[Bell Historians] Navestock, Essex

[Richard Smith]

On Thu 17/09/2026 21:52, Oliver Lee via Bell-historians wrote:

> According to a 1458 Inventory (also in Deedes and Walters) the tower had 
> a ring of three and a Sanctus bell so I'd imagine they were probably 
> made into four in 1637 when the present 3^rd  and tenor were cast before 
> being augmented to five in 1862 by Mears,

You may be right, but without further supporting evidence, this is very 
much a guess.  It's not unusual for bells to be recast and rural rings 
of five were common long before 1862.  Similarly, rings of four were 
common long before 1637.  This date, when we know Miles Graye cast two 
bells for Navestock, coincides with when five-bell ringing was really 
catching on, and we see lots of augmentations to five at this sort of 
time.  How do we know Graye didn't cast three bells, one of which needed 
recasting in 1862?  I'm not saying this was the case, but it seems 
another plausible possibility.

It's fine for historians to say they don't know, and this is generally 
preferable to weaving a narrative out of minimal information, as that 
then risks becoming accepted as the truth without further critical analysis.

In this particular case, there are at least three places we could look 
for further evidence.  The Whitechapel daybook for 1862 may mention 
whether or not an old treble was traded in.  The frame that was removed 
in 1981 may have been described in enough detail to know whether it had 
five pits before 1862.  The churchwardens' accounts and vestry minutes 
exist for the period leading up to the 1862 work, and will likely have 
entries for the 1862 work and earlier expenses which may indicate how 
many bells there were.

Of course I'm not suggesting that anyone here should go out and look at 
these records for me, simply because I'm curious about them.   But there 
are enough people on this list who do this type of research that it 
seemed worth asking whether anyone had found any additional evidence.

RAS