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It's not a problem Chelmsford is only an Hour's bus ride for me and I would be more then happy to see what the record office have to say about them, I have always taken something of a passing interest in these bells too especially as it is one of the only towers
within the Brentwood area that I haven't had the pleasure of ringing at. I am also one of the Volunteer researchers at my local museum so I am quite used to helping people with enquiries so like I say it won't be any skin off my nose at all. </div>
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Regards </div>
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Oliver lee </div>
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P/s I would also recommend talking to David Sloman, he was bell advisor to the EACR at the time of the 1982 work and I'd imagine he's probably got a lot of information about the both the old frame and the bells themselves. </div>
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<b>From:</b> Bell-historians <bell-historians-bounces@lists.ringingworld.co.uk> on behalf of Richard Smith via Bell-historians <bell-historians@lists.ringingworld.co.uk><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, September 18, 2026 09:52<br>
<b>To:</b> bell-historians@lists.ringingworld.co.uk <bell-historians@lists.ringingworld.co.uk><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Richard Smith <richard@ex-parrot.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Bell Historians] Navestock, Essex </div>
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On Thu 17/09/2026 21:52, Oliver Lee via Bell-historians wrote:<br>
<br>
> According to a 1458 Inventory (also in Deedes and Walters) the tower had<br>
> a ring of three and a Sanctus bell so I'd imagine they were probably<br>
> made into four in 1637 when the present 3^rd and tenor were cast before<br>
> being augmented to five in 1862 by Mears,<br>
<br>
You may be right, but without further supporting evidence, this is very<br>
much a guess. It's not unusual for bells to be recast and rural rings<br>
of five were common long before 1862. Similarly, rings of four were<br>
common long before 1637. This date, when we know Miles Graye cast two<br>
bells for Navestock, coincides with when five-bell ringing was really<br>
catching on, and we see lots of augmentations to five at this sort of<br>
time. How do we know Graye didn't cast three bells, one of which needed<br>
recasting in 1862? I'm not saying this was the case, but it seems<br>
another plausible possibility.<br>
<br>
It's fine for historians to say they don't know, and this is generally<br>
preferable to weaving a narrative out of minimal information, as that<br>
then risks becoming accepted as the truth without further critical analysis.<br>
<br>
In this particular case, there are at least three places we could look<br>
for further evidence. The Whitechapel daybook for 1862 may mention<br>
whether or not an old treble was traded in. The frame that was removed<br>
in 1981 may have been described in enough detail to know whether it had<br>
five pits before 1862. The churchwardens' accounts and vestry minutes<br>
exist for the period leading up to the 1862 work, and will likely have<br>
entries for the 1862 work and earlier expenses which may indicate how<br>
many bells there were.<br>
<br>
Of course I'm not suggesting that anyone here should go out and look at<br>
these records for me, simply because I'm curious about them. But there<br>
are enough people on this list who do this type of research that it<br>
seemed worth asking whether anyone had found any additional evidence.<br>
<br>
RAS<br>
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