, 5-3-14, 6-2-15, 7-0-25, 8-2-24, 9-2-26, 11-3-6, 15-2-25. They were
invoiced on 29 January 1877, so the bells may have been cast (and dated) in
1876<BR><BR>After the fire, Mears & Stainbank supplied a lsightly heavier
replacement eeight in 1920 (now at Preston, of course), the original weights and
diameters of which were 1. 28½” 5-0-20, 2. 29¼” 5-0-22, 3. 31" 5-3-6, 4. 34"
7-0-5, 5. 36" 7-3-14, 6. 38" 9-0-9, 7. 42" 12-1-8, 8. 47½” 17-1-14 in E
<BR><BR>CJP</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>