[Bell Historians] Previous bells at St Wendreda, March

[Richard Smith]

Thank you all for your replies.

Unaccountably, I had not thought to check in Trevor Beavis's booklet on 
Fenland towers, despite having a copy on my bookshelf.  It answers the 
question slightly more clearly than his 1960 RW article, but the answer 
appears to be that by the mid-eighteenth there were five bells.

The reason I'm asking is that I'm gradually coming to the conclusion 
that the curate of Doddington (in which parish March then was) was an 
exceptionally talented composer, and perhaps the equal of Garthon, 
Annable and Holt, though few have heard his name.

The bells at March and Doddington aren't really very relevant to the 
story, and we cannot even be certain he was a practical ringer at all – 
though his father was a member of the College Youths and I suspect his 
brother rang one peal – but it adds a bit of context and colour to the 
story.

RAS



On Tue 26 May 2026 23:26, Richard Bimson via Bell-historians wrote:
> Please see RW extract:
> 
> 1960/405
> 
> It is thought that St. Wendreda’s bells were cast from the metal of 
> previous ones, for Cole refers to a visit to March about the middle of 
> the 18th century and mention is made of five bells at that time. Records 
> date back to 1542. and we learn that two bell ropes in 1555 cost three 
> shillings. In 1558 the bells were rung for the Coronation and in 1593 
> they received a thorough overhaul. The ‘ greate bell of March ’ was 
> recast by John Draper, at Thetford. on February 24th. 1613: it weighed 
> 12 cwts. Another ‘greate bell ’ was recast in 1648
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Bell-historians <bell-historians- 
> bounces at lists.ringingworld.co.uk> on behalf of Chris Pickford via Bell- 
> historians <bell-historians at lists.ringingworld.co.uk>
> *Sent:* 26 May 2026 22:49
> *To:* 'Bell Historians' <bell-historians at lists.ringingworld.co.uk>
> *Cc:* pickford5040 at gmail.com <pickford5040 at gmail.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [Bell Historians] Previous bells at St Wendreda, March
> The parish records may help. If there are pre-Osborn churchwardens 
> accounts, then they might indicate (if not explicitly, but e.g. by 
> purchase of five ropes) how many bells there were. Of course, if the 
> accounts are extensive enough then there may be references to recasting 
> or purchase of bells too. If you're lucky there may be tradesmen's bills 
> and vouchers too - worth searching for bills for work on bells. Vestry 
> minutes record the decisions of the "parish parliament" and decisions re 
> bells are usually documented.
> 
> Glebe terriers are another source. These can be in either / both the 
> parish records and (as copies had to be lodged with the registrar) 
> diocesan archives. They vary from Diocese to Diocese, but the Lincoln 
> ones (March wasn't in Lincoln Diocese, I know) give numbers of bells in 
> the eighteenth century terriers and inscriptions and diameters in 1822. 
> Worcester and Lichfield terriers are silent on church goods. Although 
> the terriers are principally inventories of glebe land and church 
> property, they can be informative on bells where the contents is more 
> like the modern form of "terrier and inventory"
> 
> I presume you've also checked the Trevor Bevis booklet on Fenland bells 
> - and his article on March bells in a late 1960s issue of the RW
> 
> Chris Pickford
> e-mail: pickford5040 at gmail.com
> 
> 
> 
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