[Bell Historians] Tipton

['David Cawley' davidl.cawley@btinternet.com [bellhistorians]]

I remember going to St Martin’s Church, Tipton about 20 years ago. At that time it was very securely locked and the windows boarded over, but had not yet been converted into a residence. The reason for the disposal of the Bells was the demolition of the “pepper-pot” tower c1950, so the last peal must have been close to the time when the Bells were taken down. As Chris says, five of them were scrapped, but I have a feeling that one was still standing at the back of the church when I visited. There was also a glass peal board – one of the black ones with gilt lettering at the back of the church. This was observed through the one window at the east end where some of the boarding had come away.

The lower part of the tower (ground floor and part of the ringing chamber) were rebuilt, but I understand that the rebuilding was cosmetic only, and never designed to hold a ring of Bells.

 

There was an article with a photograph of the former tower in a 1960’s RW with a rather amusing account of ringing conditions there, the tower being adjacent to the local gasworks.

 

DLC

 

From: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com [mailto:bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com] 
Sent: 03 December 2017 11:30
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Bell Historians] Tipton

 

  

The 159 peals rung at Tipton (1848-1944) are recorded on the Felstead database which is, of course, the starting point for any research on peal records. The entry is actually headed “Lost ring 1964: bells scrapped”. See https://cccbr.org.uk/felstead/place.php?place=tipton 

 

Known as “The Pepperpot” on account of the shape of the tower, Tipton was a popular peal tower. The bells were a Mears six of 1798 (tenor 7-3-26), remodelled and augmented to eight (tenor 12-0-25) in 1848. Five of the bells were scrapped in 1951, the rest some years later. I believe the tower still stands, incorporated in a rather unusual house.

 

As to Ted Steele’s query re Upper Clapton, the ASCY peal books certainly weren’t destroyed. If the peal was rung for the College Youths then there should be a record of it

 

Chris Pickford



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