<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail-gs" style="width:1176px;font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:medium"><div class="gmail-"><div id="gmail-:w1" class="gmail-ii gmail-gt gmail-adO"><div id="gmail-:w2" class="gmail-a3s gmail-aiL"><div dir="ltr">I maintain a list of bells by founder which includes bells that have been recast, the information has been gleaned from county books, nbr, Dove and other sources, although obviously incomplete I have totals for the 17th century as follows:-<div><br>1600 76 1610 149 1620 196 1630 192 1640 161 1650 69 1660 143 1670 159 1680 137 1690 49</div><div>1601 84 1611 137 1621 210 1631 186 1641 127 1651 67 1661 143 1671 138 1681 179 1691 60</div><div>1602 105 1612 134 1622 181 1632 173 1642 53 1652 107 1662 223 1672 131 1682 178 1692 78</div><div>1603 95 1613 147 1623 199 1633 174 1643 8 1653 87 1663 214 1673 118 1683 161 1693 103</div><div>1604 96 1614 121 1624 216 1634 188 1644 5 1654 131 1664 210 1674 167 1684 155 1694 115<br></div><div>1605 94 1615 155 1625 157 1635 180 1645 8 1655 96 1665 130 1675 179 1685 139 1695 159</div><div>1606 110 1616 178 1626 171 1636 221 1646 17 1656 190 1666 92 1676 154 1686 161 1696 137<br></div><div>1607 148 1617 163 1627 158 1637 165 1647 52 1657 131 1667 72 1677 133 1687 126 1697 119</div><div>1608 129 1618 171 1628 160 1638 193 1648 43 1658 151 1668 119 1678 133 1688 95 1698 135</div><div>1609 121 1619 153 1629 204 1639 161 1649 58 1659 84 1669 113 1679 75 1689 62 1699 171</div><div><br></div><div>Very few English bells must have been cast during the civil war, and very few English bells of this period have survived but the numbers seem to have recovered well before the end of the Commonwealth period. Numbers did not suffer so badly in the 1688-92 period.</div><div><br></div><div>David Sloman</div></div><div class="gmail-yj6qo gmail-ajU"><div id="gmail-:sj" class="gmail-ajR" tabindex="0"><img class="gmail-ajT" src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif" style="background-image: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system/1x/more_horiz_black_20dp.png"); background-size: 20px;"></div><div><br></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-hi"></div></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Dec 29, 2020 at 11:42 AM Richard Smith <<a href="mailto:richard@ex-parrot.com">richard@ex-parrot.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Cathryn Corns wrote:<br>
<br>
> There was widespread economic depression after the <br>
> Napoleonic wars which led to a downturn in many <br>
> industries, which may have contributed to the decline in <br>
> the 1830s. This was particularly marked in rural areas.<br>
<br>
The post-Napoleonic depression occurred to me too, but I'm <br>
struggling to fit it to the figures.<br>
<br>
The French Revolution lull in surviving bells is the least <br>
pronounced of the six. There is a marked decline in 1794, <br>
and levels stay low until 1802. Britain was at war with <br>
France from February 1793, but we'd expect it to take some <br>
time until it affected foundry output, which could explain <br>
why it was only in 1794 that output seemingly dropped. <br>
March 1802 was when the Treaty of Amiens was signed, <br>
bringing a temporary period of respite between the earlier <br>
French Revolutionary Wars and the later Napoleonic Wars, and <br>
it explains the recovery in surviving bells.<br>
<br>
Recovery was incomplete, and the whole period from 1793 to <br>
1818 left us with a below average number of surviving bells; <br>
neverless, it was the earlier French Revolution Wars that <br>
had the more pronounced effect that the later Napoleonic <br>
Wars. Between 1816 to 1818 there is another pronounced low, <br>
which could well be due to the post-Napoleonic depression, <br>
but it not a long enough or deep enough lull to be certain <br>
it is a real effect rather than statistical noise.<br>
<br>
My understanding is that that the economy had largely <br>
recovered by the early 1820s. This is consistent with <br>
period from 1821 to 1826 having the highest level of <br>
surviving bells since the 1720s and until surviving output <br>
really starts to accelerate in the 1860s, no doubt driven in <br>
part by Victorian church building (in turn driven by <br>
population growth and urbanisation), the Oxford movement and <br>
belfry reform. The 1820s peak may well be result of many <br>
projects which were delayed during the Napoleonic period <br>
coming to fruition at around the same time.<br>
<br>
But then things drop again. 1829 to 1831 are back to the <br>
baseline level we see throughout the 18th and 19th century, <br>
and then the surviving output drops to around half this <br>
level in 1832 where it stays until 1838, and by 1840 it is <br>
back to the status quo ante. It's not a gradual decline and <br>
recovery, as you might expet from general economic <br>
considerations. If I had no knowledge of English history, I <br>
would assume there was a major war between about 1832 and <br>
1838.<br>
<br>
It's interesting to compare the 1830s low to the earlier <br>
lows of the 17th century, both of which took a decade or <br>
more to recover fully. In the first case, following the <br>
Civil War, it may well be indicative of the effect of the <br>
puritans during the Commonwealth. It's the established view <br>
that the Commonwealth had little effect on bellfounding, but <br>
perhaps this is something of a simplification; or perhaps <br>
disruption to the industry had been so widespread during the <br>
Civil War that the industry needed a decade to re-establish <br>
itself. Whichever is the case, it is marked contrast to the <br>
four lulls in the 19th and 20th centuries.<br>
<br>
RAS<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div>