[Bell Historians] St John's Gloucester

[David Cawley]

I have a copy of a press photo of St Michael's bells on the ground in 1956 - nothing else. The present bell chamber is completely bare apart from the two wrought-iron girders. Senior ringers have confirmed to me that St Michael's were a ground-floor ten. 

DLC
----- Original Message ----- 
From: David Bryant 
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 6:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Bell Historians] St John's Gloucester


> I think that it went to the shortlived bell museum in the tower of the
former St Michael's Gloucester. Quite a few bell
> artefacts found their way there and there was certainly a bell hung for
ringing.

Yes, consulting Bliss and Sharpe's 'Gloucestershire', it does say that it
went there, but that all exhibits were subsequently removed, as you say. It
doesn't say what happened to it after that, though.

> Drop a line to Mary Bliss and ask her (nicely) and I'm sure she'll help.

Does she have an email address?

> When Gloucester City Council acquired the tower as part of their Tourist
Information Centre, all these exhibits were
> removed; in fact all that is left in the tower other than the rope holes
are the two wrought-iron girders on which the trebles of > the ten removed
in 1956 were first hung by their founders JT, and on which cast iron lowside
frames were later erected by > G&J, which were transferred to the Cathedral
in 1956 with the aforementioned bells.

Don't suppose anyone has any photos of these two bells? I've seen the
present installation at the cathedral, but the 1898 bells and their frame
and fittings were all scrapped as part of the augmentation project.

Las time I was in Gloucester the base of St Michael's tower was still being
used as a tourist information office - I thought I'd read somewhere that it
isn't any more, but don't know for sure. The ground floor has a vaulted roof
with a bell-hole in the centre and rope holes in the vault. Were they a
ground-floor ring?

David


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