[Bell Historians] Advice please

Sat Oct 8 22:26:43 BST 2016

There is an item in the Warminster Churchwardens’ accounts of 1629:

This year the cannings [canons] of the great bell broken by mischance was sold to John Lott for £35.13.4 

   at 10d the pound with the proviso that when ever the parish had occasion to use so much mettell he should be redie to furnish them with as much and as good and at the same price

This is misquoted on p.227 of Walters Church Bells of Wiltshire the words ‘the cannings of’ being omitted.

Anne

From: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com] 
Sent: 08 October 2016 22:00
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Bell Historians] Advice please

Corrosion of this type is due to electrolytic action where two dissimilar metals are in conttact with each other. The action occurs when the metals get wet a chemical reaction in sues when one of the two metals is eroded away. When this type of action happens a small potential difference is generated. I've seen much more dramatic examples when the bell is near the sea.

DG

-----Original Message-----
From: Ted Steele teds.bells at tesco.net <mailto:teds.bells at tesco.net>  [bellhistorians] <bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com <mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com> >
To: bellhistorians <bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com <mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com> >
Sent: Sat, 8 Oct 2016 21:06
Subject: [Bell Historians] Advice please [2 Attachments]

[Attachment(s) from Ted Steele included below] 

I attach two pictures (one is a little out of focus; sorry) that show
the tie rods fixing a bell to a wooden head-stock; the canons having
been removed. I am asked to inquire whether anyone has an explanation
for the cause of the necking, that is the thinning of the rods where
they enter the hole through the crown of the bell. While it is simple to
see that there is corrosion there the question is, what causes such
corrosion? One would expect that simple weathering would be more uniform
along the rod but elsewhere it is only light. It is suggested that
moisture condenses on the rod and runs down and is collected around the
hole through the bell and so causes corrosion at that point, but if so
is this simply rusting? The person inquiring asks specifically if there
could be some Galvanic action involved between the dissimilar metals of
the bell and the tie rods.

Further to this I am personally interested to know something of the
history of the practice of removing canons. When did this begin and what
was its original purpose? Was there ever a trade off for the bell hanger
by taking some metal in part payment? To what extent can the removal of
canons give us a time frame for when bells were rehung without them.

All info will be gratefully received.

Thanks Ted

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