[Bell Historians] Church bells of Cornwall

[c.j.pickford at talk21.com]

Just to add to what's been said, the Cannon book isn't really very useful at all. I believe the updated details that are presented came largely from a questionnaire-type survey sent to local tower contacts by the Truro Guild. It was edited by Arthur Cannon (d.1987), a retired pharmacist who had learned to ring very late in life and took the job on as a contribution to the guild. It was well meant, but there must have been problems of accuracy with the returns sent in by local correspondents, and the editor didn't really have enough knowledge of the subject to make proper sense of it all. Some tower entries are very confused (e.g. getting founders of original bells and recasts the wrong way round) and details such as weights aren't at all reliable. There is good information in it, but the book does need to be used with caution. 

Dunkin's book, on the other hand, is a tour de force of the Victorian "county bell book" genre. It is highly accurate (much more so than those by some other writers) and all the more important since only 54% of the bells he saw c.1878 still survive today. As a historical record of the "lost 47%" his book is invaluable. He visited all the towers in Cornwall in two extended trips to the county - given transport difficulties, terrain, belfry access and lighting, Dunkin did a particularly good job. An impressive undertaking.

Of course, Dunkin isn't up to date now - and Cannon's book doesn't really do that for us. The Dawson NBR is a very good update overall, but "Dove" is now the best source overall by a long way. I haven't done much visiting in Cornwall but, as Andrew Bull says, I have maintained a file of information on bells in the county for some 25 years now. 

I did a lockdown talk on bells in Cornwall, and this is still available to view at https://tdgr.org.uk/bells-in-cornwall-chris-pickford/ 

Chris Pickford
e-mail: pickford5040 at gmail.com