[Bell Historians] Canon bashing Edwardians

[David Bryant]

> The canons were removed from 7 of the 8 bells in Chertsey in 1905,
including
> the 1380 Abbey bell. The townspeople were so upset that the Vicar resigned
> "due to ill health" a few months later.

At that time, it was very much the done thing. It is recorded that John
William Taylor resigned from the Leicestershire Archaeological Society when
antiquarian groups protested against canon removal. However, canon retaining
stocks were produced not that long afterwards - there's an early riveted
steel one in the foundry museum - anyone know the date?

The first cast iron canon retaining stocks were 1880s by Moore, Holmes and
McKenzie of Redenhall. I don't count the 1838 cast iron stock from Crediton
tenor as a proper canon retainer, because although it did retain the canons
it's basically a cast iron copy of a timber stock, and would have had canon
straps like a timber stock.

David