[Bell Historians] 17th century numbers in bell tower

[Carl S Zimmerman]

Chris's words remind me of a term that I like very much -- "industrial archaeology."  Since bell towers are typically the least-modified parts of a church in the course of repairs, renovations and restorations, they often contain obscure evidence of the past that may be quite difficult to interpret -- as the present discussion clearly demonstrates!

Carl Scott Zimmerman, Campanologist 
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA -
 - 19th c. home of at least 37 bell founders or resellers 
Tel. +1(314)821-8437 
Webmaster for www.TowerBells.org
 * Avocation: tower bells
 * Recreation: handbells
 * Mission: church bellsWebmaster for www.TSCChapter134.orgTreasurer, World Carillon Federation
 

    On Friday, January 28, 2022, 06:59:10 AM CST, c.j.pickford--- via Bell-historians <bell-historians at lists.ringingworld.co.uk> wrote:  
 
 
I’m not seriously doubting your statement about the clock, Tony, but it would be useful to check the outside of the soundbows to see if there is any sign of clock hammer indentation.

  

There is no clock at Wilden in Bedfordshire and hasn’t been for a very long time, but the tenor clearly shows the marks of a clock hammer on the soundbow – and I found a stone clock weight in the tower. Research showed that church inventories (glebe terriers) of 1708, 1822 and 1828 all mention “a clock without face” – so there never would have been any obvious sign after the mechanism had been removed. 

  

Historical evidence comes in all sorts, and it’s not always obvious

  

Chris Pickford

Kinver (UK)

e-mail: pickford5040 at gmail.com 

  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ringingworld.co.uk/pipermail/bell-historians/attachments/20220128/8e4f1abb/attachment.htm>