Penshurst

[andrewmbull <a.bull@s...>]

My thanks to Mike Chester for filling a long-standing gap in my 
ringing records. It is difficult to tell how accurate the weights 
given are though; those for the back bells appear to be exact (with a 
small disagreement from the "Dove" tenor weight), but are the front 
ones approximate ?
It is possible, of course, that the front four all have exact weights 
with a zero in the pounds column. In "Bells and Belfries of Dorset", 
Chris Dalton says that after retuning at Whitechapel in 1952, the now 
scrapped ring of six of Holy Trinity, Shaftesbury, all came out with 
a zero in the pounds column. Is this unique ?



--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "Mike Chester" <mike at m...> 
wrote:
> here are some details from the church website
> 
> The Church Bells 
> It was in 1896 that the bells were increased from a ring of six to 
a 
> ring of eight bells. At the same time two of the six bells, the old 
> fourth and old fifth were recast. The two 'new' bells were cast by 
> Mears and Stainbank, Founders, London.
> 
> The Treble was one of the new bells cast in 1896. It weighs 5cwt 
3qr 
> and has an Eb note. The inscription indicates that the Rector was 
> George Maberley Smith and the Churchwardens were Frank Arnold and 
> George King.
> 
> The Number 2 bell is dedicated to the memory of Frank Ernest Hills 
of 
> Redleaf who died in 1896. It weighs 6cwt and has a D note.
> 
> The third bell has a C note and weighs 7cwt. The bell was donated 
by 
> Gilbert Spencer in 1701 and was cast by R.Phelps, Master Founder at 
> Whitechapel at that time.
> 
> The fourth bell was cast by Thomas Meade at Whitechapel in 1802. It 
> weighs 6cwt 3qr with a Db note.
> 
> Number 5 is the oldest bell in the church. It is ascribed to John 
> Kebyll and is thought to have been cast ca.1480. There appears to 
be 
> no direct evidence to the identity of the founder but the bell 
bears 
> the arms of the Keble(sic) family and a John Kebyll, a wheelwright, 
> rehung some bells for St. Stephen's Walbrook, London in 1480. The 
> inscription band has two decorative crosses and the arms of the 
> Kebyll family. The bell weighs 7cwt 2qr 26lb and has an Ab note. 
> 
> The sixth bell is from the same foundry as the Kebyll bell but was 
> recast in 1896 by Mears & Stainbank. A Latin inscription just above 
> the lip translates as "May John's bell ring out for many years". 
The 
> bell weighs 10cwt 3qr 7lb and has a G note
> 
> The seventh bell was originally cast by Thomas Mears in 1802 and 
was 
> recast by Whitechapel in 1896. It weighs 14cwt 0qr 6lb.
> 
> The Tenor bell is the heaviest bell in the church weighing 17cwt 
2qr 
> 16lb with an Eb note. It was cast by Joesph Hatch in 1619. The 
Hatch 
> family ran a foundry at Ulcombe, near Maidstone for eighty years.
> 
> 
> The Turret Clock 
> 
> The clock we see today was not the first clock installed in 
Penshurst 
> church as clock winding and maintenance costs are mentioned in 
parish 
> records going back as far as 1722. The present clock is an eight 
day 
> clock erected in 1858 by T.Cooke & Sons of York, striking the hours 
> on the 17cwt Tenor bell. This was the fifth clock built by that 
> company and it is interesting to note that clock No.11 went to the 
> local manor house at South Park, home of the Hardinge family, in 
1860 
> and was purchased at auction in 1956 by the Roman Catholic Church 
at 
> Rottingdean.
> 
> It was originally intended to add chimes to the clock in 1858 but 
for 
> some reason no chimes were added until 1917 when the parish decided 
> on the addition of chimes to commemorate the ministry of Canon 
> Maberly Smith who was Curate from 1856-69 and Rector from 1878-
1916. 
> An engraved brass plaque honouring the services of the Canon is 
also 
> found in the NE corner of the Sanctuary. 
> 
> The original copper face of the clock was replaced in 1917 by the 
> present simple skeletonised clock dial face in front of the bell 
> chamber. In 1917, when the chimes were added, there is reference to 
a 
> new skeletonised clock face after the style of Malines Cathedral in 
> Belgium and this appears to be the one visible today.
> 
> (Taken from notes by Peter Wotton of Tonbridge published 
in "Clocks: 
> The International Magazine for Horological Collectors and 
Restorers" 
> vol.21 nos.8 & 9)