[Bell Historians] Fwd: St.Edward's, Leek, chiming machine

[Anne Willis]

>There is a chiming machine at Darfield, South Yorkshire. I only saw it 
>once, earlier this year. A local ringer told me it had been restored but 
>it may have been with local labour and knowledge, I can't recall 
>exactly. My memory is of a machine with drums that are turned by a 
>handle. Movable pins on the drums operate wire linkage to the chiming 
>hammers. The whole thing is about the size of an average tower clock 
>mechanism. Does anyone know of this machine and whether it is of a type 
>similar to that at Leek? If so then it may be of value for the enquirer 
>to contact the local tower contact for info. on the restoration.

>Ted


We have a Gillett chiming machine at Holy Trinity, Bradford on Avon that
came from a department store in Manchester (?Lewis's)in 1913, along with a
Gillett clock.  It replaced an L&J machine which in itself was a successor
to a machine originally installed in 1737 by John Snow of Frome.

The machine (which we've always called the carillon) operates as Ted
relates.  It currently plays one of four hymn tunes at mid day, 3pm, and 6
pm.  It used to play every three hours, night and day.

The whole apparatus is a nuisance.  It is never maintained properly; its
life is a saga of repair, joy from the parish, run-down, dereliction and
repair.  The church will not make a maintenance contract for it and the
clock.  The paddle comes dangerously near the rope of the 7th 


The Wiltshire Times of Saturday February 3 1883 has the following:
THE CHIMES.- After a considerable but unavoidable delay the chiming
apparatus at the Parish Church has been renewed and improved and the
townspeople have had the opportunity of hearing played on the bells, the two
grand old tunes 'Sicilian Mariners' and 'Hanover' - which used to be struck
out in bygone days. Messrs. Llewellin & James of Bristol were entrusted with
the contract, but the work has been executed almost entirely by one of their
workmen, Thomas Robinson, hence the somewhat long period of time which has
elapsed since the work was commenced. Robinson is an ingenious artisan, as
much at home in designing a church clock as in manipulating the intricate
details of a lady's watch, and he has brought his inventive skill into play
in renewing the Bradford chiming apparatus, which had not been in use for
very many years, and had subsequently lapsed into a somewhat dilapidated
condition. The principal feature in the apparatus is, of course, the barrel
which answers the same purpose as the barrel of a musical box, and resembles
it in appearance though, of course, not in size. In this instance the old
barrel was of wood with round pins projecting from it answering to the notes
of the tune. This somewhat clumsy contrivance has been replaced by an iron
barrel with square - headed pins each of which is nutted and bolted and can
be renewed with very little trouble. On the new barrel there are 248 pins as
against 196 on the old one, the difference being accounted for by the fact
that the 3rd and 4th lines of thee 'Sicilian Mariners' Hymn are repeated.
Various other portions of the apparatus have been completely renewed, but we
have indicated the most important improvement. The motive power is a weight
which requires to be wound up every twenty - four hours. One of the two
tunes will be played every three hours night and day, viz., at 3, 6, 9, and
12 o'clock and the tune can be changed by simply moving a lever. On
Wednesday when we heard the chimes for the first time, there were two or
three slight faults in the rendering of the tunes, but the causes of them
were apparent , and no doubt they have, by this time, been remedied. The
tenor bell, recently recast by Messrs. Llewellyn & James, has not given
satisfaction being out of tuning with the 'seventh'. It is contended,
however, by the makers that the new bell is in perfect tune with the treble,
the octave being complete and that the trouble lies with the 'seventh' bell.
[This, alas, was skirted to bring it in tune]

ANNE