[Bell Historians] Stays

[Brian Meldon]

In Canewdon Church bell stays were broken at an alarming rate around
the end of the 18c. For example in a six month period in 1792/1793
they managed to break nine of them, they even broke a slider in the
same period. This was in the year following the replacement of the
cracked 4th bell in 1791 and could probably be attributed to a renewed
interest in learning to ring in Canewdon. At that time there were two
different sizes of stay in use, long stays for the conventional lower
sliders on bells 2 to 5 and a short stay on the treble fitted with a
pendulum slider. Both types were broken. The work was done by a local
carpenter, but even with this level of destruction the work would not
have been sufficient for a dedicated bell stay maker.
Brian Meldon