The Penningtons

[jim phillips]

Has there ever been a book or paper written about the above itinerate
bellfounders who I understand cast nearly 500 bells in Devon and almost as
many in Cornwall. I understand FitzAnthony Pennington of Lezant drowned in
1768 whilst crossing the Tamar in the Antony ferry with a bell he had cast
for Landulph. He is buried at Landulph at the age of 38 and I understand
there is a mural tablet at Landulph with the lines

" Tho' boisterous winds and billows sore
Hath toss'd me to and fro,
By God's decree, in spite of both,
I rest now here below.

The bell he had cast for Landulph must still be at the bottom of the Tamar
and must surely be an interesting project for the local diving club to
search for the bell and bring it to the surface.
What was the weight of the heaviest bell the Penningtons cast and where is
it? I read somewhere that the Penningtons cast the bells of St Breward in a
small garden outside the churchyard fence and the garden became known as
bell garden.