[Bell Historians] Subject: Re: Request for info: women in bellfounding

[Richard Smith]

Jonathan Dickenson via Bell-historians wrote:

> I believe the Tenor at Basildon, Essex claims to be the 
> first bell to be cast by a woman. 

This claim was made on the front cover article of The 
Ringing World, 20 June 1997 (p 625).  A month late (p 724), 
John Eisel disputed it:

   "[A] number of bells cast during [Johanna Hill's] time in
   control survive.  I think that it would be difficult to
   substantitate that the bell to be hung at Basildon was the
   first of those bells.  Even if it was, it cannot be the
   first bell cast by a woman bell-founder, for there was one
   such at Worcester in the 13th century and another at
   Gloucester in the early 14th century."

I cannot work out which bells at Worcester and Gloucester 
John is referring to.  I can't immediately see anything in 
Dove, or George Dawson's NBR spreadsheets, or Bliss and 
Sharpe's /Church Bells of Gloucestershire/, or Walters' 
/Church Bells of Worcestershire/.  I would be interested to 
know the answer if anyone can work out which bells he was 
meaning.

RAS