[Bell Historians] Sanctus bell at St Sepulchre without Newgate

[Richard Smith]

Does anyone know the note or nominal frequency of the 1698 
William Eldridge sanctus bell at St Sepulchre without 
Newgate?  Also, does anyone know whether it was tuned as 
part of the restoration in the 1980s?  Reading Bill Cook's 
account of the restoration (RW 1985, pp 493, 498 & 499), 
this bell seems to have been the treble of the previous ten 
from before Samuel Knight's recast of them in 1739.

I don't believe we know the weight of the original ten, but 
the Eldridge treble is significantly smaller in diameter 
than the Mears replacement for Knight's treble, at 27.13" 
compared to 30.75" – though the surviving Knight second of 
ten is only 29.75" and presumably Knight's treble would have 
been smaller than that.  This might suggest the original ten 
were lighter than Knight's replacement ring.

Before the 1980s restoration and augmentation, which saw the 
ring tuned, Dove listed St Sepulchre as being in D.  If the 
previous ten were also in D, we would expect the sanctus 
bell to be in F#, assuming it really was the treble of the 
ten.  If it sanctus bell is higher than that, it would 
suggest the original ring was too, as it is unlikely to have 
been raised in pitch during any subsequent tuning.

RAS