[Bell Historians] Tenor weights

[David Bryant]

From: "Bill Hibbert" <bill at h...>

> . . . and to confound those doubting Thomases who claim that tenors
> of uncertain weight get heavier with every peal: Rostherne tenor was
> always supposed to be 17 or 18cwt, but hadn't been out of the tower
> for centuries. When I was a lad, I always assumed this was 13cwt of
> bronze and 5cwt of bravado. When I went there the other day to take
> recordings, I discovered that when E&S rehung it a while ago they
> found it was HEAVIER, I see it now appears in Dove as 20-0-0 (without
> the cwt).

It does happen, but it's far more usual for them to be lighter, often quite
a bit lighter, than estimated. e.g. South Petherton old tenor, estimated at
23-24 cwt, tipped the scales at 19-0-0!

David