[Bell Historians] Re: Ash stays

[Richard Offen]

--- In bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com, "Anne Willis" <zen16073 at z...> 
wrote:
> 
> 
> According to Trevor Jennings' book, The Development of British Bell
> Fittings, the first recorded stays seem to date from the second half
> of the seventeenth century. He mentions an entry in the
> Churchwarden's Accounts for Aston, dated 1678, Milton Abbas, 1666,
> amongst others.
> 
> 
> 
> There's records of stays or back spurs' for Chippenham and 
Marlborough in
> the 1620's and 30's.
> 
> 
> Farndon, Notts, had lovely curved stays before they were rehung. 
The Newark
> Advertiser took some excellent photos of the ring when the 
restoation was
> announced.
> 
> Anne Willis

There are plenty of towers about where curved stays are still in use -
Egerton and Bethersdan in Kent immediately spring to mind. Their 
main disadvantage is that their manufacture is extremely uneconomical 
in its use of timber, so are much more expensive to make.

R