Incised bells

[jwalton22rg]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "jimhedgcock" 
<jameshedgcock at h...> wrote:
> According to my records Preston 1&2 were M&S 1934 and the back 
eight 
> 1814. I would hesitate to call the back eight modern Mears.
> From memory they were a pretty dismal lot, as are a good many 
more!!!!
> --- 

All this talk of Mears 1814 prompts me to raise a new subject - one 
that has been exercsing my mind for some time. I have concluded it 
is probably better to ask the experts on this list!

Wooburn were augmented from 6 to 8 in 1814 by the addition of two 
Mears trebles (now retuned!)

At or around the same time, the second of the six (4/8) was replaced 
with a bell inscribed "T Mears of London fecit 1813". This bell has 
the name of the vicar and churchwardens incised at the waist.

Unfortunately the church records of the time have been lost or 
destroyed, so I have no information on this particular period of the 
tower. I know nothing of the earlier bell either, except that it 
probably pre-dates the augmentation from 5 to 6 (1718) and may even 
be as old as 1552 (five bells recorded in the tower).

My question is this - what is the likely sequence of events which 
lead to the bell being incised with its inscription? Were stock 
bells routinely cast at Whitechapel, or would this have been left 
over from another project? Are there any other contemporary examples 
of this practice?

I am only aware of one other incised bell in Buckinghamshire (at 
Quainton, if I remember correctly) so how common are incised bells in 
general?

John