[Bell Historians] Radford Semele

[Chris Pickford]

The loss (which now seems pretty certain) includes:
a) A mediaeval bell of c.1350 relocated from Atherstone on Stour when Radford bells were restored in 1998
b) An important early C17th frame hoisted above the ring (and suspended on hawsers below the roof) - significant because the older part (for three bells) was dated, and a fourth (transverse) pit had been added later. It was quite an early dated frame of c.1615, probably extended in 1636.
c) Three quite good early C17th bells - two by Watts 1636 and a Bagley of 1641
d) A recently restored and fully ringable six

This was, in fact, the frame I referred to in my paper at the "Perspectives" conference at Worcester - where the relocation preserved the frame but in a position entirely unsuitable for further study. I saw it back in the early 1970s (when I knew little about frames) and attempted to examine it properly in 2001 but was defeated by its position and the lack of any form of anchoring. I believe that John Eisel and Christopher Dalton saw it in its original position not long before the 1998 restoration - but Chris made few notes and John can't find his! The date (c.1615) was found on a concealed member - hidden when the extra pit was added - but I've never managed to establish for sure what it was!

This is the third Warwickshire frame supposedly preserved that has in fact disappeared after a relatively short time. The others (Walsgrave and Offchurch) both rotted in their churchyards. I have for some time argued that preservation by record - full archaeological recording - is preferable, and more informative to future researchers, than retention ex situ. Loss by fire cannot, of course be predicted, but the Radford frame was really "lost" to historians in 1998.

All very sad - especially for the parish and for the local ringers: but a loss for bell history too

CJP           
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ringingworld.co.uk/pipermail/bell-historians/attachments/20080317/a15550a8/attachment.html>