[Bell Historians] Alnwick - St. Paul

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06.08 2018         AlnwickSt. Paul
 
Definitely not currently ringable - no wheels
 
All eight have stays -  tenor only without slider
 
In 1892, prior to a peal of Kent T.B. the bells hadnot raised for a number of years.
 
Eight D.& N. members in 1900 who were excludedfrom D.& N. membership in 1905 for non payment of subscriptions
..
My letter to Bell Historians 24/4/2007
Alnwick onlyhad a short ringing history and the year 1901 was the last record that I haveof any ringing on the eight.
 
Maybe aringing meeting and a peal that year were so bad it shut the tower !
 
In anyevent someone with a huge amount of clout in the town had the wheels sawn offleaving only the two main upright spokes. 
 
1,4 and 8are by Charles and George Mears in 1846 and then J. Taylor cast  2,3,5,6,& 7 in 1874.
 
When Iarrived in the North East in 1972 the story was that the tower was unsafe dueto the fact that there was a stream running under the tower on sandy soil thuswashing away the foundations. It has however never been established if there isany "foundation" to this story. In fact perusal of the plans for theChurch show that this must have been known about as the Church is built on whatresembles the hull of a boat.
 
Theinstallation is on a substantial Taylor Grimthorp frame.
 
It is correctthat the idea of selling the bells was mooted. I understand that someone foundout how much an 18cwt ring of eight would cost to install and imagined that thescrap value would bring in scores of thousands of £s. The idea has since beendropped.
 
Howard E. J. Smith  -  Newcastle Diocese belladvisor.
 
UPDATE
Sincethis letter I was informed by Norman Johnson that the bell wheels
werelying against the Churchyard wall for maybe thirty years quietly rotting away.
 
The bellswould have been tremendously loud in the immediate vicinity of the Church dueto enormous louvres with large openings. The sound would reverberate round theoblong square that the Church is situated in.
 
In 2010I approached the Priest offering to repair the Ellacombe chiming rack. He was aghastat the idea as he said it was as much as he could do not to be sued for thenoise that the clock chime made.
 
HowardSmith

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