[Bell Historians] Re: Bell Ropes.

[Anne Willis]

Churchwardens' accounts are fascinating and informative, but not everything
was recorded; there may have been many deals of payment in kind.  One reason
bell founders could be churchwardens (as John Wallis was at Salisbury St
Edmund)was that they would give a good price for any bell work.  There may
be many sheets of paper that were lost; particularly if a neat copy of the
accounts were made for the annual vestry meeting.  I think I am right in
saying that the only legal requirement was to record total income, total
expenditure and the 'election' of new church wardens.  Absence of evidence
should not be taken as evidence of absence.

Anne

________________________________________
From: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Brian Meldon
Sent: 17 November 2008 16:31
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Bell Historians] Re: Bell Ropes.

I have noticed a slight error in my previous posting, it should have been:

In Canewdon the five bell ropes were replaced almost every year from
1790 [NOT 1690] to 1805, I have no records prior to 1690 however the
set of ropes purchased in 1805 lasted more than 20 years!

In fact outside that busy period the ropes lasted from three to five
years with a big gap between 1746 and 1779. Other repair work was done
to the bells during this time and the rent from the land known as
`Bell Ropes' is never listed in the accounts so the money may have
been paid directly for the ropes. In 1742 the church only paid for the
carriage, there was no charge for the actual ropes! 
There were generally four forms of land, or rent/tax from land, gifted
to the church for various charitable causes. The first was for the
life of the benefactor, the second was for a fixed time after the
death of the benefactor the third was for use on a specific day to
commemorate the benefactor the fourth was gifted for ever. Often the
actual figure for the rent/tax was included in the gift so over time
with inflation this would become of less value. However some of the
land in Canewdon gifted `for ever' was sold and the money carefully
re-invested and by doing this the `poors' and educational trusts still
operate successfully in the village to-day for the benefit of
villagers in need. 

Brian Meldon