[Bell Historians] Lincoln College

[Brian Meldon]

The inventory of church goods for South Fambridge dated October 1552 contains the following:

It One belle in ye steple wayinge J C di
It an old hand bell waying V li.
Memorand' there did remayne in the sayd church in ye forth yere of the
king Maties regine [1551] above sayd such goods as here followeth sold by the said 
Robert Barret, Thomas Peryn, Myles North & Will'm Hodge.
In p'mis sold to one Raynold Smythes, of Woodham ferres, one belle 
waving j C Iii. P'ec



..XXVs

So there were two bells prior to 1551 and only one in 1552. This bell  was `comytted to savekeepe to use at the Kyngs pleasure
..' and may well have been taken by the crown at that time. (One of the Canewdon bells was.)

168 years later William Holman's hand written 1720 description of the church held at the E.R.O. States: `

west end wooden archion, no bells in it.' (I checked this today.)

James Salmon's `A New & Complete History of Essex' 1740 states no bells as does Philip Morant's 1763 `History and Antiquities of the County of Essex' and Peter Muilman's  1771 `History of Essex'.  But Salmon largely copied Holman's unpublished manuscript and Morant and Muilman copied Salman's work! (Several text errors are repeated!)

All Saints Church Fambridge was demolished in 1846 as it was about to fall down, and the present church built on the same site. 

Philip Benton's 1867 `History of Rochford Hundred' lists a `modern' bell.

The conclusion is that Rev. John Eccles supplied the bell in 1796 and it was probably installed in the old church, then re-used in the present 1846 building. I would guess that it was a stock bell that was later incised.

Brian Meldon