Bishop Latimer

[CHRIS PICKFORD]

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DLC and Stuart H have covered the main points about Bishop Latimer, and the=
re's not much to add - except it's a bit harsh to claim the tower was used =
as a peal factory while the bells were there. The SMG did make efforts to t=
rain a band, and only six peals were rung in the tower - two each in 1960 a=
nd 1961, and one each in 1962 and 1963. Rightly or wrongly (i.e. influenced=
by the Vicar who disliked the bells) the tower was condemned as unsafe aft=
er only a few years, and the war memorial bells that the parish had waited =
so long to see installed went elsewhere some 12 years after they were put u=
p.

The original plans in 1904 were for a ring of ten "like Hull" (i.e. with a =
26 cwt tenor). The authorities took advice from Grimthorpe who referred the=
m to Canon Nolloth. Lord G's letter survives among the parish records. If t=
he tower wasn't up to a 14 cwt eight, then it's just as well they didn't go=
for the heavier peal.

The other claim to fame for Bishop Latimers is that it is one of the few An=
glican churches in England - there are some in Wales - with a total immersi=
on font. My learned friend Dr. Brandwood of the Victorian Society has writt=
en a paper on these, and he was rather delighted to find this one. Another=
is an eighteenth century tub in the church at Cranbrook in Kent.

CP


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