The Church Bells of Lancashire

BY

F. H. Cheetham

File – 04: Part IV The Hundred of Amounderness

This document is provided for you by The Whiting Society of Ringers visit www.whitingsociety.org.uk for the full range of publications and articles about bells and change ringing THE CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE. By F. H. CHEETHAM, F.S.A. FOREWORD. AFTER an interruption of three years I am at last able to continue my task of cataloguing the bells belonging to the older churches of Lancashire. When I began this work in 1914 I expressed the hope that the result of my investigations in the Amounderness Hundred would appear in the 1917 volume of the Transactions, along with the Blackburn Hundred, and of Lonsdale Hundred in 1918. But the course taken by the war upset this calculation, as many others. My thanks are again due to all who have assisted me in my investigations and especially to those incumbents who have so readily afforded me access to the bells under their charge. Where so much interest and goodwill has been shown it would perhaps be invidious to single out anyone name. But I must specially acknowledge my indebtedness to the Rev. S. E. Collinson, vicar of Broughton-in-Preston, for the loan of rubbings of the inscriptions of the three old bells formerly at Broughton Church, from which my drawings have been made. My thanks are also due to the Rev. Canon Elsee, M.A., for help in proof reading; to Messrs. Mears and Stainbank, of Whitechapel, for information regarding bells cast by them; to the Garstang Town Trust for permission to examine the Bailiff's Record Book; and to Mr. H. B. Walters, M.A., F.S.A., who as before, has helped me in many ways, and has been good enough also to read over the proofs. F.H.C. 2 CHURCH BEL LS OF LANCASHIRE

TH E HUNDREDO F AM OUNDE RNESS. The hundred of Am ou nderness comp rises the a ncient par ish es of Bispham, Garsta ng, Kirkham , Lytha m, P oultcn-Ie-Fylde, P reston , a nd St. Mich ael-on-Wyre , It also includes part of the parish of Cockerha m, and detached portions of La ncaster. It lies wh olly within the diocese of Man chester and the archdeaconry of Lan caster. There were six ty -three parish es within the Amo unde rne ss hundred in 191 5. The pre-Reforma tion cha pels a re represented by the follow ing churches : Ad ma rs h-in-Bleasdale, Barton , Broughton, Goosn ar gh, H ambleton, Lund, Pi lling , S hireshead, Singleton, S ta lmine, Whitechapel and W ood plumpton. There was a chapel at Fernyh algh in the fiftee nth century, but it fell into decay a nd was not used a fter the R eformati on. There was also a cha pel at I nskip before the Reformati on, but it too disapp ear ed af terwards, and the p resen t church (1848) ca n hardly clai m co nt inuity. It has one bell. St. T homa s, Ga r­ stang, may perhaps clai m descent from a cha pel of the H oly Trinity for which the inhabitan ts of Ga rsta ng obtained a licen ce for one year in 1437, but the origin may not be earlier tha n the 17th century. O nly five ch urches appear to have been built in Amou nde rn ess during the rSth cent ury : G rimsargh (1716), W arton (1722), W rea Green (c. 1722), Co pp (1723), and St. George, Preston (1724). T he schoo l at Marto n was used as a cha pel from 1750 to 1800, whe n a church was built {consecra ted 1804).1 T he present series of papers, as previously explained , is concerned only with hells in churc hes founded before th e end of the eig hteenth cen­ tury. As regards the in ventori es of 1552 in thi s hundred

1. Three bells were placed in the tower in 1868 (Fishwick, H istory of P oulton, p. 61). CHURCH BELLS OFLANCASHIRE 3 nine returns have been preserved-Bispham , Garstang, Goosnargh, Kirkham, P oulton, Preston, St. Michael­ on-Wyre , Stalmine, and W oodplumpton. The originals have been badly preserved and were only made out with great d iffi cult y ,' The Commiss ion sat at Preston, November 18, 1.'1 52. The old est bell in the hundred is th e treble at S t. Michae l-on-Wyre, which is dated 1458, and is of French origin. The forme r trebl e at Brou ghton (melted down with two other bells in 1884) was by Thomas Bett, of Leicester, cast probably about 1533. T o the same cen­ tury, b ut late in Q ueen Elizabeth's reign, belongs one of the W oodplumpton bells. It is dated 1596, but ha s no maker's marie T hree seventeenth century bells st ill rema in in the hundred, the oldest being the second at S t. Michael-on. W yre, which was cast at vVigan in 1663. The othe r two arc at Garstang Town (1668), and L und (1684)' There were formerly two bells of thi s period at Broughton, one by Paul H utt on , of Co ngleton, 1632, a nd the ot her by Wm. Sell er of York, 1681. The number of eig hteenth centur y belIs yet rem aining is only sixteen , made up of two rin gs of six (less one recast )-Goosnar gh and P oulton, and six other bells. The oldest of these are two at Goosn argh, dated 1713, an d next in order Co pp (1714), Wrea G reen (1728), Copp (1732), Poulton (five, 1741), Goos narg h (two, 1742), St. Michae l-on-Wyre (1742), Warton (1743), Goos nargh (tenor, 1753), a nd G rimsargh (1765)' O f these the rings at Goos na rg h a nd Po ulton (less one re-cas t in each) a re from the Rudhall foundry at G louces ter, as ar e the older bell at Copp a nd the tenor at S t. Michael 's. The bells at W rea Green, W arton, a nd the later on e at Copp a re by Luke As hton of W iga n . There is no maker 's name

1. Chetham Miscellanies, Chet . Soc" vol. 47 new series, whe re th e Jn ventol'ies for th e hundreds of Am~ underne ss and Lonsd ale are printed. 4 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE or mark on the Grimsargh bell. There was formerly a ring of eight by Abraham Rudhall (1711) at Preston parish church. There are blank bells at Pilling (two) and Stalmine (two). Of nineteenth century bells in the old churches the greater number are from the Whitechapel foundry, which at the beginning of the century was owned by Thomas Mears I. Since 1865 the firm has been known as Mears and Stainbank, Their work is represented in thirteen churches by fifty-three bells. In alphabetical order they are as follows :-Admarsh (one), Bispham (six), Brough­ ton (six), Garstang (six), Garstang Town (one), Goos­ nargh (one), Kirkham (eight), Lytham (eight), Poulton­ le-Fylde (one), Preston (eight), Preston St. George (one), and Singleton (six). The earliest of these is the larger bell at Garstang Town Church, by T. Mears and Son, 1807, and the latest the ring at Bispham by Mears and Stainbank, 1920. Messrs. John Taylor and Co., of Loughborough, cas t the bell for Barton in 1896, and also re-cast two old bells into one for Bispham in 1883. The sing le bell at Hambleton is by John C. Wilson, of Glasgow, and that at Whitechapel is by W. Blows and Sons of Birmingham. The smaller bell at Woodplumpton (1837), and the two at Shireshead (1858), are without maker's name or mark. The above summary deals with 84 bells in 25 churches. There are rings of eight at Kirkham, Lytharn, and Preston Parish Church, and of six at Bispham, Brough­ ton, Goosnargh, Poulton-Ie-Fylde, and Singleton. In nineteen cases the bells hang in towers, in four cases in bell-cotes accessible only by ladders from the outside, in one case in a western turret similarly acces­ sible, and in another the bell is in an almost inaccessible position over the chancel arch. The majority of the CH URCB BELLS OF LANCA SHIRE 5 towers have staircases or ladders, but there are two with no fixed steps, access being by means of a manhole in the ceiling of the porch, to reach which a ladder mu st be carried and erected inside. This occurs in a church erected as recently as 1896. The district between Blackpool and St. Anne's repre­ sents the ancient Kilgrimol-or part of it. Much erosion has taken place on this coast in historic times, and "tradition" affirms that Kilgrimol Church was swallowed up by an " earthquake." T wo or three miles of coast seem to have been worn away by the sea about th e middle of the 15th century . From these events comes a "legend," whic h is a variant of one common in many places and clim es. Kilgrimol, accord ing to this story, " still preserves a ghostly existence in the blue depths, and granted faith strong enough there can be heard in the stillness of the night th e chime of th e bells."! The R ev . H. T . Ellacombe qu otes another version in wh ich the bells are underground instead of beneath the sea:

"At Kilgrimol there is a place called (The Church I where on Christmas Eve the bells may be heard by an yone who bends his ea r to the g round pealing most merrily.">

ADMARSH. ST. EADl\IOR. One bell.

1. THOMAS MEARS OF LONDON FOUNDER 1836. (29in. diam.)

The bell hangs in a wooden frame in the west tower. W ooden headstock and whe el. Rung from the stairs below.,

1. AIanc. Et'ening C{lroni rl"e, :March 6, 1005. 2.Bells o] the Church, p. 252, quoting T he Penny Magazine, viii, 31. For the Submerged Bell Legend see Notes and Queries, 1st Series, vols, x, 204; xi, 176, 274 ; 2nd Seri es, x, 19. 6 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

A chapel existed at Admarsh-in-Bleasdale in the six­ teenth century, but the present building (often called BJeasdale Church) dates only from 1835. It was restored and a chancel added in 1897. The situation is a very lonely one among the hi1ls. The ascription is modern.

BARTON. ST. LAWRENCE. One bell. C€ I)€Um £Jlul)Jlmus On waist: CO cee 6£ORY 0; 601) CfilS B€££ IS 61"€1! BY cse mEmBERS 0; Cfi€ BJlC€SOI! ;Jlml£Y 11.1). rsss,

Both these inscriptions are engraved, but on the other side of the waist, cast on the bell, are the initials of the founder, John Taylor of Loughborough :-- I'!

The words" Te Deum Laudamus" are in the inscrip­ tion band between double fillets, and below is a broad band of vine ornament. The bell hangs in a wooden frame in the south-west tower, but there is no means of access except by a man­ hole in the ceiling of the tower porch. No ladder. A church existed in Barton in the sixteenth century, but the present building dates only from 1896. It took the place of a building erected in 1850, which had a bell­ cote over the west gable containing one bell. There is an illustration of the 1850 building in Fishwick's History of Presion, p. 1.1.6. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 7

BISPHAM. ALL HALLOWS. Six bells.

I. MEARS & STAINBANK LONDON 1919 (27in. diam.) 2. The same. (zxin. diam.) 3. The same. (30in. diam.) 4- The same. (32in. diam.) .1' 'The same. (35iin. diam.) 6. THANKS BE TO GOD WHICH GIVETH US THE VICTORY MEARS & STAINBANK MADE US 1919 (39tin. diam.) I-lung in iron frame in west tower. In addition to the inscription each bell bears the founder's stamp. The weights are as follows :­ cwt, qrs. lbs. r 3 3 25

2...... 4 2 2"J .1 4 3 0 -l- 5 2 5· ··.. ··· ·.. ·· 7 0 5 6 IO 0 7

Total ...... 36 0 5

For these particulars I am indebted to the founders, Messrs. Mears and Stainbank, of Whitechapel, At the time of writing (Easter 1920) the bells are not yet hung, delay having been occasioned by a moulders' strike in getting the iron castings for the frame.' There were formerly two bells, neither of which had any inscription.! but when the church was rebuilt in 1883, they were melted down and a new bell cast by

1. The bells have since been hung, and were dedicated on June 16, 1920. Two more bells are shortly to be added. 2. Fishwick, Hist. of Bisphom, p. 30. 8 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

Taylor and Co., of Loughborough. This bell is still in use (Easter 1920), but is to be taken away by the founders when the new ring is erected. It is inscribed :-

J: TAYLOR AND CO. FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1883. On waist: CAST FROM TWO BELLS EXISTING AT BISPHAM 1540 (ztiin. diarn.) The bell is without cannons, and is rung from a chamber on the first floor of the tower. The reference to 1540 in the inscription is not at all clear. Whether th ere was any evidence that the two bells recast in 1883 were the same as those existing in the 16th-century I am unable to say. 1552: ij bells in the stee ple. One of th ese bells, weighing four scor e pound s, was sold by th e Commissione rs for IDs. I '1554 : Edward Parker state d that ' one lytell bell belonging to the l '!np"l of Bispham ' had not been delivered. 2 Upon this the Commis­ sioners reported (F eb ru ary 20) that 'William T omanson and Robert Anyan church reeves of the Chapel of Bispham sworn and examined depose and say that one bell mentioned in sai d schedule was sold by Edward Parker named in the former Commission unto James Massey. gentle man, f'lr the sum of 23s. 4d .3

BROUGHTON. ST. JOHN BAPTIST. Six bells.

I. MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON 1884. (28kin. diam. ) 2. The same (join. diarn.) 3. The same (32in. diarn.) 4. The same (33in. diarn.) 5. The same (36in . diam.) 6. MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON 1884·

1. Baines, Lanes. Ohantries, p. 275. 2.I u«, p. 259. 3. I bid., p. 264.

CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 9

On waist: THE THREE OLD BELLS OF THIS CHURCH WERE REPLACED I AND THREE SMALLER BELLS WERE ADDED BY PUBLIC I SUBSCRIPTION OF THE PARISH AND A GENEROUS DONATION I BY DANIEL ARKWRIGHT ESQ J.P. 'OF PRESTON. W. BRETHERTON VICAR J. WADDINGTON} WARDENS (39 . diarn.) W. HOOLE in

Hung in wooden frame in west tower. Cannons and wooden headsto cks. They are rung from the g round floor of the tower, whi ch is five steps bel ow th e nave. Clock strikes hours on tenor. As the inscription sets out, the present ring takes the place of three older bells, th e metal of which (weighing 25-fcwts.) was used again. The disappearance of these old bells is very much to be regretted, but fortunately rubbings were made of th e inscriptions. By the courtesy of th e present Vicar (the Rev. S. E. Collinson) I am able to reproduce these in facsimile. The inscriptions were :-

I. See pe tre 0 p n (shield). 2. GLORIA IN EXCELSVS DEO WW IC CW 1681 Iw sl 3· IESVS BE OVR SPEDE 1B32 (shield ).

The first of these, with its invocation to St. Peter, was of pre-Reformation date, apparently of the second or third decade of the rtith century. It bore a shield with the initials T.B., whi ch has been identified by North as that of Thomas Bett, of Leicester. Bett held various offices in that town between 1524 a nd 1538. He is not actually described as a bell -founder, but in his will he makes bequests to his son-in-law, Robert Newcombe, who undoubtedly was. The tower bears the date 1533 10 CH VRCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

and may have been erected in that year. The bell was in all probability cast about the same time. The second was by William Seller, of York, and bore a trade-mark with his initials, with the stamp of a bell between, after the date. William Seller was founding at York between 1635 and 1687. The initials VV.W . may refer to William Wood who was curate of l3roughton from about 1674 to 1714, although of course one of the chapel wardens may have had the same initials. The third bell was by Paul Hutton, of Congleton, Cheshire, a nd bore his initials on a shield after the date. Hutton was casting between 1616 and 1647. Some account of the foundry will be found in Robert Head's Congleton Past and Present, 1887.1 The weights and notes of the present ring are as follows :-

I. 4 cwt. 2 qrs. 24 lbs. NoteE 2. 5 I D 3· 6 0 5 C 4· 6 2 B 5· 7 3 0 A 6. 9 3 23 G ------39 cwt. 3 qrs. 27 lbs. The Rev. Wm. l3retherton was vicar of Broughton from 1872 to 1886. 1552: ij belles and ij Iyt ell belles. 1554: Ed ward Colthurst and William Lorimer, churchreeves, at the chapels at Fernyhalgh and Broughton sworn and examined depose and say that there is all the belles specified in the said schedule, which were seized to th e use of th e said late King of famoua memory, King Edward vr, by authority of the said form er Commission yet remaining at the said chapels.

1. See also J . P. Earwaker in Tran s. Hist , Soc. Lanes. and Ch. esh., new series, vol. 6, pp . 166-67. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE II

Mr. A. Hewitson ("Attic us " ), writing of Broughton in 1872, relates this story of the ringers :.-

The tower contains three bells, somewhat unmelodious in ton e but pr etty strong in noise. They do It great stroke of business sometim es; and when th e ringers get enthusiastic, the old pile fairly shakes again. Said ringers had a fit of enthusiasm when John Raw cliffe, Esq., of Prospect. House, Bro ughton, was made Mayor of Preston.' In celebra t­ ing that event th ey nearly tore th e bells out of th e stee ple, broke one of the clappers, and drove on for a while, most gleef ully, •tw o in hand.' To one of the ringers whom we met th e other day, we said , " You were doing it stiff when that bell broke," and he rej oined fervidly, " Aye, we did riv e it on th at occagen." 2

Broughton was formerl y a chapelry o f th e parish of Preston. It became a separate parish in 1878. The tower beares the date 1533. The nave was rebuilt In 1826 and a new chancel was erected in 1905-6.

COPP. ST. ANNE. 1 + 1 bells. 1. [Bell] ROBT MOON E lAMES GRADOELL CH. WARDENS A [bell] R 1714. (42in. diam .) PRIEST'S BELL. 1732.

On waisi: Luke:; Ashton I IF ecit Wigan (I sin. diarn .) Hung in west tow er. The larger bell, which has ca nnons with plait ornament, is by Abraham Rudhall, of Gloucester. Col. Fi sh wick s tates th at it came from Kirkham C hu rch." but I have been un able to verify this. Unfortunately, the names of the wardens for the year

I. Mr. Rawcl iffe was elected Mayor of Preston, No v. 1869, and held offi ce one year. 2. Our Country Churches and Chapels, P: 31. 3. Hi story of the Parish oj St. Michael-on-lV yre, p. 92. There is no reference to this in Fishwick's History o] Kirkham. 12 en URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

1714 have not been preserved at Kirkham, nor does there seem to be any record of a bell or bells having been cast for Kirkham in that year. The small bell, or ting tang, is by Luke Ashton. of Wigan, his oblong mark, with names on either side of a bell, being on the waist. The inscription space aft er the date is made out with ornament. Copp Church, originally a chapel of St. Michael-on­ Wyre, was built in 1723; it serves the village of Great Eccleston. The tower was added in 1841 and heightened in 1885.

GARSTANG. ST. HELEN. Six bells. 1. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1828. (29in. diarn. ) 2. The same. (jzin. diam.) 3. The same. CBiin. diam .) 4. The same. (3Sin. diam.) 5. The same. (38in . diam.) 6. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1828 (border) REV'? JOHN PEDDER, VICAR. On waist: W'lff BATESON } THO~ DUNDERDALE RICHl? ROBINSON CHURCH WARDENS. Wlof! COTTAM (43in. diarn.)

Hung in wooden frames in west tower. The bells, which have cannons and wooden headstocks, are rung from the floor of the tower, which forms a west porch. The space after the inscription on each bell, and between the date and the name of the vicar on the tenor, is made out with a "Whitechapel pattern" border, or chain of loops and lozenges. CHUHCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 13

The notes and approximate weights are given on a card signed by Mears and Stainbank, 1899. I...... 6 cwt. Note D 2...... 7 cwt. C 3...... 8 cwt, B flat 4...... 9 cwt. A 5 II cwt. G 6 15 cwt, F The Rev. John Pedder, M.A., was vicar from 1794 till his death in 1835. The parish was divided into four quarters with a churchwarden for each. In 1828 the vestry "resolved that a new cast of six bells, the tenor to be I2t cwt., and the remaining bells in due proportion, be immediately procured," and in 1829 £'130 was borrowed "on the credit of the parish" to pay for them. £2 14s. was paid for the carriage of the old bells to London (Fishwick, Hist0'7Y of Garstang, 1878, p. 91 n.)'! 1552: iij belles in the stepIe, one hande belle and ij sakryng belles. 1740: About this time Browne Willis notes six bells at Garstang. Fishwick, writing about 1878,2 states that' not long ago' the following rules were painted on the plaster on the ground floor of the tower. They were partly obliterated when noted, but the probable missing words are supplied: [Whoever] a Bell doth overthrows [Shall pay] two groate before he goe [And he that] ringd with his hatte on [Shall pay] two groate and then be gone [And he that] ringd with spur on heele that penalty shall feele [And he that] dare an oathe sweare [For that shall pay] two quartes of beare. [These Laws are] auld, they are not newe [But the old] Clark must have his dewe . S. R. B. M. J . Ringers.

1. One of the bells, however, which had not long been recast, was given to the Chapel-of-Ease in Garstang town (q.v.]. It was apparently the tenor. 2. History 0/ Garstanq, p. 93. 14 CH URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

GARSTANG. ST. THOMAS. Two bells.

1. WiLLiam Bar.r.on & Henry Abboutt Bai.ives of Garstang 1668. (zoin, diam.) z. THE REVI? JOHN PEDDER VICAR. W~ KILSHAW RICHl? HARRISON THO~ GARDNER R. GOOS. Below inscription band in continuation : CHURCH WARDENS. T. MEARS & SON OF LONDON FECIT 1807. U9in. diam. )

Hung in west tower in wooden frames. The larger bell has cannons, wooden headstock, and wheel. The smaller has cannon s, wooden headstock, and is run g with lever and pulley. This church is in the town of Garstang, as distinct from the Parish Church (St. H elen) at Churchtown, It mile away. There was a chapel (dedicated to the Holy Trinity) in the town in 1437, but it fell into disrepair and is said to have been rebuilt or restored about 1566. This building was replaced by a new one a century later (1666), which in its turn fell into decay. The present church was built on a new site in 1769. It was repaired and consecrated in ]848, and a chancel added in 1874. The invocation dates onl y from 1848. The smaller bell is of some int erest. The lettering is a queer jumble of types (see facsimile), and there is the stamp of a bell below the date, but no founder's name or initials. It is rather curious to find the names of two Bailiffs of Garstang in 1668, as the charter of incorpora­ tion was granted only in 1679, and William Spencer, the first Bailiff of the free borough assumed office in 1680. The term was evidently in use before the granting of the charter, but by what authority the office was held does

CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE not appear.' This bell was apparently cast for the old chapel two years after its erection. The larger bell was one of the ring belonging to the Parish Church and was given to the Town Chapel in 1828, as is set out in a note in the Bailiffs' Records:- The Sidesmen or Select-Vestry of the Parish of Garstang having put up in the Parish Church aNew Ring of Bells generously .zave to the Pew Owners of the Chapel in Garstang the old large Bell to be placed in the Steeple of the said Chapel, where it was put up on the Ninth day of September 1828 together with the small bell then in the Steeple, the expense of which was defrayed by Subscription. Witness Thomas Bell, 2 JanY 1830. From the fact that the bell was given by the Sidesmen, it would seem that it had been their gift in 1807 to the Parish Church. It was apparently the tenor. In the Bailiffs' Accounts for the year 1828 is the entry: July 15. By Cash. Subscription towards Bell £1. O. o. which has reference to the expense of hanging the bell at the chapel as noted above. The inscription on this bell is between a double and triple fillet, and after the name 'Coos' are five small upright leaf ornaments. The surname Cose, Coos, or Goose occurs j n the parish in 25 Elizabeth (1582-3). Hewitson, writing about 1872, says: "There are two bells in the tower, rung singly and often late."?

GOOSNARGH. ST. MARY. Six bells.

J. CHRISTOPHER SWAINSON A.M.: MINISTER A (bell) R. 1742. (28in. diam.) 2. PROSPER1TY TO THE CH U RCH OF ENG- LAN D. A (bell) R. 1742. (28kin. diam.)

I. Fishwick, Il ist, of Oaretanq, p. 6211. A stone at the west end of the old Chapel is said to have been inscribed, " This Chapel was builded by Richard Longworth, Esquire, Bailiff, 1666."-Bailif/s' Records. 2. Our Oountry G1um'lies and Chapele, p. 479 16 CHURCH BELL S O FLANCJ\SH IH E

3· ABR: RUDHALL CAST US ALL 1713. (29in. diam.) 4· GOD PRESERUE THE CHURCH & QUEEN AN N 1713. (29kin. diam.) 5. MEARS & STAINBANK, FOUNDERS, LONDON. On waist: THE GIFT OF RICHARD NEWSHAM, OF PRESTON. CHARLES OSBORNE GORDON, M.A., VICAR. JOHN SMITH } THOMAS SMITH CHURCHWARDENS. A.D. 1883. (32in. dia m.) 6. [TO THE CHURCH THE LIVI NG CALL & TO THE G RAVE DO SUM MON ALL 1753: (36in. diam.)

Hung in woode n fram e in west tower. The fifth bell takes th e p lace of one dat ed 1713, whi ch is sa id to have borne th e nam es of 'Wm. Lancaster, Edw. Ed mondson, Ralph Miln er, Jn o. Grimbaldestoin, ChW ardens.'l It weighs 6 cwt . I gr. 18 Ibs.2 The exact weights of the ot her bells a re nowhere reco rde d but in the Cata logue of Bells cast at Gloucester," Goosna rg h T enor (which is also by Rudhall ) is given as 8 cwts. Cabled canno ns to the old bells, bu t those of the third a nd fourth are broken. The ca nno ns of the fifth are plain. On th e third the inscrip­ tion space is mad e ou t with a border of linked fleu rs-de­ lys. The R ev. Chr isto pher S wainson was vicar from 1740 to 1770, a nd th e Rev. C . Osborne Gordon , M.A., from 1883 to 1892. 1552: iij bells in the stap le, one hand belle, one sakaryng belle. 1554: ij bells and one lyt ell sante bell remayning. c 1740 Bro wne Willis notes six bells at Goosnargh. The history of the Goosnarg h bells is a little obscure.

---- ~~~- -~--- 1. Fishwick, History 0/ Gooenarqh , p. 24. 2. Ex. inform. Mears and Stainban k. 3. In Ellacombe's Oliurch. Bells 0/ Gloucestershire, CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

There were three bells temp. Edward VI, and from an entry in th e " R ecords of the Sworn Men ," gi ven below, that would appea r to have been the number in 1677, a nd three rin ge rs were a ppoi nted in 169].1 These three bells a ppear to have been recast in 1]13, but whether the number was increased at that tim e or later, is by no mean s clear. I n the "Cata log ue of Bells cast by Rudhalls from 1684 to 1830 " a peal of five is recorded for Goosnargh, but unfortunately no date is gi ven. This might mean that to the three bells cast in 1713, two trebles were added in 1]42 to make up a peal of five, the present tenor not having been cast till eleven yea rs lat er. O n the other hand Brown e Willis notes six bells at Goosnargh. The ac tual yea r of his records is not kn own, a nd in this case may ha ve been as lat e as 1]42 , but if so t he n it would ap pear that three bells were added in that year, th e ten or being afterwards recast. U nfortunately there are no Chu rchwa rde ns ' Acco unts a part from the R ecords of the Sworn Men, and these onl y con tain totals of income and expenditure for each year. The items were kept separately and have not been preserved. The usual income a nd expenditure for th e earlier years of th e eighteenth century was from £ 20 to £36, but for the yea r 1]14 the exp enditure is £SS 8s. 7~d. , and in I]IS £636s. IOd. This increase in expe nditure was no doubt occasioned by the provision 'of new bells in 1713. Again about 1]42 a nd th e yea rs preceding the amounts vary

1. On th e other hand an ent ry in th e " Records of the Sworn Men " dat ed April 12, 1642, is as follows :-" Rin gers appointed are- Willm Dawe, J ohn (Salisburie) Crosse, Adam Crosse, Ri char d H elme, (John Tu rner) , Geo. Johnson." Th e nam es in brackets are scored through. At first sight thi s would seem to inf er that there were eith er five or six bells in 1642. But the six names, as originally ente red in th e book, probably repr esent three regul ar ringers and three deputies, or reserve men. AJ ohn Turner was buried at Goosnargh in April 1649 (Registe r ). For th is entr y f rom the Records I am indebted to th e Vicar, the Rev. T. Bingl ey Boss, M.A. 18 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

from £20 to £30, but in 1743 there is an expenditure of £rfi lOS. 4ld., which suggests that new bells had been added in 1742 and not simply old ones recast. In the year 1754 there is unfortunately an omission of the usual statement." The following extracts from the Rec ords of the Sworn Men are taken from Fishwick's History of Goosnargh, PP·74-8I. April yo 6t h 1670. This daye it is agreed that Christopher Salisburie shall take care of ye bells and rope s and provide Liccow [liquor] for ye bells and give accompts to the 24 men at their meeting and bee paide for his paynes until further orders . April 1677. It is ord ered-That th e Ri ngers of the P aro chial Chapell of Goos­ nargh shall upon every Lord's Day rin g one bell at 7 of the clocke in the aforenoon, 2 bells at 8 of the clocke and 3 bell s at nine of the dock and alsoe in the afternoone one bell at 12 of the clock 2 bells at one of the clocke and 3 bells at 2 of the clocks unless yO Minister of y" Chappell give othe r directions. April yo 18t h 1682. Ord ered that Will iam Wareinge look to the clock ... to l'illi!: th e Bell at 8 of ye clocke. April yo 6th 1697. Ordered th at Edward Gabbot, Robert Harrison and William Threlfall be Rin gers so long as they duly attend the Ch urch. April 15, 1718. That th e churchwardens pay unto th e Ringers nobles a piere for th eir services in Rin ging upon Sundays and other days of rejoicing. Of the three bells in the steeple and the two other bells recorded in 1552, one of each was taken by the Commis­ sioners' agents, the others bein g somehow retained.

The parish was accordingly returned in the deficit list drawn tip by Mr. Edward Parker. Measures were taken r Queen Mary (20 February 1553-4) to have the property collecte d by a Commission which sat at Whalley 7 April. The signatories of the indenture were ------_. - --- 1. For the abov e referen ces to expenditure, taken fr om the Records of the Sworn Men, I am ind ebt ed to the Vicar. CH URCH BELL SOFLANCASHIRE 19 summoned and the Church Reeves for that yea r app eared, viz. Robert Taylor, John Fishwi ck, Rob ert Yale, and Robert Symson, who deposed t hat there were two bells and one little saints' bell remain ing in th e chapel. The value of the .three was £ 6 15s., and together th ey weighed 9001b8. (F ishwick in Lan es. Churc h Goods, Chet. Soc. NS" 47.) H ewitson, writing about 1872, says "There are six bells in the tower, and if one of them were not awkwardly inclined through a crack th ey would give out a very agreeable so und ." ! The cracked bell was, presumably, the fifth , but it was not recast till eleven yea rs lat er . 1888. Ringers' fees are £1 5s. each per annum, and 3d. each for every fun eral. Funerals: Sexton's fee, P assing bell Is. Od. 2 A Bicentenary celebrati on was held on Saturday , July 12, 1913, when a service was held in the church. The R ev: H. J. Elsee, M.A., Presid ent of the Lancash ire Associ ation of Change Ringers, preached, and a fter­ wards rang in one of th e peals. A n invitatio n to parti­ cipa te in the gathering had been extended to the memo bers of the Lancashire Association, and rin gers were present from Brindle, Chipp ing, Cho rley, Leyl and, Pen­ wortha m, Preston, Samlesbury and Walton-le-Dale. Aft er the service there was a meeting in the schoolroom and in the evening several sets of ringers took th eir turn in the belfry.s

GRIMSARGH. ST. MICHAEL. On e bell. 1. Jefus Be Our Speed 1765. (join. diam.) H an gs in west tower, a nd rung by lever a nd rope from a cha mbe r on first floor. The lever is a 6in. by 2tin.

1. Ollr Country Ch-urches anti Chapel', p. 74. 2. Goosnaryh : Past and Pr esent (1888), by R. Cookson. "'[he church bells are generally ru ng for ab out half an hour before the mornin g and evening servi ces " (p. 0(1) . .3. Ormskirk A dverti.ser, July 24, 1913. 20 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE piece of timber 8 ft. 10 in. long, attached to the head­ stock : the rope passes through a hole in the floor. The bell has plain cannons and bears no maker's name or mark. The lettering is in very slight relief, and being well weathered is becoming indistinct. I can offer no suggestion as to th e name of the founder. Grimsargh was a chapel of ease of Preston till 1875. The orig inal church was built in 1716, but the present building dates from 1868-9. Hewitson, writing about 1872, says: "In the orig inal tower were two bells, awfully ding-dong little articles: in the new tower is one and a full peal is ultimately expected ."! Mr. T. Harrison Myres says that the present bell" is believed formerl y to have belonged to Preston Parish Church," but gives no evide nce in support of the state­ ment. H e further states th at in a diary of his uncle, the Rev. William H a rrison, vicar, he found the following entry: "Of th e two bells in the orig inal tower the smaller on e, dated 1687, has been cra cked and not used for many years. It is now (January 1871) in the vicarage garden, and bears thi s inscription, 'Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis. 1687, R.A.'" Mr. Myres goes on to say that" there is a tradition that thi s bell was tak en from Fernyhalgh about the year 1689, two years after casting ."2 The present vicar (the R ev. Tertius A. Buzzard, M.A.), who has been at Grimsargh since 1889, tells me that he has never been able to find any trace of this bell in the vicarage garden, and it must, I am afraid, be accounted as lost. At any rat e I have not been able to trace it. The Fernyhalgh "tradition" does not commend itself to me. The chapel there was not used after the R efor­ mation. Assuming that the inscription and date as recorded by the R ev. W. Harrison are correctly given it

1. Our Oounl1'y Ohurches and Ohapels, p. 86. The' full peal' has not yet materialised. 2. Preston Guardian, February 26, 1916. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 21 seems likely that this was a recasting of a pre-Reforma­ tion bell with the old inscription retained. The initials R.A. may indicate Ralph Ashton of Wigan. The same initials occur on a bell at Holcombe dated 16g8. (See Trans., xxxiii, 43.)

HAMBLETON. ST. MARY. One bell.

I. On zaaist : JOHN C. WILSON FOUNDER GLASGOW 1853.

Other side of uiaist : N~ 414. (16kin. diarn.)

Hung in west tower. Rung by lever and rope from first floor of tower. Plain cannons and wooden head­ stock. The church (formerly a chapel of Kirkham, separate parish since 1846) was rebuilt in 1749, and was a plain whitewashed building with an open turret at the west end. The old bell was cracked and was sent to Glasgow to be recast. The tower was added in 1877.

KIRKHAM. ST. MICHAEL Eight bells.

I. C.·& G. MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON 1846. (30in. diarn.) 2. The same. (3Iin. diarn.) 3. The same. (33in. diarn.) 4. C. & G. MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON 22 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

On waist: PRESENTED BY THOMAS LANGTON BIRLEY OF KIRKHAM ESQR.~ J846. C35in. diam.) 5. C. & G. MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON r846. (38in: diam. ) 6. C. & G. MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON

On uiaist : PRESENTED BY W'tf! BIRLEY OF KIRKHAM ESQ~J?: r846 c 3 9 ~ i n. diam.) 7. C. & G. MEARS FOUUDERS LONDON r846 (43in. diam.) 8. C. & G. MEaRS FOUNDERS LONDON r846 On waist : JAMES WEBBER D.D. VICAR JOHN PEDDER A.M. CURATE EDW~ BRYNING} ROB! MOON CHURCHWARDENS EDW~ BONNY KIRKHAM PARISH CHURCH r846. Other side oj uiaist : CHARLES BIRLEY} BAILIFFS OF KIRKHAM EDMUND BIRLEY (49~in. diam.) Hung in wooden frame in west tower. Plain cannons and wooden headstocks. Clock strikes hours on tenor, but there are no clock chimes. The bells were placed in the tower by Mr. Cook, bellhanger, and were opened on Wednesday, May 27, 1846, by the Preston Parish Church Change Ringers, who rang a peal of 5,040 changes in 3 hrs, 25 mins.'

1. Preston Pilot, May 30, 1846. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 23

The weights are given on a card in the Ringing Chamber, signed by C. and G. Mears, 1846, as follows: cwt, qrs. lbs. I...... 5 2 7 2...... 6 10 3·· ...... ··· 7 °I 3 4...... · 7 2 6 5....···· ....· 9 19 6...... 10 II 7····· ...... 13 2 1I 8...... 20 2 7

Total...... 80 18

The Rev. James Webber, D.O., whose name is on the tenor, was vicar from 1813 till his death in September 1847. He procured the rebuilding of the church, but was non-resident. Fishwick states that the old bells were sold in 1846,1 but no record seems to have been kept of them.

1552: ij great [bells] & one lytle bell . . . one hand bell & ij sack­ rynge bells. Browne Willis, writing about 1740, notes six bells at Kirkham, but in the Catalogue of Bells cast by the Rudhalls at Gloucester," the number of the Kirkham peal is given as five, the tenor weighing 13 cwt. It would seem from this that the present seventh (which weighs 13-l cwt.) represents the old tenor. The history of the old bells is, how ever, somewhat obscure and needs

1. Hist . 0/ Kirkham , p. 43. In his Hist. 0/ St. Michaels.on-lVyre, p. 22, he states that the Rudhall bell (1714) at Copp Chapel' is said to have come from Kirkham.' The Copp bell is 42 in. diam. and must weigh close on 13 cwt. 2. Printed in Ellacombe's Church Bells of Oloucestershire. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

properly working out. The extracts from the Records of the Sworn Men given below are interesting in them­ selves, but do not take us very far. Unfortunately, the original Records do not exist, but a copy was made by Mr. William Langton in 1794, and at the time when Fishwick wrote his History of Kirkham (published in ,874) was in the possession of Mr. W. Langton of Manchester. From this copy Fishwick selected his extracts, from which the following entries relating to the bells are taken. But, as Fishwick points out, the Records were not copied »eroatim. et literatim; Langton seems often to have paraphrased the original and sometimes to have added remarks of his own. He probably also omitted much, as we are told that what remained of the Records in '794 was "tattered and defaced" and the ink" so pale that few entries can now be made out."1

EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS OF SWORN MEN. 1571. The gr eat bell taken down this year and a new one put up. 1577. Th e churchwardens were ordered by the Vicar and the Thirty Men to continue in office another year, because they had 1I 0t repa ired the bells, or levied the gauld of X s per township. 1583. It was agreed that every township should pay xis. towards the buying of a bas e bell and a clock, except Kirkham which should pay 61.; if the sums wer e not sufficient then Kirkham to be assessed along with th6 other townships. 1588. The great or bas e bell paid for xlviii, xivs. ivd . 1613. The second bell cast at Congleton" cost viii1. iiis , Oil. Three of the churchwardens and six horses went to Congleton while the bell was cast and brought it home. 1615. Second bell found not to be tuneable lik e third bell and both ordered to be recast. 1633. Sexton's wages ZOs. a year, and Ts. for ringing th e bell.

1. Fishwick, Hi ~t(}ry o] K irkliam, p. 89. Some of the extrac ts following are taken from Hewitson' s Our Country Churrhcs and Chapels , 2. 'The Oldfield s had for a time a branch establishment at Congl eton in Cheshire, worked by Paul Hutton and George Lee, who were their foremen about 1610-30.'-Walters, Ohurch B ells oj Rny1and, p. 249. CHURCH BELLS OFLANCASHIRE

1653. Th e grea t bell bursts, and it is ordered to be recast and all the others put in order, and that a gauld of 128. be raised on each township t o clear the expense. 1654. Richard D uddell of Salwick gave freely to wards re-casting the great bell 208. 1655. Orderd ringers' wages to be stopt if they do not attend more regul arl y, to rin g every Sund ay morning, which they have much neglected. 1683. Spent upon th e ringers upon the 9t h Sept. being thanksgiving day for His Majesty's deliv erance from the fanatick plot,' 2s.6d. ' 1685. P aid to t he ri ngers upon the thanksgi ving day for victory again st the rebels in t he West.' 1687. P aid to ringers for rin ging on a thanksg iving day for the Queen being with child, 3s. 1688. Spent on ringers when th ey rang for news of th e Prince's birth: Is. 1690. Spent on th e ringers when t he first news was brought of the victory of t he Boyn e, Is. 8d . 1691. P aid ringers on t he news of the Kin g's safe ret urn and livering up of Li meri ck, 4s, 6d. 1696 Paid ringer s on th e thanksgiving day for discovery of the Popish plot: 5s. 1696. Sexto n has l Os. ad ded to his salary, making in all 21. lOs., for sweeping church and lead s, tenting clock, pu tting water in font, rush ing t he ch urch, and ringing eight o'clock bell. 1704. Paid rin gers on accou nt of our success against t he Bavaria nso 2s.6d. 1710. Purchased hemp, spun it, and made bell rop es. 1739. A new set of bell ropes cost lis. 1743. Spent on ri ngers at news of our Kin g beati ng t he Frenche 2s.6d.

1. Th e Rye House Pl ot. 2. Monmouth's Reb ellion. No amount stated. 3. James, aft erwards ' Th e P retend er,' born on Trinity Sunday, June 10, 1688. 4.Sir Georg e Barclay' s plot to assassinate William lIT. 5. If this refers to th e Batt le of Blenh eim (Aug, 13) t he description is interesting, but it may refer to Donauwerth, where Marlborough beat part of the Bavarian forces on .Iuly 2. 6. George II at Dettingen, June 27. ell URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

1746 (March 28). Paid ringers for ringing when the Duke of Cumberland came to Preston and when he returned to Carlisle, 6s. 1746. Paid for ringing two days and one night at news of the Duke's victory over the rebels at Culloden, 12s. 1749 (April 14). Paid old Mr. Rudhall' for coming from Gloucester to take notes of the bells when the 2nd was recast, 31. 3s.0d. A first bell was added at this time. 1751. Cost of bells £90 . 1765. Ringers' salaries increased from £28s. to £4 48. a year. As regards the bells themselves we learn from these entries that there were recastings of the great, or base bell in 1571, betw een 1583 and 1588, and in 1654; of the second bell in 1613 and 1749; of the second and third bells in 1615; and that a first bell was added in 1749. In the rin ging chamber is a set of fifteen (printed) Rules, without date, but signed by the present vicar, th e R ev. W . T. Mitton, M.A., who was instituted in November, 1902. They were drawn up before the death of King Edward. The" Times of Ringing in the Course of the Year" are thus set out:-

Sunday. Morning & evening. Kin g's Accession , Jan. 22. One week-night for Pract ice from Evening. Oct. 1st to end of March. Club Day. Morning. Christmas Ev e. Midnight. Coronation Day, Aug. 9. Evening. Christmas Day. Morning. King 's Birthday, Nov. 9. New Year's Eve . Midnight. Evening. Easter Ev e. Midnight. Whenever th e Lord Bishop visits the Parish. Rule 4 reads :- Morn ing or evening. FINF.s. Every quarter Is. is to be deducted from each Ringer's pay , when the sum 'of 5s. is obtained. This will be placed in the Bellringers ' Fund in the Kirkham Savings Bank, and paid to any Ringer to whom it is due, when he leave s, if he does so after three months' notice; otherwise he forfeits this amount, and it is left to th e credit of the Bellringers' Fund.

1. Why old Mr. Rudhall ? The tw o Abraham Rudhalls, father and son, died in 1735; Abel Rudhall, born in 1714, was only 35 at thill time. Possibly the date has been copied wrong. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 27

LUND. ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. One bell.

I, WH Lund CHapeLL BeLL T2 TH 1684. (16in. diam.) Hangs in a triangular frame in west tower, exposed to weather. Rung with lever and pulley from floor below. The inscription, like that on the smaller bell at St. Thomas', Garstang, is a strange medley of letters, each on a separate patera, Below the date is the stamp of a bell. The initials V\T.H. may possibly refer to the founder, or they maybe those of the curate. Lund was a chapel in Kirkham parish in the township of Clifton-with­ Salwick. T.s. and T.H. are presumably the chapel wardens. In the inscription are at least three types of letters-and evidently older stamps have been used. A chapel existed here in '5'5, but was re-built i» 1648. Becoming ruinous a new building was erected in 1825, but the tower dates only from 1873. Before that there. was a 'small belfry' at the west end.'

L YTHAM. ST. CUTHBI-:RT. Eight bells. I, MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON. On zuaist : MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND PS, XXXI. V. IS. H. B. HAWKINS VICAR T. FAIR } W. MELVILLE LOMAS CHURCHWARDENS. A.D. 1874. (27in. diam.) 2. C. & G. MEARS FOUNDERS LONDON 1857. (z8in. diam.) J. 'The same. (30in. diarn.) 4. The same. (32in. diam.) 5. The same. (34in. diarn.) 6. The same. (36in. diam.) 7. The same. (4oin. diam.)

1. Hewitson, Our Country Churches and Chapels, 298. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

8. MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON. On waist: DEO OPT. MAX: D.O. POPULI VOCEM VOX POPULI A.D. 1874. (44in. diam. ) Hung in west tower in wooden frame. Plain cannons and wooden headstocks. Clock strikes hours on tenor; the quarters are also struck. The weights and notes are given on a card in the ringing chamber as follows :- cwt . qrs. lbs. 1...... 4 2 0 Note F '2 ...... 4 2 10 E 3·· ...... 5 I 2 D 4.. ·..·.. ·· 6 0 4 C 5·· ..·.. ·.. 7 a 15 B flat 6...... 7 3 4 A 7.. ·...... · 10 2 2 G 8...... 14 2 4 F

Total ... 60 I J

A ring of six, 1857, to which a treble and tenor were added in 1874. The Rev. Canon Hawkins, whose name is on the treble, was vicar from 1870 to 1913. The present church was built in 1834. Its predecessor, built in 1770, had a west tower containing one bell. This bell presumably did service down to 1857. 1446. Inventory of Church Goods : " . . . a Corporax the case of ye ton syde of red veldevet & ye tother syde of cloth of gold &. a god belle thereto .. .. iij small belles. 1552: No return. 1778. Terrier: 'We have one bell.' CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

In Viscount Morley's Recollections (ii, 362) occurs the following passage:- The church bells ringing out with pleasant cheerfulness for evening servic e from the valley down below, recalled the bell s of Lytham, where in the quiet churchyard in the wood by the Lancashire seashore are th e remains of those who began my days.

PILLING. ST. JOHN BAPTIST. Two bells.

I. Blank. (14-iin. diam.) 2. Blank. (17in. diam.) I • l The bells hang- in a double-arched stone bell-cote over the west gable, and are chimed by levers from th e west gallery. The church, a plain oblong building, was erected in 1717,1 and the larger of the two bells may date from that time. The smaller bell was recast" about six or seven years ago." ? Both have plain cannons, and the older one, instead of an "inscription band" between fillets, has a set-back crown . It is perhaps by a local founder. One of the Stalmine bells is of somewhat similar type. The new church (1887), a handsome building with west tow er and spire, is without a bell, those of the old chapel being still used. Hewitson, writing about 1872, says: "At the western end there is a strong. double-arched belfry, containing a couple of bells, which are rung very quickly and oddly.">

POULTON-LE-FYLDE. ST. CHAD. Six bells. r. PROSPERITY TO ALL OUR BENEFACTORS A (bell) R 1741. (2s!in. diam.) 2. PEACE & GOOD NEIGH BOU R HOOD A (bell) R 1741. (26!in. diam.)

1. There was, however,'a chapel at Pilling at the end of the 15th century. 2. Information from th e Vicar in 1919. 3. Our Country Churches arid Chap els, p. 499. 30 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 3· PROSPERITY TO THIS PARISH A (bell) R 1741. (28in. diam. ) 4· WHEN YOU US RlNGWE'LL SWEETLY SING A (bell) R 1741. (zoin, diam.) 5· ABEL RUDHALL CAST US ALL AT GLOU- CESTER 1741. (3I~in. diam.) 6. RECAST BY G. MEARS & C~ LONDON 1865. On waist: T. CLARK M.A. VICAR. W. GAULTIER. s. T. BAILEY.} W. JOLLY. J. WHITESIDE. CHURCHWARDENS. (34in. diam.) Hung in iron frame in west tower and rung from ground floor. There are pits for two more bells probably with the idea of increasing the ring to eight at some future time. Position of bells in frame:

The cannons of the Rudhall bells have been removed, and the crowns bolted on to wood en headstocks . The bells were rehung in 1908. The inscription space of the five old bells is made out in each case with one of Rudhall's floral borders. The orig inal tenor is said to have borne the names of 'Robert Fishwick, John Wilkinson, William Cookson, James Hull, John Moore, Churchwardens.'! Its weight was given in th e Catalogue of Bells cast at Gloucester as 8 cwt, The other weights are not given. Clock strikes hou rs on ten or: th e quarters

1. Porter, History oj th e Fylde, p. 198. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 3 1 are also struck. The R ev. Thomas Clark, M.A., was vicar from 1864 to 1869.

1552: iij lyttle belles in the steple. c. 1740: Browne Willis notes six bells at Poulton.'

The following entries from the Churchwardens' Accounts relating to the bells and ringers are taken from Porter's History of th e Fylde :-

1764. June 4. To the Rin gers, being hi s Majestie's Birthday , 3s. Od. 1765. Dec. 25. To Rin gers' last half yr. Sallary, 18s. Od. 1771. May 29. To Rin gers' Ale, 3s. Od. 1782. July 27. Memorandum : It is agreed at this Vestry Meeting by all the P arishioners who hav e attended here tha.t in future the public ringing days in the P arish shall be redu ced to two , namely, th e King's Birthday and Christmas Day,-the ringers to be allowed Six Shillings on each day. 1793. Pd. for Ale for Ringers on 29 May 6s. Od. do. do. 4 June 6s. Od . do. do. 25 Octobe r 68. Od. do. do. 5 Nov. 7s. 6d. do. do. 2ji Dec. 6s. Od. do. do. Ea ster Tu esday 7s. 6d.' 1798. Oct. 4. 'fa Ringel'S of Nel son's Victory, 2s. 6d. 1805. Nov . 9. To Bingers at Lord Ne lson's victory of Trafalgar on the 21st, 7s. Od. 1806. N o mon ey to be given to the Ringers on account of any victory in future on the P arish account.

Hewitson, writing about 1872, says :- The Curfew bell is still rung at Poulton. Between the 29t h of September and the lOth of March it is rung for a short tim e every night ; and as a corollary to some old custom one of the church bells

1. But this may have been after th e new ring was erected in 1741. 2. 'From these entries it would seem that the regulations of 1782 soon became a dead letter, if indeed it were ever carried into practi ce.' Porter. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

is run g now every Sunday morning-in summer at six and eight o'clock,

and in winter at seven an d nine. I

The cus tom of tolling th e C urfew between Sept ember and March is still continued (1920). Another custom is the ringing of the Pancake bell on S hrove Tuesday at noon. On S undays the six bells a re rung f' rom' ro a.m to 10.30 for matins, a nd from 6 p.m. to 6.30 for evenso ng.

PRESTON. ST. J OHN. E ight bells

I. VENITEEXULTEMUS DOMINO. T.MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1814. (32 in. diam.)

2 . 4~~ JUNE 1814 FOUNDATION STONE OF THIS STEEPLE LAID. T op of waist : BY SIR HEN~ PHILIP HOGHTON BA~~ LAY RECTOR & PATRON. L ower down on waist: T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT (33 in. di am.) 3. 4~~ JUNE 54~~ GEORGE 3° THE KING'S BIRTH DAY. VIVAT REX. On waist : T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1814. (35 in. diarn .) 4. 4~~ JUNE 1814. Accou NT RECEIVED OF THE TREATY OF PEACE. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT. (38 in. diarn.)

1. OUT Country Churc hes and Chapels, p. 390. " The tower contains a good pea l of six bells, and used to have a set of rin gers as fond of ale as any body of rope pull ers in Britain ." CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 33

5· THE REV;? J A~ PENNY VICAR. THE REV;? W'!: TOWNE CURATE 1814. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT. (41 in . diarn.) 6. R? NEWSHAM ESQ~ MAYOR 1814. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT. (43 in. diam.) 7. JOHN GREEN JOHN FALLOWFI'ELD JUN~ JOHN GRIMBALDESTON HENRY HEATON JAMES MIDDLEHURST. On waist: JOHN HARRISON CHURCH WARDENS 1814- T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT. (48 in. diarn.) 8. BLESSED ARE THE DEAD THAT DIE IN THE LORD. RESURGANT. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 1814. (54 in. diarn.)

Hung in wooden frame in west tower. Cannons and wooden headstocks. The inscription space on the treble is made out with a fret border, and that on the sixth with a " Whitechapel pattern" bo rder, or chain of loops and lozen ges. On the tenor there is an ornamental border round th e bell below the inscription. P osition of bells

1 8 3 2 w. 4 E. 5 7 6 Stair in frame is as diagram. The R ev. James P enny, M.A., was vicar from 180g till his death in 1817. H e was vicar of Chipping at th e tim e of his appointment to Preston 34 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE and retained both benefices till death. The church was entirely rebuilt (in cluding the tower) in 1853-55. The weights a nd not es of the bells an' as follows! :-

cwt. qrs. Ibs. I...... 7 0 4 Not eD 2...... 7 0 '4 C sh arp 3··· ··· ···· 8 0 14 B 4··· ······· 9 2 9 A 5·········· 12 a 7 G 6...... 13 23 F sh arp 7·· ········ 18 a 7 E 8 ...... 25 14 n

Total. .. 100 3 8

The history of the bells pri or to 1814 is far from corn­ plete, but from the extracts from the Churchwardens' Ac counts, printed below, a g ood deal of information is obta inable . The number of the bells seems to have rem ain ed at five till 17' I when a ring of eight was cast b y Abraham Rudhnll.? It is not quite clear whether these survived till 1814, as it was de cid ed to have the eig ht bell s recast in 1762. T o decide is one thing, how­ ever, and to execute another. Fishwick says the present ring, though cast in 1814, was first rung on Christmas Day 1815.3 The following extract from Cowdroy's

I. The weights are th ose given in T. Smith's Parish. Church 0/ Preston , P: 256. A card in the vestry gives the approxim ate wei ghts only, as foll ows : (I ) 6 cwt., (2) 7 cwt. , (3) 8 cwt ., (4) 9 cwt ., (-'j) 12 cwt .. (6) 14 cwt ., (7) 18 cwt. , (8) 25 cwt. 2. The weight of Rudhall's T enor is given as 20 cwt. in hi s Cotalogup of B ells . More probably the bell s were cast in 1712, the decision to have a new set of eight be ing t ake n in November 1711. 3. Hi story of Pr est on, p. 118. CH URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 35

Munch.ester Ga zette, however, of May I I, 1816, speaks of "an opening" six months later :-

On th e ensuing anni versay of his Majesty's birt hday at Preston th er e will be HIl opening of a new peal of eight bell s, on which occasion t hree pri zes will be !'lUll-( t or, one of t welv e guineas, and the othe rs of eigh t and six g uineas . The con .pet.itors for th e prizes will be very

nUme1'OU 8, U $ we' heal' th e soc iet ies fr om Man ehester, Oldham, Ashton , Bolt on, Li verpou l, Mot t ram , Ches te r, and Rochd ale intend tryiug their sk ill, Th e bells wer e cast by Mr. 'l'hos. Mears, of London; the weight of th e te nor is 25 cwt. 3 ql's. net bell metal. F ishwick, writing in [goo, says" th e ringing of the curfew bell at o a.m, and 8 p.m. has only quite recently been discontinued.' I The 6 a .rn. .. curfew " would presumably be th e morning angelus. A variant of a well-known local rhyme says:

Proud P res ton, poor peopl e, Eight bells in a crack't stee ple.

ihis apparently belon gs to the latter half of the i Sth centu ry , when th e church fell into a sta te of dilapidation. I n February I 7i I, th e entire roof co llapsed, and in co nseq ue nce the north and south wall s had to be taken down and the nave rebuilt. In lSI I th e tower, whi ch had been for some time in an unsafe co nd ition (hence " crack ', steeple " ) was pulled down to the level of the church roof .>

1552 : iiij bells and a fyft helle lent by Sr Ry e H oughton Knyght. It. iiij [saeringJ bells . It. . .. hand bells.

These four bells of tile Edwardian inventory appear to have been cast ab out thirty yea rs before at Notting­ ham. The eviden ce for this is found in Stevenson's

1. II ist. of Preston, 118. 2. V. C.H. Laucs., vii, 32. The 'eight hells.' of the rhyme were Rudhall's ring. CH URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

R ecords of the Borough of N ottingham ,l where th ere is printed a note relating to th e Bells of Preston , Lanca­ shire, dated 1523-4, wh ich reads as foll ows :- T he Paryshe ofi Preston in Aronderne s. Item iij bells conteny nge xxix« dim ijli advalentiam quae libet li[bra] x xvij s iiijd-xx[i]xli-dim c xiij» viii«. li xiije iiijd-xviijs viijd. Item the fyrst, belle wey[n]g xc, batyiug " iiijli. Item the second belle wey[n] g x vc. I tem the th y rd belle wey[n ]g xviijtb... I tem the iiij th belle wey[n]g xx iij e iij quarte r. The meaning of thi s entry is not very clea r. It look s as if two sepa rate lots of bells (th ree a nd four) a re referred to, as the weights of each lot in no way correspond. The first item refers to II Three bell s conta ining 29! cwt, albs., each lb. [cwt. is meant] va lued at 27s. 4d.," but the latter pa rt of th e note is difficul t to und erstand. The intervening line between the two lots of bell s is quite enigmatic,S tevenson in a note says " these seem to be calc ulations working out th e valu e of th e bells." It ma y be so. Bu t th e who le thing is ra the r incomprehensible. The chief point is, how ever, that four bell s at least were cast at Nottingham for P rest on in 1523-4. H alf a century later, in th e year 1572, one Nicholas D aniel, a zealous R eformer, on being appointed to the vicarage of P rest on, complained to th e Bisho p of Chester that th e curate, or parish priest whom he found in cha rge, had insulted the vicar in a va riety of ways, one of his acts bein g th at he caused th e II bells to be rung for souls " wh en he (th e vicar) was preaching. The curate at th at time still followed the old custom of putting the Sacra­ ment into th e mouths of the communica nts ."

1. Fo r drawing my attentio n in t he first instance to this note I am indeb t ed to Mr. J. A. Twemlow, of Li verpool ; also to Mr. H . B. Walters, M.A., F .S .A. 2. Batyng = bating, lackin g. 3. See Smith, Preston Paris h. Oh,m -lt, pp. 42-4, and V .C.H. vii, 87. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 37

The followin g notes, from the "Records of the Twenty-four Men" relating to the bell s and rin gers, are taken from Smith's Parish Church of Pr eston (1892).

THE BELLS. 1656. It was reported that' the seacond bell in or steeple is crack'd and must of necessity be new cast,' besid es other repairs; to pro vide all which would cost £20. 1693. Bells repaired and rehung. 1696. Th e fourth bell was recast. 1711. Nov. 22. An ord er was given to collect a sum of £ 90 in th e­ parish •for and towards the cha rge of casting th e old bells and han ging, and a new set of eight bell s.' The total cost of the new bells, which were cast by Abraham Rudhall, of Glouceste r, was £201 lOs. 1737. The seventh bell was ordered to be recast. 1762. Mar ch 9. It was decided to have t he peal of eight bells recast, the tenor to weigh between 18 cwt . and 19 cwt ., the rest in pro por tio n. Th e work, with a complete repair of the clock; to be done by James Harrison for £130.' 1814. N ew ring of eight cast by T. Mears, of London.

TIiIE RLNGERS. 1660. July 30. Th e Twenty-four Men ordered that 'the common rin gers in pay belonging to the church shall receive and ha ve out of the moneys of the parish the sum of 15s. to be­ paid them for ringing all the day when his. Maj estie was. proclaym'd King of En gland, 'and of two other daies for joy of his maj esties reception to his rights and domin ions: Th e ringers were, however, actually paid 5s. more. 1662. June 24. •Of late the rin gers have very much neglected th eir' dut ies in not rin ging all the f'fve bells to the service both forenoons and afternoon on the Sabbath days.' The Mayor of P reston was app ointed to enquire into the cause of such neglect, and it was resolved to impose a fine of 4d UpOIt each defaulter.

1. James Harrison set up as a bellfounder at Ba.rrow-on-Humber in 1763. He seems to have hung the new bells at W'lliton-le-Dale cast by Lester and Pack in 1761. His name' [Jame]s Harrison of Middle Raison in Lin colnshire Bellhanger ' is cut on the wooden frame (see Trans. xxxiv). His visit to Walton probably made him kn own to the­ Church authoritie s at Preston , where no doubt he would lodge . CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

1666. April 16. Ordered that the sum of 6s. shall be paid to tbe ringers for their pains in ringing on the 29th of May ' being the bi rthday and th e day of the happie restoration of our gracious soverei gns Lord Kinge Charles th e Second over

Engl and ' by t wo shillings of every end of the parish I until further orders. 1685, It appears th at from 1651 to t his date t he se xton of th e parish, conjoint ly with th e ringers, had to find and main ­ tain the bell-rope ' at their equal charges when and so often as ye said sexton could not maintain yo same out of his allo wan ce of burialls ";" but henceforth owing to the ringers' pay being now much less than formerl y the charge fOI' the ropes was to be paid by the parish. 1735. An allowance of 25s. a year was made to Thomas Stanhope, pari sh clerk, 'for finding and upholding a whole set.t, of Bell Rop es the said Th os. Stanhope taking to him self the old ones. ' 1735. Hours f or ringing on Ringin g-days fixed :-Eight peals, half an hou r each peal, four peals before noon, and four peals aft ernoon. 1736. It was decided that there sho uld not be more than ..ight ringi ng days in the year, and that the ringers' allowance for drink on these days should be 2s. a day . 1740. Th e rin ge rs' drink all owan ce was sto pped , owing to 'th eir in solent beh avi our to the twenty-four ge ntlemen. 1743. Th e anniversary days were fixed as foll ows :-20th January, 29th May, 11th June, 15th Jnne, 11th Oct ober, 30t.h October, 5th No vember, 14th Novemb er.f Th e allowa nce for each day was 9s., with £1 for Sunday ri ngi ng for t he whole year, mak ing a total of £4 12s. 1749. The R ingers £4 - 12 - O. 1751. Henry Bain s (clerk) for repairing Bells, Clock, his sallery. et c. £ 9 - 15 - 10. 1751. Thos. B rookfield for metal casting for Ting.tang,4 58, ud. ------.------_ ._ -- 1. The parish was divided into three-Prest on tow n, Upper End, and Lower End. 2. One penny for each fun eral. 3. Jan. 20, Prince of Wales' birthday ; :May 29, Restorati on of Charles II; J .une 11, King's Accession ; June 15, Oct. 11, King's Coron ation; Oct . 30, King's birthday ; Nov. :j , Gunpowder Pl ot; Nov. 14, 4, This is th e only mention of a Ti ng-tan g that I hav e come across. CH URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 39

1757. The ringers were suspended for irregularity, disobedience and insolent beh avi our . 1759. Ringing-days reduced to five :- 29th May, 22nd June, 26th June, 5th Novemb er, lOth Nove mber. 1760. April 7. Rin ging on a Wedn esday night was or dered to be discontinued. 1771. April 1. J ohn Leech, the younger, labourer, of Prest on, was appointed " toller of th e prayer bell." 1771. May. Th e hours of tolling t he passing-bell were regulat ed as foll ows : ' F rom 8 o'clock to 10 o'clock in th e morning, and from 6 to 8 in the evening.' 1784. These regulations wer e revised. No peal or single bell to be rung , for more than ten minutes' at th e death, bef ore and after the f uneral. The fees were also paid : For a poor person in the whole Is. 3d. For all others, except where the bells are muffled 2 6 If the bell or bell s be muffled 1) 0 For eve ry peal run g at th e requ est of a Rom an Catholic 4 6 1796. Ale Ioi- the Rin gers ... £ 2 - 0 - 0 Th e Ri ngers' Salary ... 1 - 0 - 0

From 18I I, when the upper part of the tower was tak en down, till the completion of the new tower in 1815, pre­ sumably the bells were silent.

PRESTON. S T. GEORGE. On e bell.

I. THOMAS MEARS FOUNDER LONDON 1843. On waist : THE GIFT OF THO~ MEE LOWNDES ESQ~~ (34 in. diam.) Hung in sm all so uth-west tower over porch. O nly accessible through manhole in centre of ceiling of porch : no fixed ladder. Pl ain cannons and wooden head stock. The bell is hung dead and " clocked," i.e., the bell is chimed by a rope attached to the clapper. 51. George's Church was orig inally erected in 1723 (consecrated 1726). Ab out 1844, the building , whic h 'was of bri ck. was encase d in sto ne and a chance l added . 4° CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE It was almost entirely rebuilt in 1884-5. Mr. Thomas Mee Lowndes, the donor of the bell, was a generous benefactor of the church. He was uncle to the late Sir John Gorst, and died June 14, 1853.

PRESTON. ST. MARY MAGDALENE. There was at one ,time a "free chapel called Magd

RIBBY-WITH-WREA. (See Wrea Green). ST. MICHAEL-ON-WYRE. ST. MICHAEL. Three bells. I. -I- en. fan. m . ecce· e. ,,,ttt .tu .rette .e.oonnee . certe .ctoquee par. catertne . be . bermeute . s eemotreue . ou . nteucbastet . e . oarquentee . e· be . uutacqutnqueben. (271 in. diarn.) v 2. GOD SAVE THE KING. IG W CW RL W TG WP 1663. Below date: W IS (J I in. diarn.) 3· CAST AT GLOUCESTER BY ABEL RUDHALL 1742. (34 in. diam.)

Hung in timber frame in west tower, from west to east, the tenor being on the east side. Colonel Fishwick, in his History of St. Michael-on- Wyre, gives the date of

1. Raines, Hist. of Lanes. Chnntries (Chet. Soc.), p. 209.

CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE the treble as 1652, and thi s error has unfortunately been copied into the Victoria History of Lancashire (vol. vii, 19(2) partly by my own fault. In 1913 I made a n examination of the bells in the course of preparing a paper on the church of St. Michael for the H istoric Suciety uf Lancashire and Cheshire, and after one or two unsuccessful rubbings of the inscription on th e treble I at last was able to decipher it with the assistance of Mr. H. B. Walters, M.A., F.S.A. I think I may claim, therefore, to be the first to have noted this as a pre-Reformation bell, a nd one of the most interesting in Lancashire. What I have to say here about thi s bell must be to a large ext ent a repetition of what I wrote in the Transactions of the Historic Society six years ago.1 TREBLE. This is a French bell cast in the year 1458. The inscription is in Gothic characters in two lines, each letter and numeral on a separate patera, the words being separated by orn amental stops, and the whole preceded with a plain initial cross. The letters are placed very irregularly, but in the illustration, for the sake of clear­ ne ss, the inscription ha s been "straightened out," though the form of the letters has of course been strictly followed. Literally translated the inscription reads:- In the year one thousand four hundred and fifty-eight was made and given this bell by Catherine de Bernieules, Lady of Neufchatel, and of Arquenies (?) and of Wic­ quinghen (Uuiacquinguehen). The name queried is somewhat uncertain, and I am not sure whether I have deciphered it aright. It appears to be either" darquemes" or "darquenies," but I cannot discover any place answering to this in the district. Bcrneuilles is a village about fourteen miles south-east of Boulogne-sur-Mer and six mil es north-east of Etaples,

1. Trans . Hist, 80c. Lanes. and Ch e .~ h . , vol, 66, p. 207. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE to-day in the department of the Pas-de-Calais. Neuf­ chatel is eight miles to the north-west and vVicquinghen about nine miles to the east of Berneuilles. Catherine, lady of Berneuilles, seems to have been the daughter of one Tannequy de Berneuilles, lord of Vaufians-en-Brie and of Neufchatel in Picardy, who was killed at 'Agin­ court in 1415. She was the wife of Jean de Rubenpre, lord of Bievres, and had a daughter, Frances de Ruben­ pre, lady of Berneuilles and of Blequies, who married in 1478 Jean VI, sire of Crcquy, and died in T503. Their third son, Philip de Crequy, had the lordships of Berneuilles, Blequies, and Wicquinghen, and died in 1566.1 Berneuilles and the other places named were in the cornte de Boulogne, which was a " grand fief" of the larger cornte d'Artois. In 1361 Artois passed by heritage to Margaret of France, comtesse douairiere de Flandre, and after her death in 1382 to her grandson, Louis de Male, comte de Flandre, who had an only daughter, Margaret, married to Philippe Ie Hardi, duc de Bourgogne. Philippe succeeded his father-in-law in 1384 and was the father of Jean Sans-Peur, and grand­ father of Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, who successively held the cornte d'Artois and the cornte de Flandre, along with their Duchy under the French Crown. It was during this rule of Philippe Ie Bon (T41g-67) that this bell was cast, at a time when the power of the Dukes of Burgundy was growing strong in opposition to that of the French Crown, just three years before Louis XI ascended the throne. For where the bell was intended I do not know, and how it found its way to England and to Lancashire will probably always

1. Cheneye-Desbois et Badier, Diet. de la N obleese, under Crequy ; N obiliaire Unicersel, vol, xiv , under Morel de Tangry. For these references I am indebted to Mr. J. Brownbill, ~I.A . CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 43

remain a matter of conjecture. Most likely it was the spoil of war of a later day.! On the waist of the bell are two plain circular stamps, one about It in. and the other i in. diam., possibly worn impressions of coins, and a third just above the rim. The bell is 21 in. high exclusive of the cannons, and measures 46 in. in circumference at the shoulder, and 52 in. at the middle of the waist. SECOND. The second bell is from the Wigan foun­ dry, as shown by the initials of John Scott immediately below the date. John Scott, however, died in 1647, but his successor Geoffrey. or Jeffrey Scott, seems to have gone on using the old initial stamp. It occurs on bells at Edenfield (1654) and Cartrnel (1661). Geoffrey Scott died in 1665.2 The date and the words of the motto, and the letters of the different groups of initials, are on separate stamps. The initials I. G. are presumably those of the Rev. John Greenwood, vicar from 1663 till his death in 1668. The names of the wardens are not recorded. TENOR. This is a reG\sting of a former tenor by Abel Rudhall. The inscription space is made out by a border of linked Aeurs-de-lys. The following entry in the

1. The Abbe Augustin Dusautoir, a well known antiquary of St. Orner, to whom I gave a facsimile of the inscription when I was in that town in 191R, was good enough to send it, along with an account of the bell to M. Roger Rodiere, of Montreuil "archeologue dist.ingue et specialiste pour les questions de l'art campanaire.' But M. Rodiere was not able to throw any light on the question of how the bell got to England. Abbe Dusautoir wrote me later, 'M. Rodiere ne trouve pas d'~utre raison du transfert de la cloche en question que celle du butin de guerre.' I much regret that while in France my duties took me no nearer to Berneuilles than St. Orner. 2. For the Scott's foundry at Wigan see J. P. Earwaker in Trans. Hist. Soc. Lanes. and Chesh., vol. 42, 170-176. The Wigan bell foundry will be dealt with fully in the final paper. 44 CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

Vestry Book shows how the cost of the new tenor bell was met:- June the 13th, 1743. It was then ordered by the Vicar and Gentlemen of the Parish of St. Michael's that Six Church Leys after the Rate of twelv e pence in the pound be forthwith collected and gathered within the P arish of St. Michael's to pay for new casting the Great Bell and other necessary rep airs belonging to [the] Church and to be accounted for at Ea ster as usual.

1552 : iij small bells & one yet wych ... payd for e. The following entries relating to the bells and rin gers occur in the Vestry Books! ;-

1683. Ap ril. To John Fi sher for work for clock and bells. Ss, od. 1729. July 4. To rin g one hell at 7.0; to ring 2 hells at 8.0 : to ring and chime f or serv ice in summer fr om half an hour past l{) o'clock, and in winter fr om Ten till half an hour later. 1746. R ingers' salary 15s.; f or 5th of ~ overnber, 6s. 1763. April 5. It was then agreed with th e Ringers that they should ha ve T en shillings each man for Ringing every Sabath Day at ye usual hours & receive th eir wag es ever y Easter Tuesday in full of all other perquisites except what th e Rej oicin g Days as abo ve! 5th of Nov emb er 3Ji Christmas Day ... 2li l\lny ye 29th October ye 11th ... The K ing's Birthday 1 " This was evidently dr awn up in the fo rme r Ki llg's reign , as Oct ober l lth was th e Coronat ion Day of George II, and October 30th his birthday. 1773. To th e Ringers £1 - ]0 - O. 1780. N ov. 5th. It was agreed by the Vicar and the Gentlemen of the Vestry of St Michaels tha.t each Ringer attending the

1. The first three it ems are taken from P orter's History of the f!ylde, p.464. 2. The •Rejoicing Days as above' refers to an undated ent ry, as follows: "A settled Allowan ce for ye Ringers up on y. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASH IRE 45

chu rch shall be allowed t wo Tankards of Ale and each Singe r one Tankard on this day, t ogeth er with each one their dinner. 1834. East er Tuesday. [It is ord ered] that t he Ringers. Orga nist an d Singers be allowed 3s. each on the 5th No v. instead of th eir di nners and liqu or.

The tower of the church is dated ,6II.

SHIRESHEAD. S T. PAUL. T wo bells.

I. On w aist: S~ PAULS SHIREHEAD. Other side of wa ist : REV~ W':'!- PRICE INCUMBENT W. TALBOT ROTHWELL &. JAMES PYE CHURCHWARDENS t858. (19 in. diam.) 2 . On waist : sT. PAULS SHIRESHEAD. REV~ W~ PRICE INCUMBENT W. TALBOT ROTHWELL 8r. JAMES PYE CHURCHWARDENS On sound boto : (26 in. diam. ) Hung in dou ble-arched bell-cote over west gable--the large r to the north. Origi nally both bell s were chimed by levers from west gall ery, but the smaller is no lon ger used and now hangs dead. The lever remains but the cha in has gone . The large bell is" clocked," the chain being attached to th e clap per . Both bells have pl ain cannons. They are rou ghly cast a nd are probably of local manufact ure. The church is now only used for mortua ry purposes, and sta nds in an isolated position . A new church was CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

built in 1889 in Forton village. Shireshead Chapel existed in 1520, but the present building d ates only from 1805. It is a plain rectan gular structure, with west a nd south galleries . The dedication to St. P aul is modern. It is in th e ancient parish of Cockerham, township of Cleveley . The Rev. Wm. Price, B.A., was incumbent from 1849 to 1860, wh en he became vicar of Douglas (Parbold),

SINGLETON. ST. A NNE. Six bells.

I. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT 18n. (24! in. diarn.) 2. The sa me . (26tin. di arn.) 3. The sa me. (28in. diam.) 4. The sa me . (28tin. di arn .) 5. MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON. On waist: CORONATION YEAR. I9II. THIS BELL GIVEN BY T. H. MILLER REV. L. C. WOOD AND THE PARISHIONERS OF SINGLETON AND THISTLETON. I' ( 3° "2 ln. diarn.) 6. Blank inscription band. On waist.' THESE BELLS GIVEN BY JOSEPH, THOMAS, WILLIAM, JOHN at HUGH HORNBY I THE FIVE SONS OF THE LATE HUGH HORNBY OF KIRKHAM I AND THEIR FRIEND W'ljf. CROSS. VENITE EXU LTEMUS DOMINO IBII. T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT. (33 in. di arn.) Hung in timber frame in north tower. The bells were " restored" and the fifth recast by Messrs. Mears and Stainbank in 1911 at a cost of £116 3s. 6d. The cannons CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 47 have been removed from th e second. On the first four bells the inscription space is made out with a "White­ cha pe l pattern" border, or chain of loops and lozeng es. The "inscription space " on th e tenor is blank. The recast fifth bears the trade mark of the founders on the side of the waist oppos ite the inscription-three bells with a circle and the in itials A . H. (Arthur Hughes).l Clock str ikes hours on tenor. Mr. Thomas H orrocks Miller, whose nam e occurs on the recas t fifth bell , is lord of the manor. His father, Thomas Miller, purchased the man or in 1852 from the trustees of Hugh H ornby . The Rev. Leon ard Cha rles W ood , B. A., was vicar from 1843 till 1912. The weights and notes as g iven on a card in th e ring­ ing chamber, signed by Mears and S ta inbank, 1899, are as follows:- cwt , qr s. lbs. I ...... 3 2 14 NoteG 2 ...... 3 3 2 2 F 3.. · ...... · 4 0 16 E flat 4·.. .. ····· 4 14 D 5...... 5 2 2 C 6...... 6 2 14 B fla t _....------Total ... 28 0 2 6

The bells are rung from the first floor of the tower,. whi ch is ove r a north tran sept. Entrance by extern al doo rway. 1552: One bell. 1554 : Feb. 22. One little bell weighing half a hundred weight, and value 7s. 6d. remained in chapel. 2

1. Mr. Arthur Hu ghes, head of the famous Whitechapel Foundry, d ied August 2, 1916. 2. Ra ines, H ist. Lan es, Chantries, pp. 266, 276. CH URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

At the latter date (Queen Mary's Commission) "William Butler and Thomas Bayn e churchreeves of th e cha pel of Singleto n sworn and examined depose and say th at there is one little bell specified in th e said schedule yet rema inin g in t he said chap el wh ich was seased to th e use of the said late sovereign lord King Edward VI by authority of th e said former Commis sion. " 1 Hewitson , writin g about 1872, ha s thi s conce rn ing S ingl eton :- In the to wer th er e is a good peal of bells; but they ar e not always ru ng. In the evening, when we went to church, only one was used , and <1Il enquiring how that was , a Singleto nian solved t he problem by remarking to us that as it was a fine evening the rin gers had pr obably gone away for a walk. 2 A chapel, dedi cated to S1. Mary, existed in Singleton .as early as th e 14th cent ury, and continued in use till 1578 or later. A new cha pel was built during the Commonwealth. Its history is a little obscure, but it seems to have become a chape l of ease to Ki rkh am ab out a century later. •It was rebuilt in 1809 by Mr. Hornby, lord of th e manor, but Mr. Hornby's church in its turn ga ve way to the prese nt building in 1859, the main cost o f which was borne by Thomas Miller, Esq. It was d esigned by Mr. E. S. Paley, and consec rated July 12, 1860.

STALMINE. ST. JAMES. Two bells.

I. Blank. (15iin. diarn.) 2. Blank. (t Sin, diam.) The bells han g in a double-arched stone bell-cote ove r th e west gable, sim ila r to that at P illin g . They are chimed by levers from the west gallery, and both have Gln 11 0nS and wooden headstocks, but at the tim e of my v isit (November I I, 1919) th e smaller bell was attached

1. Rain es, L anes. Chantries, 266. 2. Our Country Churrhcs and Ohap-I», p. 383. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 49 to the headstock by one rusty staple. The church was rebuilt in its present form in 1806, but there was a chapel at Stalmine, dependent on Lancaster, as early as the 13th century. The dedication is modern. The smaller bell, which hangs to the north, is IO in. high exclusive of the cannons (or 13 in. with cannons), and has a "set-back" crown in place of the usual in. scription band round the shoulder. It is 9 in. in diam, at mid-height, and 8 in. at the shoulder: the circumfer­ ence at the shoulder is 28 in. Compared with this the larger bell is almost long­ waisted, its height being 13 in. (or with cannons 16 in.), Its circumference at the shouIder is 27 in. and it has an " inscription band" between round fillets. The second bell is certainly the earlier of the two, but the height is not great enough in proportion to the diameter for a pre-Reformation date. The smaller bell has a certain affinity with the larger one (17 in.) at Pilling, and both may be by a local founder, not earlier than the rSth century.

1552: It. ij belles . .. hand bell.

WARTON. ST. PAUL. One bell.

The bell is very difficult of access, and on the day of my visit (October 15, 1919) no preparation having been made I was unable to examine it. It hangs in an octagonal wooden turret, with short spire, over the east end of the nave (chancel arch), and is chimed by a pulley from the porch at the east end of the north aisle, the rope being carried down over the roof of the nave and aisle and through a hole in the porch roof. A more prepos­ terous method of ringing a bell I have never seen. The bell is accessible only by means of ladders over the roof of the porch, aisle and nave-the latter being of fairly steep pitch. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

The present church dates only from 1885-6, and takes th e place of the orig ina l Warto n C hapel built in 1722, and consecra ted 1725. Baines (ed. Harland, 1870) de­ scribes the chapel as "a pl ain, plastered a nd stone coloured erection." It had two bells, and they seem to have hung in a small tower, or turret, tak en up from the ground at th e wes t end . That is wh at I infer from the following description written by Mr. H ewitson about 1872 :- "The extern al a rchitecture is of a primitive cha racter .. . The tower is slende r a nd pointed at th e angles .. .. A t the rear of th e gallery there is a door which we opened , a nd on stepping forward we really had an impression just akin to that which might be felt on entering , say, a very lofty hen roost. This was the belfry, but it appeared to have been more patroni sed by jack daws, sta rlings and sparrows th an any thi ng else : and we got out of it q uickly."2 The for me r sexton, Mr. Singl eton, who lives in the village, in formed me tha t the bell now in use at the churc h is the larger of the two be lls belon g ing to the old cha pel. The sma ller bell is still preserved, but is not in use. At th e time of my visit it was in the vestry. It is inscr ibed :-

Luke 0 AM htQII 1743 F ecit Wigan ( 1 3 ~ in dia m.) After the founder's ob long stamp the inscription space is made out with a border of inverted crest ing.T wo of th e six ca nnons have bee n kn ocked off and the cla pper is much corroded . T he bell is, of course, from the ------1. Hist , of Lancs., ii, 49l. 2. Our COW l try Cliur ch.e» and Chapels, p. 363. What exactly th e autho r wis hed to convey by til e information that t he tower was ' pointed at th e angles ' it is difficult to imagine. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE 51 foundry of Luke Ashton of Wigan , and is somew hat similar to, though smaller than, th e Wrea Green bell cas t at the same foundry fifteen years earlier (see Wrea G reen ). Mr. Singleton thinks that the larger bell now in use may be as old as the one in th e vestry but cannot say definitely. During the erection of the present church th e smaller bell was used at the schoo lroo m, where services were held .

WHITECHAPEL. ST. ] M'lES. One bell.

I. W. B£€WS JI~n SO~S BIRml~GIHlm 1875. (2si in. diarn.)

Hung in bell-cote over west gable. C himed by lever from floor of church. Messrs. Blews were founding in Birmingham from abo ut 1852 to 1886, and are now succeeded by Cha rles Ca rr. They cast a rin g of s ix for C hurch, near Accrington, in 1876.1 The chapel, sometimes know n as Thelfall cha pe l from th e fact of its being situa ted in Thelfall tything} was largely rebuil t in 1738 when a bell was gi ven to the Trustees by 1\1r. Ri chard Shuttleworth, of Gawthorp:' In 1818 th e building was enlarg ed and the" belfry was reco ns tructed so as to make room for two bell s. "! The second bell, however, was never purchased. An illus­ tration in Fishwick 's History of Goos n argh (1871) shows th e double-arched bell-cote with its sing le bell. There was a further restoration of the church in 1891, a nd apparentl y the bell-cote in its present form is of that date. .

\. See un der Blackburn Hundred in Transaction.', vol. xxxiv, 2. Fi shwick, Ifist, of Ooosnarqh., p. 39. 3. i ua., p. 44. 4. i ua., p. 45. · CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

The chapel is of pre-Reformation date, but appears to have been abandoned long before 1581, in which year the bell was given to Alexander Hoghton of Lea until such time as it might again be wanted. This is set out in a document given in full by Fishwick.! who states that it is printed from a copy made in 1728 by John Baines. The document is as follows :-

27th Day of Januar~ Anno of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth ye 23rd [1581J Memm that I Alexander Houghton of the Lea in the County of Lane. Esqre do acknowledge and confess myself to have had & reciev'd of Edmund Threlfall of Goosnargh in the sd County Yeon one Bell which hertofore was had and used at a Chapel in Goosnargh called the new Chapel or Threlfall Chapel belonging to the Tenants, Inhabitants & dwellers in the Township of Goosnargh aforsd [who] heretofore commonly used to rep are to the sd Chapel and service there was accusstomed to be had and done. And I the sd Alexander Houghton do promise, covenant and grant for me my heirs, executors & administrators to & with the said Edmund Threlfall, his heirs and assigns by these p'sents. That if at any time hereafter if fortune Divine Service to be had & commonly used wthin the sd Chapel that Then I the sd Alexander my heirs &c. shall upon reasonable request deliver or cause to be delivered to the sd Edmd or to some of the sd Inhabitanta or Tenants there, The sd Bell to be kept and used at the Chapel aforesd as the same heretofore hath been used, In witness whereof for the accomplishment hereof; I have here­ unto given my hand & seal the day and year first above written, And shall at all times hereafter discharge & save harmless the sd Edmd his heirs, Exors & assigns against all people for the Delivry of the sd Bell to me the sd Alexr as af ores d. Signed ALEXANDER HOUGHTor< .

Alexander Hoghton of Lea, the recipient of the bell, was the second son of Sir Richard Hoghton of Hoghton Tower. He died without issue and was succeeded by his half-brother Thomas, who was slain at Lea in 1590. About a century and a half later, Divine Service being again held in the chapel, the inhabitants and dwellers in

1. History of Goosnurgh, p. 39. CHURCH BELLS OFLANCASHIRE S3 the Township of Goosnargh proffered a " reasonab le request" to S ir H enry H oghton 1 to deliver or cause to be delivered the bell gi ven to Alexande r Hoghton of Lea in 1581. The precise date when th is request was made is not stated, but from the fact that the ori ginal of th e document just qu oted was then surrende red and th at the cupy was made in [728, it is assumed by F ishwick to have been in or ab out that year. It may, how ever, have been at the time of th e rebu ilding of the chapel in 1738.2 H owever tha t ma y be Sir ..Henry H oghton, instead of restoring th e bell, sta ted th at "Queen Elizabeth had g iven a bond to his an cesto rs for sol. , which was not worth any thi ng at all, a nd he had no ten ant s in Goos­ nargh." H e, however, gave ten shillings towards pur­ chas ing a new bell, and said th at the security for the old one, which was appa rently lost, might still remain in the church chest. The deputation tha t waited on Sir Henry, whi ch consisted of Dr. Bushell, Alderman W all s, John Fishwick a nd John Bain es, declin ed to keep th e security an y longer, but" hop ed th at he would consider of it and gi ve more." Their hope, however, was doomed to d isappoin tment. It was probably sho rtly afte r this rebuff by S ir H enry Hoghton th at Mr. Shuttleworth of Gawthorp presented a bell to th e trustees.

1552. N o invento ry. Bishop Ca st.rell early in the 18th cent ury notes : 'Whitechapel . . . nothing at all belongs t o it .' ---- - _ ._--- 1. Eldest son of Sir Cha rles H oghton. H e was member for Preston 1710-1728, and die t! in 176tl. 2. Or possibly . 1728 ' sho uld read • 173tl.' Fishwick says, ' A memorandum on th e ba ck of the sheet containing the abo ve (i.e., t he 1581 agreement) states that it was copied in 1728 by J ohn Baines.' The num eral :\ '//Iuy have been read as 2. 3. Fishwick, Uoos uurqh, p. 40. 54 CHURCH BELLSOFLANCASHIRE

WOODPLUMPTON. ST. ANNE. Two bells. 1. 1837. (17in. diam.) 2. 1596. (r Sin , di am.) Hung in sma ll western turret terminati ng in octagon al cupo la . Rung from floor of ch urch by wooden levers. W ooden headstocks. T he sma ller bell is 16! in. high, including the cannon s, one of whi ch ha s been knoc ked off. The date is in the" inscription band" between double fillet s. There is no orna me nt or mak er 's marie The larger bell is 2 0 in . high to th e top of the ca nno ns . It ha s no ins crip tion ban d but tile date is high up on th e waist, near th e f7 ~ COl if( shoulder. There is no orname nt o r 11)) J! \2} maker's mark. The turret be longs to th at part of the church which was rebuilt in the i Sth century , probably in 1748. 1552. It one bell . .. ha ndb ell, a sakryng bell. 1554. ' One lytell bell ' still remain ed III t he chapel 01 P lumpton,

weig hing half a hun dred weight & value 7s. 6il. I

At the latter dat e (Qneen Mar y's Commiss ion, Feb. 22) , " N icholas Lawrenson, priest, and Thomas Stannet e, chu rch war den, at th e said Chapel of P lumpton, swo rn and exa mined , depose and say that there is one bell named in the said schedule yet remaining at t he said chapel which was seised to th e use of our late King of famous memory Kin g Ed ward VI by authority of the said form er Commission." The signature of Nicho las Lawr enson, curate of Wood­ plumpton, is attached to th e In ventury of Church Goods made in Novemb er, ' 552. Hewit son, writing of Woodplurnpton C hurch about 1872, say s :- A kind of market-ho use cupola, grey and Iu r-wo rn , s urmounts its western end ; abov e t hat cupola is a weather valle, surmo unted by th e

1. Raines, Lanes. Olum tries, p. 275. 2. Ib id. , p. 264. CHUI

WREA GREEN. ST. NICHOLAS. One bell and eight tubes,

Luke Ashton 1728 Fecit 0 Wigan (16t in. diarn.) The bell hangs in a triangular frame in south-west tower, but is no longer used. It has cannons, wooden headstock, and lever: but there is no chain or rope. It is from the vVigan foundry of Luke Ashton, and bears his oblong trade mark on the inscription space imme­ di ately after the date. (Cf. Warton.) The remainder of the space is made out with an ornamental border of inver ted cresting . This bell no doubt belonged to the early i Sth century chapel at Wrea Green. The year of its erection does not seem to he certain, but it was licensed in 1722 and consecrated in 1755. The present church, designed by E. G. Paley, succeeded it in 1848-9, but was not conse­ crated till 1855. The tower is over the south porch, and is an addition of 1884. It finishes with a spire. A set of eight tubular" bells" by Harrington, Latham and Co., of .Coventry was hung in 1887. They are chimed from the first floor of tower (entrance by stair from porch).

1. Our Cmm try Churche .s and C/wprl.,, P: fig. CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE

Hewitson, writing about 1872, says:-

The present church ha s neither tower nor spire, the only definite prominence ab ove it s roof being an open gabled belfry, containing spaces for a couple of bell s, but having only one fixed up at present. Man y a ti me ha s one of th e old masters at Wrea Gr een school come out of th e Grape s along with his boon companions ann shot for wagers at th at bell. 1

The" gabled belfry" no longer exists.

1. Dill' Country Churc hes and (tha pc;«, p. 354. H ewitson incorrectly gi ves th e date of the erec tion of the church as 1837. The foundation stone wa s laid May 13, 1848, and the building was open ed July 23, 1849. THE CHU RCH BELLS OF LAN CASHIRE.

BY F. H . C HEET H A ~ I, F.S . A.

PART VI.

SUMMARY A ND CONCLUSION. INcontribut ing- the first of a ser ies of papers on th e Church Bells of Lancashire to th e Transactions of th is Society in 1915 1 I poi nted out th at what under or dinary cir cumstances should have bee n an introduc­ tor y cha pte r was necessarily held over to th e end. I a m now en abled to present th e summary and concl uding cha pter wh ich was promised fourteen years ago. Ow ing, howeve r, to restriction of space, thi s final ch a pter is mu ch less full th an I had hoped and intended , being, in fact , little more tha n a bare summing up of th e several papers whi ch have go ne before, in resp ect to the dat es of th e bells and th e names of their founders . It should, perha ps, be pointed out th at th e inspecti on of so many churc h tow ers was spread over two main periods : the first in 1914-15 , when rough ly the southe rn part of the county was covered, an d th e second in 1919-21 , when th e northern part was visited. The wor k could be don e only at stated interv als, and in its complet ed form does not therefore represe nt the co ntents of Lanca­ shire belfries at anyone point of time. It can , however , be taken as a correct catalog ue of Lancashire church bells during the period 1914-21, as onl y in a very few cases were bells inspected after th e latter date. B ut sin ce th e W ar th ere have been many changes in Lancashire belfri es, so me necessar y a nd inevi table, oth ers wh ich are to be depl ored and which might have been avoided, or th e changes effected rendered less

1 T ransac tions , xxxii. 90 TH ECHURCH BELLS O F LANCASHIRE. unfortunate had a little more care and forethought been exercised. The losses involved are, of course, purely of an antiquarian or

CHROI\"OL OGICAL ACCOuNT OF THE BELLS AI\"D THEIR FOUNDERS. 1. THE iVIEDIfEVAL P ERIOD. There are in Lan cashire only twen ty-two bells whi ch ca n with certainty be assigned to a date earlier than 1550. Of th ese, twenty hang, o r are preserved , in six­ teen ch urches and two are in dom esti c buildings. Only four are dated, and of these th e earl iest (C laug hto n, 1295) is th e oldest dated bell in Engl and. There are, indeed, only two or three inscribed bells in the kingdom THE CHURCH BELLS OF L.4SC.ISHIRE. 9l which may be assigned on palseographical grounds to an earlier period," though there are not a few without dates or inscriptions which from their characteristic shape may go back to th e beginning of the 13th cent." or even ea rlier." Of th e other three, one is from a Nottingham foundry and two are of foreign make­ respectively French and Fl emish. Of twenty-two blank or uninscribed bells recorded in th e older Lancashire churches, none, I think, can be regarded as of pre­ R eformation origin: they ar e probably not older than the 18th cent., and in one or two cases a certa in antique appearance may be due to rustic ori gin. As regards chronolo gi cal order , however, these bell s may be dis­ regarded. The twenty-two media-val inscribed bells are a very low proportion of th e whole number when compared with other counties, but there are records of some four or five" other media-val bells now recast, or otherwise lost, all but one" of which disappeared in the 19th cent. Amongst the remaining inscribed bells there are a few which can with tolerable certainty be assigned to th e 14th cent., and others to the 15th and 16th cent., while one or two are on the dividing lin e between. In approximately chronological orde r the individual bells ar e as foll ows :- Claughton, 2nd, 1296. Arkholm e, 14th cent. Bradshaw, 14th cent. Colton, 14th cent. Longridge, 14th cent. (sanctus). Sarnlesburv, 14th cent. (disused).

2. H. 13. Walt er s, Ch. Bells of Shropshire, 397. One at Caversfi cld in Oxfordshire dat es fr om c. 1200-15, a nd an oth er at C haldo n in Surrey from c. 1250. 3. For uninscribed 13th cent. bells see an article by H . B. W alter s in Antiquaries [our., vi, 416 (O ctober, 1926). 4. Walters, Ch. Bells of Shropshire, 398. 5. Downham, Broughton-in-Preston, Dnlt on-in-Furness a nd Kirkby Ir eleth : to which m ay be added th e Orruskirk tenor. 6. Orrnsk irk. 9~ T HE CH URCH BELLS UF LANCASHIRE.

Broughton-in-Furness, c. 1400 (at Eccleriggs). Brindle, 4th a nd 5th, 15th cent. Clay ton Hall, Manch ester, 15th cent. (probably French ). Downham, 1st and 2nd, 15th cent. U rswi ck, 3rd, 15th cent. St. Michael-on-Wyre, lst , 1458 (F rench) . Aldingham, 2nd and 3rd, c. 1500. Bolton-le-Sands, 3rd, c. 1500. Over Kellet, 2nd, c. 1500. R ob y, 1512. Halton, 1st a nd 2nd, c. 1530. Whalley , 1537 (disus ed, Fl emi sh ).

13TH CE:-: T. Little need be added to what has already been said about the Claughton bell. As th e measurem ents g iven indicate," it is mu ch closer to the modern ra tio than was usu al in th e 13th cent. , whe n th e long-waisted type of bell prevailed. It would th ere­ for e appear that as ea rly as th e last decad e of thi s century th is type was already bein g merged into the lat er and more developed English form. The lettering is rather more R oman th an Gothic, but it affords no clue to th e founder ."

14TH CE;-.l T. The approximate dat e of th e 14th cent. bells is in ferred from th eir shape , the nature of their inscription s a nd th e cha racter of th e lett ering used. The inscriptions a re :- IH CNazare nus R ex Judeorum Fili Dei (A rkho lme). Ave Maria Gratia Plena (Bradsh aw). Campan a Beati Johannis Appli (Co lto n). ------._- 7 . T ran s., xxxix, 140. 8. The earliest English bell to bear a foun der ', name is at Gor ing , in Oxfordshire. It is probably onl y a few year s la ter than the Cla ughton bell , its founder, Ri ch ard Wymbish, belonging to a family of bell-founders wh o were wo rki ng in Lo ndon between 1297 a nd 1315 : H .B.W alters in ,1ntiq. [ our., vi, 428. T HE CHURC H BEI.LS OF L AN C,ISH/HE. !)3

Jesu Nazarenus C ruc ifixw (Langridge). Cam pa na Jhesu C risti (S amles b ury ). Johannes est nomen meum (Bro ug hton-in- F u rn ess).

The Broughton -in-Furness bell, as already stated, may belon g to th e ea rly pa rt of the next cent. , with a sur­ viva l of the older let ter ing. O n non e of these bells, unfortunat ely , do the initial crosses, st ops, o r characte r of the lettering esta blish th e nam e of the founder. The Colton bell ha s been att rib uted to John de Kirkh am, of York (c. 1370), but on insuffi cien t g ro unds .T he Samlesbury bell has flat moulding s whi ch s uggest a London orig in, but th e sto ps are not unlike those on th e Colt on bell. Of th e 14th cent. bells, that at Langridg e is th e smalles t (16} in .) a nd th e Colto n bcll is th e la rgest (22 in.).

15TH C ENT. The inscriptio ns on th e 15th cent. bells are as follows :- Av e Ma ria (B rind le, 4th ). In note I H S Ma ria (Brind le, 5th). Vox A Ug"lI st ini Son et in Au re Dei (Downham, 1st). Sancta Margaretta ora pro nobis (Downham, 2nd). Maria. Wilelmus de H aryngton dominus de A ldy ngha m et domina Margareta uxor (U rswick, 3rd). S + S + S (Ald ingham , 2nd). Celorum xp c placea t tibi rex SO OlIS iste (Ald ing­ ham , 3rd). H ec Cam pa na Sacro Fi at Trin itate Beata B ol ton-I e- S ands, 3rd). Sancre P etr e ora pro nobis (O ve r Keller, 2nd ). Je at end meleor (Clayton H all , Manch ester ), En l'nn m. cccc. e.lviii fu fett e e donnee ces te cloque pa r Cate rine de Bernicul es .. . etc . (S t. Mi ch ael­ on-W yre, l st). O f these be lls , th at at St. Mi chael-on-Wy re is Fren ch . as is in all proba bility th e bell at Clay ton H all , Ma n- 94 T HE CHURCH B ELLS OF L.ISC.I SHIRE. chester. The Urswick and Over K ellet bells are with­ out makers ' marks or initials and th e cha racter of th e lettering affords no clu e to th e founder: the Over K ellet bell is late in date and may belong to the early part of the 16th cent . The two Brindle bell s are from a Nottingham foundry , c . 1400-50, and bear th e typical Nottingh am shi eld with <'I salti re cross. The fi rs t recorded bell-founders in Nottingham ar e William Langton (or William le Belytere) 1437-8, and Rich ard Redeswell 1433-7, eit he r of whom may , or may not, have cast th e Brindle bells. The last names connec ted with th e Nottingham foundry pri or to th e R eformati on a rc those of Ri chard Mell our (1488-1508) a nd his so n R ob ert," and it is probably to Richard Mellour that th e two rnedizeval bells .at Aldingham and th e ten or at Bolton-le-Sands may be attributed . All th ese bea r the stamp of a ros e, a nd a shield with a bell and the letter R , which th ere is reason to believe belon ged to Ri ch ard Mellour, thoug-h it was used also by his so n (1510-25). The foundry at No ttingham was one of the two g reat medi a-val found ries of th e North Midlands, the other a nd older one being at Leicest er . The Downham bell s a re apparently by John Wal­ g rave of London (1418-40), who is mentioned in the will of William Dawe, founder, in 1420, and is gene ra lly thought to have been th e founder of a large group of bells bearing a shield with th e initials I.W. This s hield, togeth er with two crosses, the use of whi ch is also att ributed to W al grave, is fo und on both the Downham bells. The us e of these crosses by lat er Lo ndon founders has already bee n discussed," as well as 1\1 r. Tyssen's opinion conce rn ing th e l.W. shield. Of med ireval bells th at have disappeared in recent times, or of whi ch so me record exists, mention may

9. Walt ers , Ch. Bells of Eng land, 203. 10. Tr an s., xx x iv, 33. TH E CH UR CH R EI.LSO F L:1NCASHIRE. 95 here be made of th e fo rmer third bell at Downham, whi ch bore the inscription "Sancta Katerina ora pro nobis." This was recast in 1881 and th e inscription retain ed; but there a ppea rs to be no record as to \... hether it bor e th e shield and crosses that occur on those still remaining.

EARLY 16TH C ENT. Only four bells in Lancashire belon g to thi s peri od, unl ess we include th e seco nd at Over K eller an d possibly on e or more referred to above as late 15th cent. Of th ese four, th at preserved at Whalley (1537) is a Flemish bell by P eter van den Gh ein , of Lou vain, and bears both his name a nd th e dat e. The earlies t is th e singl e bell at R oby, dated 1512, and the othe rs ar e th e first and second at Halton. The inscr ipt ion s on .the three English bells ar e: See Bed icre I S P :\0 Do 1512 (Roby). See Petre 0 p n (H alto n (1st) . See Joh annes 0 p n (Halto n 2nd). The g reat interest attaching to th e R ob y bell, as an exam ple of a dated Engli sh bell with ea rly Arabic numerals, has already been dwelt on ," It com es from th e Nottingham foundry , and though bearing th e R.C. shield, is pr obabl y by Rich ard S elyo ake , wh o was founding about 1510-20. The H alton bells are by Thomas Bett of Leicester. who was casting in that town in 1529-38, an d are th e onl y mediseval bells in th e county tha t ca n with cer­ tainty be assigned to the Lei cest er foundry. There was, however, formerl y one of Bett's bells, with an inscri pti on similar to that on th e Halton treble. at Brou ghton-in-Preston , but it was melt ed down in 1884. It will be seen tha t of th e nineteen Engli sh med ireval bells rem aining in th e county six may be att ributed to the Nottingham foundry, two to Leicest er, and two to London, wh ile the pla ce of cas ting of the othe rs is

11. T rans ., xxxii, 93. 96 T HE CH U R CH BEI.LS O F LANC/ISHIRH. conjectural or unknown. Two bells cast at Nott ingham for Preston parish chur ch ab out 1523-4 have long dis­ appeared ." The medizeval bells that hav e been melt ed down or otherwise lost in co m pa rative ly recent tim es, in addition to th ose at Downham and Broughton-in-Preston, include one at D alt on-in-Furn ess which appears to have been cast at York. v and was melted down in 1865, and on e at Kirkby Ireleth, wh ich see ms to hav e been of lat e 14th or ea rly 15th cent. da te .!' Both bore Latin inscriptions, bu t unfortunat ely these have not been properly recorded . The ten or bell at Orrn skirk, though dat ed 1497 and bearing a black-l ett er inscr iption, prob ably contem­ porary, was recast in 1576 and therefor e belongs to th e next period.

II . THE TRAN SITION PERIO D. From about 1550 to 1600 ch urch bells are usually charact eristic partly of th e preceding and partly of the succeedi ng epoch , the character of th e inscription chang ing with th e ch ang e in religi ou s expression, while the old sty le of lettering and orn ame nt is ofte n retained;" R oman lettering, how ever, is g rad ua lly coming into use . The dat ed bells of this period still existing in Lan cashire are as follows :- 1574 W arton , near Carnfo rrh, 2nd. 1576 Ormskirk, tenor. 1587 Turton Tower (formerly at ). 1596 Woodplumpton, 2nd. 1597 H alton , 3rd. 1600 W inwick, sanctus. Of these, th e first two (W arton and Ormskirk) bear th e initials R.B., but it is doubtful whether in either case th ese initial s refer to the founder , a local be ne-

12. 1'ratl s., xx xviii, 90 . 1:1. lbid., xl , 109. 14. l bid., x l, 124. 15. W alters, Ch, Il ells of Shrobshirc, 414. THE CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE. 97 factor in each case being possible." The Tudor ornament on the Ormskirk bell occurs on several bells in Lincolnshire mixed up with Oldfield's (Nottingham) work, and also on an undated bell at Harworth in Nottinghamshire, near the Yorkshire border, which 10 addition bears th e initials H..BY A Nottingham or York orig in for the Ormskirk bell is possible. The Turton Tower and Winwick bells bear the initials R.O., whi ch though differing in character may refer to the founder, possibly Robert Orrell, of Wigan. The same initials occur on a bell at Conishead Priory cas t four years after that at Winwick, and on one at Tonge, near Middleton, dat ed 1614. The attribution of these bells to R ob ert Orrell has already been dis­ cussed," and is further referred to under Wigan founders." The \iVoodplumpton bell is without inscrip­ tion or ornament of any kind, and the date is high up on the waist: there is no clue to its founder. The Halton bell is inscribed "R espice finem, Maria," in Roman lettering, but has no maker's mark or initials. The fifth and tenor bells at Sefton, which are undated but bear th e circular trade-mark of Henry Oldfield of Nottingham, also probably belong to the last decade of the 16th cent. They are inscribed" Hec Campana Beata Trinitate Sacra Fiat." Two other bells in the same tower, also by Oldfield, are the earliest dated bells of the next century.

III. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. There are thirty-four dated 17th cent. bells, which 10 chronolog ical order are as follows :­ 1601 Sefton, 3rd and 4th. 1604 Conishead Priory. 1605 'Caton, 1st.

16. TrailS., xxxii, 82, 138 ; xxxix, 178. 17. I am indebted for thi s informati on to the Rev. R. F. Wilkins on, of Man sfield, who suggests Richard Blakey, of York, as th e possible founder. But Blakey occurs as early as 1501. 18. Tran s., xxxii, 116; xxxiii, Ill; xl, 105; xli v, 101. 19. Lnlro, p. 103. ~8 THE CHURCH BELLS OF L,4SCISHIRE.

1606 Huyton, tenor. 1614 Tonge, Middleton. 1617 Caton, tenor. 1633 Haslingden Grane. 1633 Tockholes. 1646 Hindley. 1647 Warrington, Holy Trinity. 1654 Edenfield. 1661 Cartmel, 3rd and tenor. 1663 St. Michael-on-Wyr e, 2nd. 1664 Over Kellet, 1st. 1666 Chetham Hospital, Manchester. 1668 Garstang, St. Thomas, 1st. 1684 Lund. 1684 Prescot, sanctus. 1685 Pennington (Ulverston), 2nd.20 1694 Bolton-Ie-Sands, 2nd. 1698 Holcombe. 1698 Warrington Parish Church, 2nd to 7th. 1699 Bolton Parish Church, 4th to 8th. In addition, the undated bells at Ringley and Great Lever Hall, near Bolton, may with certainty be assigned to this period, and in all probability th e R.B.W. bell at Samlesbury." Of the dated bells five are without a founder's stamp or initials, and afford no clue to their place of casting. These ar e th e bells at Huyt on, Garstang , Lund, Prescot and P ennington. There is, however, som e reason to beli eve that the Garstang and Lund bells, though separated by sixteen years, are by the same founder, and perhaps also that at Prescot. All three bear the stamp of a bell on th e wai st below th e date, and th e character of th e lettering on the two form er is very mu ch alike. Of the twenty-nine other bells th e identification of four is uncertain, but the remainder may be ascribed

20. Melted down in 1926. 21. Trans., xxx iv, 57. THE CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE. 99 as follows :-two to Nottingham, two to York, two to WeIIington (Salop), eig ht to Wigan, and elev en to Ecton (Northants). Three of the four unidentified beIIs ma y have been cast at Wigan, and it will there­ fore be con veni ent to consider them under the heading of the Wigan foundry; th e fourth is the Caton tenor, which is almost certainly by one of th e three Oldfields whose first name began with R .

THE NO TTINGHA M FOUNDRY. The two Sefton bells (1601) are by H enry Oldfield of No tting ham, the second of a long line of founders, whose fath er , of the sam e nam e, was founding between 1550 and 1580. H enry Oldfield II continued until 1619, and his bells are very numerous in No tting ham­ shire and th e adjacent counties.P He was succeeded by his so n George, born in 1600, who enjoyed a long a nd su ccessful career, dying in 1680, when th ere was an interregnum, his g randson Georg e Oldfield II being then only ten yea rs old.23 The No ttingha m Oldfields came to an end with th e death of th e second George in 1741, when the foundry passed to Daniel and Thom as H edd erley ," The Oldfields had for a short time a bran ch establishme nt at Co ngleton, Ch eshire, worked by P aul Hutton and George L ee. 25 Paul Hutton's bells occur between 1616 and 1647, and one of th em dated 1632 was formerl y at Broughton-in-Preston."

THE YORK FOUNDRY. Besid es the Oldfields of Nottingham th ere was a William Oldfield of York and a R ob ert Oldfield of H ertford in th e 17th cent., as well as a Rich ard Oldfield

22. Walters, Ch . Be lls 0/ Eng land, 246. 23. Ib id., 249. 24. Ibid., 251. 25. I bid., 249. 26. T'rans., x xxv ii, 44. For the Co ng leto n foundry see T rans , H ist . Soc. Lanes. and Ches., xlii , 166 ; H ead, ,. Con!( lt't oo Past nod Pr esent. " Early in th e next cen tury (1705) Gab riel Smit h of Co ngl eto n recast tw o hells for Leigh Pa rish Chur ch, bot h of wh ich hav e disa ppeared ; see Tr an s. , xxxii, 38-41. 100 T HE C HU RCH BELLS OF L.4NCiISH IRF..

who itinerated . William Oldfield of Yo rk in 1605 cast th e Caton trebl e, which bears his W .O. shield a nd the inscription" In dulcedine voc is ca ntabo tuo nomine. " He also appea rs to ha ve cast a bell for T odm orden in 1603 (recast in 1860).21 R eason s have already been g ive n28 for believing that the Caton tenor (1617); whi ch bears th e R.O. shield and th e royal a rms, was cast by R obert O ldfield, who is known to have been associated with William Oldfield of York, but the precise relation­ ship of the two is not known.P William O ldfield 's beIIs cove r th e period 1601-42 and a re fairly common in Yo rks hire. The inscription " In jucunditate soni sonabo tibi Domine" was a fav ourite one of Williarrr's, and its occurr ing on the Caton tenor supports the view tha t thi s bell , tho ugh bearing R ob ert 's initials only , ca me from the sa me foundry as th e trebl e. R obert Old­ field 's bells are found as ea rly as 1586, a nd his is th e first nam e met with in the York foundry in th e 17th cent. W illiam Oldfield was succee ded by W illiam Cuerdo n and Abraham Smith, whose joint initials appear on bells till 1662, when Smith died , and Guerdon migrated to Don caster either then or sho rtly after. The Over K ellet tr ebl e, however, which bear s the trade­ mark of th e York foundry, is dated 1664 a nd has no initials. It may be an early example of th e work of Samuel Smith , either alone or in conjunction with Cu erdon , with whom he seems to have had some con­ nection till ab out 1676. 30 Cu erdon a ppears to have cast a bell in 1662 for Warton, near Carn forth, but it has since d isappeared." Throughout th e 17th cent. th e York foundry co nti nued to enjoy the sam e prosperity as in the rnedizeval peri od . Samuel Smith died in 1709, and was succee ded by his so n of th e sa me nam e.

27. Trans., xxxiii, 107. 28. T'rans., xxxix, 139. Fo r the Old fields of Yo rk see V.C .H.Y ork s.• ii , 451. F or Robert O ldfield of P reston sec in fra, p. 102. 29. H. B. W alter s (in V. C.H. Yorks., ii, 451) believes Robert to ha ve been either th e father or elder brother of William 30. Trans., xxxix, 171; V.C.H. Yorks., ii, 452. 31. Tr ans., xxxi x, 178. TH ECHU RCH HF:LL S OF L AN CtSHIRE. 101

THE WELLlNGT ON FOUN D RY. A bell-foundry was set up at W ellington in Shrop­ shire towards th e close of th e 16th cent. by John Clibury, who is known to have cast a bell for Condover in 1591.32 The names of his successors ar e William Clibury (1605-42), Thomas Clibury I (d . 1637), Thomas Clibury II (d . 1673), and Henry Clibury (1673-82), th e dat es of William and H enry being those of th eir ea rliest a nd lat est bells. Only two bells from thi s foundry occur in Lancashire, both dat ed 1633, on e at Haslingden G ran e'" and th e other a t T ockholes. Neith er bears th e founder's in itials." The churc hwarde ns ' acco unts at Prescot, however, show th at" Mr. Clibbe ry th e bell­ founder" recast th e bells of th e parish church in 1637. Apparently no record of th ese bells was kept wh en th ey were again recast in 1845. The Prescot san ctus (1684) appears to be too late for a Clibury bell ."

THE ECTON FOUNDRY. The foundry at Ecton , midway between Northampton a nd W ellingborou gh, was set up by H en ry Bagl ey, th e seco nd of that nam e, who was on e of three brothers, sons of H enry Bagl ey I , bell-founder , of Chaco mb, near Banbury. The ea rliest bell from th e C haco mb foundry is dat ed 1631. In 1679 H enry Ba gley took his son H enry into pa rtners hip, and soon aft erwards a second son, Matthew . Between 1680 and 1687 H enry and

32. The history of this found ry is giv en in Mr. H. B. W alt er s ' Church Bells of Shropshir e (pp. 417-32) . See also Ea rw a ker in Trans. Hisi, Soc .Lanes, and Chesh ire, xlii, 178-9. 33. H aslin gd en Gr nne church wa s pull ed down in 1925 a nd reb uilt en a ne w site. 34. The names of the Cliburys never ap pea r in full on the ir bells, but thei r ini tials a re frequ ently used. 35. Henry Cli bury's in itials occur on the 4th bell at Dray ton Bas sett, Staffords hire , 1682. The second bell a t Sho twick, Cheshire, is hy Willi am Clibury, 1621, a nd he recast th e treble for W all asey in 1624. 102 THE CHURCH B El.LS O f USC ISHIRE.

Matthew Bagley cast many rin gs of bells in partnership; but in 1687 the firm split up, H enry I[ migrating to Ecton, where he remained till his death in 1703. 36 Henry Bagley II cast a ring of six bells for Warrington parish church in 1698, all of whi ch rem a in, with a treble and tenor added in modern times. Four of th ese bells bear Bagley's name and on e his initials. H e describes him­ self as " Henricus Bagley Ecton iae juxta Northarnp­ toniam." He also recast th e bells of Bolt on parish church in 1699, making th em into a ring of five, all of which remain. They are inscribed" H enry Bagley of Ecton by Northampton mad e me."

ROBERT OLDFIELD O F I'R F: ST O:-':.

My attention has been drawn by Mr. Ernest Axon, F.S.A., to a letter in the Kenyon MSS., dated 5 December 1638, from Hugh Hargreav es to George Rigby, in which, referring to a lost rin g, th e writer says that " Robert Ouldfield, the bell founder," wh o lived in Preston, found it and offered to pawn it at WhalleyY It is unlikely that this Robert Oldfield is identical with th e H ertford founder of the same nam e, as th e latter's bells in Hertfordshire and Essex go down ( 0 1640 and he is known to have died at H ertford in 1650. 3.Q The identity of the Preston founder with th e R ob ert Oldfield to wh om I have attributed the Caton ten or. a nd who cast a bell for Houghton-Ie-Spring. co . Durham, in 1615,39 is possible, as this Robert, th ou gh a ppa re ntly belon ging to the York firm, may also hav e itinerat ed. But it is more probable that th e Preston Oldfield was a different man altogether, for th e parish church registers show that a person of this nam e was settled

.. . _.._-_.- - - - - 36. W alt ers, Ch. Bells of England, 240. Sec a lso Kurth. e ll . Bells of N orthants, 41, 44; Tilley & Walters, Ch. Bells of Warwick shir e, 64. 37. Kenyon MSS., 51. Hist. MSS. Com. 38. Walrcrs, Gil. Belts of E ssex. 39. Trans., xxxix, 139. THE CHURCH BELLS OFL ANCASHIRE. 103 with his family at Preston from about 1620.40 If th e identity of th e Robert Oldfield of the registers with th e R obert Oldfield of th e 1638 letter could be established it would go far to prove tha t th ere was a bell-foundry at Preston in th e first half of th e 17th cent. Failing thi s, the Preston Oldfield adds one more to th e many puzzles presented by several bell-founders of that name. It was possibly this Robert Oldfield who cast three bells for St. Nicholas, Liverpool, ab out 1628-9,41 whi ch were of such base metal th at th ey had to be recast in 1636 by Thomas Hancock of Walsall. The place of habitation of thi s Robert Oldfield is unfortunately not stated in the Liverpool records, and I may hav e been wrong in describing him as of Nottingham.

THE W1 GAN FOUNDRY ( 17 TH CENT URY). The ea rly history of th e Wigan foundry is obsc ure. A R obert Orrell, or Orwell, of Wigan, is known to have recast th e g rea t bell at Bodfari Church , Flintshire, in 1592, and to have cast a new bell for H oly Trinity Church, Chester, in 1600.42 Both these bells have dis­ a ppea red, but th ere is a bell with the ini tials R.O. dated 1594 at Llan fihan g el G lyn-y-Myfyr (Denb ig hs hirej.v It is difficul t witho ut knowledge of his trade-m ar k, the nature of his lett ering , or the character of his inscri p­ tions to state with certainty th at R obert Orrell was th e founder of any of th e R .O. bells already refer red to as probabl y his, but by a p rocess of elimina tion (the known Oldfi eld bells are of a different cha racter) it seems at least probable th at the Turton Tower bell (1587), th e

40. Theprinted registers (La nes. Par. Reg. Soc., xlviii ) begin in 1611 and end Febru ar y 1635-6. Robert Oldfi eld mar ried 31 August 1620. Three sons and three dau ghters of Robert Oldfi eld were baptised betw een July 1621 and Februar y 1628.9. H is wife was buried 13 June 1631. 41. T'ran s., xxxii , 50. 42. Trans., xxxii, 116, wh ere references are given. 43. 1 am informed by Mr. J . M. Bott oml ey that the style of lett ering shows a dis tinct lik eness to that on the Winwick sa nct us. 101 THE CHURCHHEl.LSO FL ANCASHIRE.

Winwick sanctus (1600). a nd the bells at Conishead Priory (1604) and Tonge, Middleton (1614), are by him. Orrell's great bell at Bodfari was apparently not sa tis­ factory, at it was again recast in 1597 by Thomas Friar (who had recast th e lesser bell th e yea r before)." Of Thomas Friar I have no inf ormation ot her th an what is found in the Bodfari Church Book under dates 1596 a nd 1597,45 but it seems clears from these that Friar was working on hi s own acc ount, and if I a m right in ascrib­ ing th e ea rly 17th cent. R .O. bells to Robert Orrell, it foll ows that Friar was not Orrell's s uccessor in th e W igan foundry. Failing evide nce of Friar's bein g in any way con nec ted with Wigan, it seems reasonable to assume that Orrell was cast ing the re till abo ut 1614-the dat e of th e T on ge bell. T here is also a bell cast in the same year, with th e ini tials R.O., at Corney , in Cumbe rland;" a regi on in whi ch W igan bells of later dat e are not un common.

Orrell's, at any rat e, is th e first name we meet with in con nection with a bell-foundry at Wigan , th ou gh he is not mention ed in S inclair's hi st ory of th e town (1882). M r. Earwaker'? mentions R obert Orrell's casting of the

44 . Entries in Bodfari Church Boo k ki ndly sup plied by Mr. Bottom­ ley. Sp ace u nfor tun at ely docs not permit these being g iven. Another Orrell occ urs in 1662, whe n th e bells of Cacrwys, Flintshire, we re cast a t W hitfor d, a few miles a wa y. The pr incipal pay ment was m ade to Cli bury, a smaller one to an Orrell. 45. Friar 's Bodfari bell s hav e unfortunately dis ap peared. Ther e Me now three bells, one cast in 1630 and tw o in 1636 : for inscription s see Thom as, H ist . Dioc. St. Asap h, 283. 46. It is th e larger of two; incised on it a re the initials H.P., wh ich occur also on the sm aller bell dated 1621. It seems likely there ­ for e th at both bells are fr om the same foundry, H.P. bein g the initials of a for em an or assista nt: note by H . B. W alt ers. If so, this wo uld bring Orrell down to 1621. 47. T rans . Hi s/. Soc .L anes. and Ches hi, xlii, 170 (N.S . 6). Hi s referen ce is to abstracts of church wa rde ns' accounts of H oly T rin ity pa rish in H arl. MSS. 2177. H e mention s also a Rober t Orrell, of Wi gan , br azier, 1734 (p. 177). THE CH URCH BELLS OF LANCA SHIRE. 105 bell for Holy Trinity, Chester, but adds" it is not stated where he lived." He is not referred to, there­ fore, by Mr. Earwaker, under the Wigan foundry, whi ch, with Sinclair, he introduces with the name of John Scott." Sinclair, writing of Wigan bell-founders in the 17th cent., says:- There were several firms in th e tow n, but only one on a very large scale.... The largest firm und oubtedly w as th at of th e Scott family, wh ich existed in a pr osperou s sta te throughou t th e whol e of th e century. The origina l firm w as that of j am es a nd john Scott. It is no t record ed that they m ad e a ny bells for W igan, but several bill s have been pa id to th em for re pai ring th e severa l bells in th e Parish Church towe r. ... From severa l such accounts it is evident that the re were many bell-founders in the town, but the Scotts und oubtedly took th e lead in th e trade. Their social position was high and m any member s of the family took a n hon ourable part in th e govern me nt of th e town. j am es a nd Jo hn Scott, th e origin al firm, were bailiffs in 1627, and in the yea rs 1653, 1688, and 1701 members of th e family wer e mayor s of Wigan .49 There is a payment to John Scott, of Wigan, for bell­ steps in 1635 by the churchwardens of Frodsham, in Cheshire, but the earliest bell in Lancashire by this founder is that at Hindley, dated 1646, within a year of his death. His will, dated 26 December 1646, was proved at Ch ester on 25 January 1647-8, but the date of his death, which apparently took place in 1647, is not stated;" John Scott used the well-known stamp I ~:. for" John Scott, Wigan," whi ch is found on five other bells in Lancashire, the earliest of whi ch, Holy Trinity, Warrington, 1647, was in all probability cast by John, but the others mu st be by his su ccessor. John Scott is known also to have cast a bell for Upholland about 1646, whi ch had not been paid for when he made his will." ------_. 48. Ro bert- Ford of Wigan in 1617 cast " tw o br asses for the great bell" at St. Mar y-on -th e-Hill, Ch est er, but th ere is nothing to indicate th at he w as a bell-founder: Earw ak er, H ist oj St. Mory-on-Hiit, Chester. 49. Sincla ir, H ist. oj lVigau, i, 204. 50. Trans. ni«. Soc. Lanes, and Chesh., xlii, 170. 51. TrailS., xxxii, 101. 106 T HE CH U RCH HELLS OF L/INCAS HI R E.

John Scott appea rs to have been succee ded by Jeffrey, or Geoffrey Scott, who conti nued to use the I~ . stamp, the bell s at Edenfield (1654), th e 3rd and tenor at Cart­ mel (1661),52and the 2nd at S t. Michael-on-Wyre (1663) being by him . There was also formerl y a bell at Miln­ row with th e sa me stamp, dated 1654. Mr. Earwaker was un abl e to esta blis h the relation between Geoffrey and John Scott, and my fo rtune has bee n no better. In John's will th ere is me ntio n of his son R auffe, and his grandson John son of the sa id Rauffe, but not of any Geo ffrey . H e may have been a brother , or nephew, bu t he certainly was casting in his own nam e in 1657, in whi ch year th e churchwa rde ns of S t. Mary-on-the-H ill, Ches ter, paid £25 to " Geoff rey Scott, the bellfounder , for casting foure bells with th eir brasses, " an d went to Wigan to see the bells cast .P Geoffrey also recast th e g rea t bell of the same church in the following yea r, as well as a bell for Clitheroe," a nd in 1662 the Wigan ch urchwardens pai d £5 9s . 3d. to " Jephraie Scott for casting th e bell steppes a nd overweig ht. "55 In Novem­ ber 1649 th e Liverpool Co rpo ra tion had " some con­ fe rence with th e bell-founder of Wigan [presumably Geoffrey Scot t] about th e casting of two bells,"56 and th e work was or de red to be put in hand. One of th e bells at T ax al , C hes hire, dat ed 1656, bears th e l ~ : sta mp, and in 1657 th e bells of Wilmslow parish church were recast at Wigan , one of whi ch, with the sa me stamp, st ill ex ists ." In 1659 Geoffrey recast

52. A bell from Eat on H all , Cheshi re, with th e l~~: stamp. dar ed 1657, a nd wi th the same motto as on th e Cartmel 3r d, was ha ng ing in th e grounds of Abb er ley H all. Worcestershi re, ab out 1890 : ex inform. H. B. Walter s. 53. Earwaker, in T ran s. Hist. Soc. L. alld C., xlii, 173. 54. The contract for th e Cl ith eroe bell is dated 10 September, 1658. 55. Bridgeman, CII. and .11 (lllor of 1I · i.~ all . C het , Soc., l\' .S. xvil, 552. 56. L' pool MUllic. Records, i, 2 12 ; T'rans., xxxii, 51. wh ere th e founder is erroneously referred to as John Sco tt. But John had then been dead two years. 57. E arwakcr, op. cit ., 174. See a lso Si ncla ir, H ist. of Jl!igall. i, 20. THF. (' [{ { ' UCH llF./.I.S O F L4 NC!I SIiIRE. 107 th e great bell of Bolton parish church;" but it no longer remains. The trebles at Shotwick, Ch eshire, and Llanbeblig, Carnarvonshire, both dated 1664, bear his stamp, a nd in th e same year the churchwa rdens of Frodsham paid £10 to " Geofferie Scott, bell founder." Geoffrey Scott died in 1665. 1n his will. mad e in th e sa me yea r, he descr ibes hims elf as " Jeffery Scott of Wigan, bellfounder," and mentions his sons William, R oger and Ch arl es . "Such g'oods as shall be fit for my son William's trade " were not to be valued in his inventory. His debts included sums owing by the churchwa rde ns of six parish es in Lancashire, Cheshire. and Derbyshire." William Scott su cceed ed his father. H e appears, however, to have taken over th e business before his father's death , for in 1664 th e churchwa rdens of Frods­ ham paid £2 to " William Scott ... in part towards th e Bell , its casting and metal, " and £13 lat er in th e same year. In 1666 he cast the bell still at C het­ ham's H ospital , Manchester ;" which is th e earliest exa mple of his work in Lancashire, and bears his initial stamp, with a bell between th e letters. In 1668 he recast th e little bell of Bolt on pari sh churc h .v' in 1677 the first of Wig-an parish church ,62 in 1681 th e second at Broughton-in-P reston ;" two bells for Childwall in 1684,64 th e bell at Denton chapel in 1692,65 and the fourth of Wigan parish church in 1694.66 All th ese hav e disappear ed , bu t th e second of Bolt on-l e-Sands, which he recast in 1694, is still in lise. Outside Lancashire, William Scott recast the littl e bell at W allasey in 1673,67 some of th e Wilmslow bells

ss. Trans., xxxiii, 15. 59. Earwa ker, op , cit., 174, where they are recited a t len gth. 60. Trans. , xl , 148. 61. I bid., xx xiii, 16. 62. Ib id , xx xi i, 109. 63. Ibid., xx xvii, 43. 64. l bid., x xx ii, 18. 65. I bld., xxxii i, 26 . 66 . Bridgem an, Hi st, of Wigan Ch., 587; Trans. Hist , Soc. I.. an d C.. xlii, 175. 67. Cheshire Sh eaf, N.S. i, 52 (April 1891). 108 T HECHU RCH BELLS OF L.1 N G.I SHI RE. in 1682, th e fou rth a t P restbury in 1684, a bell for Llan­ beblig, Carnarvonshire, in 1674, and on e for Eskdale, Cumberland, in 1687. Mr. Earwak er state s tha t prob­ a bly his last bell was th e tenor of Chapel-en-Ie-F rith, recast at vVig an on 6 Au gust 1701,68 an d say s " it is probably that with him th e trade of bell-founding, whi ch had been so lon g in th e family of Scott , came to an end. " His will was made 9 June 1702 and proved 11 "M ay 1703. In it he mentions his wife, but there is no reference to children or othe r person s of the nam e of S cott. From this NIr. Earwaker inferred th e closin g of th e foundry on William Scott's death; but the treble bell at Tunstall , dat ed 1710, bear s his ini tials and th e same motto as on the Bolto n-le-Sands second, th e motto being a favourite one of th e Scotts. It is clear, th ere­ fore, th at the foundry was kept going for at least seven years after William 's dea th , not necessarily, but possibly, by a member of th e Scott fa mily . Someon e, a t a ny rat e, was usin g W illiam Scott's initial sta mp in 1710, and it seems unlikely that thi s would be Ral ph Ashton, as bells with his own initi als a nd characteristic sty le of lettering date from at least 1707.

IV. THE EIGHTE ENTH CENTURY. At th e close of th e W ar the number of 18th cent. bells was 265, of which more than hal f came from the Rudh all foundry. These bells are best summari sed un der their resp ective foundries, a nd it may be well to cont inue th e story of th e Wigan founders from the dea th of W illiam Scott.

THE WIGAN F OUK DR Y ( 18 TH CE NTU RY) . It wo uld appear that th e firm of Ashto n had come in to being as bell-founders before th e clos ing of Scott's works. There is, how ever , some un certainty abo ut the mat ter , a nd it is just possibl e that th ere may have been

68. T rails. H ist . Soc. L. alld C. , xlii, 176, quoting T he Reliquary , vi, 67. TH EC HURCH BE L LS OF L ANCASHIR E. 109 some connection between th e two families a nd th at th e Ashtons ' foundry both overlapped and continued that of their predecessors. However th at may be, th e earliest dated bell in Lancash ire which ca n with cer­ tainty be ascribed to R alph Ashton, of Wigan, is that at Ov erton (1707), whi ch bears his ini tials a nd th e name of th e place of easting-. It has no inscr iption, a nd its ornam ent is unlike that on an y other of Ashton's bells in the co unty. From th is it see ms reasona ble to s up­ pose that th e Ash ton family had not th en begun to use the" lower-case" type of lett erin g whi ch was in afte r years its chie f cha rac teris tic . If th is were so , it perhaps may provide a rea son for claiming as Ashton's the bell at H olcombe, dated 1698, which bear s th e initials R. A. The letterin g, how ever, is unlike that used by him in later days th ou gh not unlike that used by th e Scotts, and th e trefoil stops may suggest an orig in for the lat er hearts as used by th e Ashtons.?" T here is, however, nothing on th e H olcombe bell to indicate th e place of its casting, and without further knowledge it woul d be unwise defini tely to ascribe it to Ralph As hton . His bells in Lan cashire, lat ely or at present rem aining , are as foll ows :- Ov erton (now at Sch ool-house), 1707. Leigh, sa nctus, 1715. O rmskirk, san ctus, 1716. Lowick, 1716. P enning ton, near U lve rsto n, 1719. Of th ese, th e two last nam ed have gone ; th e on e, after han ging in a Barrow church , was recast in 1901, the other (P enning ton) consigned to th e melting-pot in 1926. There are no initials on the Leigh a nd O rrn s­ kirk bells, but the nature of th eir lett ering and ornam ent makes their Wigan origin a matter of little doubt. In addition to the initials th e P ennington bell, like that at Overton. bore th e name of the place of casting.7°

69. T rans.• xxxiii, 43, 46. 70. Spelled" Wignn " in 1707, a nd " W iggnn " in 1719. 110 THE CHU RCH BELLS OF L A JV CASHIR E.

No ne of R al ph Ashton's bells su rvive in Wigan itself, though he recast th e little bell of the pa rish c hurch in 1717. 71 Although comparatively little of his work remains in La ncashire, his bells are found as wid e apart as Cumb erla nd and Merio net hshi re, with dates ran ging fro m 1703 to 1722. 72 R alph Ashton, then, was certai nly cast ing in his own nam e d urin g th is period of twe nty years. T he earliest d ated bell in Lancashire by his successor L uke Ashto n (tho ug h not bearing his name) is the first at H eysh am , .cast in 1723, a nd in this same year he cast five bells for W all asey church in Cheshire;" and a sa nctus bell for Abergele, Luke Ash ton's existing bells in Lanca­ shire are as foll ows :- 1723 H eysham , 1st, " Wiggan." 1724 H eysham , 2nd , " Luke Ashton, Wigan." 1724 U rswick, 1st (recast 1907).74 1724 Caton, 2nd. 1725 Ellenbrook. 1727 Claughton, 1st. 1728 W rea Gree n. 1732 Copp, sanctus. 1733 Lowton, 1st. 1739 R ampside. 1740 Gressingham.

71. T rans., xxxii, 110. 72. In Cum berla nd a t Dalston (1704), Kirkhampton (1705) and Melrn er by (1715); in :-.I orth W ales a; Ll an gerni ew, Den big hshi re (treble, 1703), Ruthin (1719), Hope, Flintshire (second, 1720), a nd Llany cil, Merioneth shire (firs t, 1722). Ralph Ashton also cast mort ars for pharm acists, one of which, in the possession of Mr. A. G.Hemming . is dat ed 1706 : see The Connoisseur. Ma rch, 1929, p. 166. 73. Trails. H ist, So c. L anes. alld Chesh ., xlii, 176, where the inscrip­ tions are give n. A treble was added in 1853. T hese bells rema ined in the tow er till 1857. Ashton's tr eble was inscribed "Luke Ashton in Wigan made us all 1723. " See also Cilesh. Sheaf, N.5. i, 52, 56 (April, 1891), wh ere a fu ll account of th e W allasey bells is giv en. 74 . But inscription reproduced in facsimile by T ayl ors; an excellent .exa mple of recasting. TH ECHURCHB ELLSOF UNC!l SHIR E. 111

1743 W arton, near Kirkham. 1743 Standish Hall Chapel (hemispherical)." 1744 W oodland. 1746 Formby. 1746 Rufford, 1st. 1746 Melling, near Liverpool. 1750 North Meols, 2nd. 1751 T oxt eth Chapel. 1756 Langho. 1756 Lathom Park. 1758 P eel (probably).

These bells ran ge in size from 13 ~ In. diam eter at W arton to 37 ~- in. at North Meol s. All bear Luke Ashton's name?" exce pt th e first at H eysh am and th ose at Ell enbrook, Rampside, W oodland, T oxteth, Langho a nd L a rhorn, but the evide nce of th e lett ering a nd orname nt is co nclusive as regards their Wigan ori gin. The lon g disu sed bell at Penny's H ospital, Lan caster , is also Ashton' s a nd bears his nam e, but is undated. The hospital was founded in 1720, but th e bell may not be so ea rly . If it is, it is th e earliest of Luke Ashton 's bells in the county. In his account of the vVigan bell-foundry" NIr. Ear­ waker had comparatively little to say ab out Luke Ash­ ton , no systemat ic survey of Lancashire bells at th at tim e having revealed th e ext ent of his work in th e county, but stated that he was p rob abl y the last of the W igan bell-founders. He apparently arrived at th is conclus ion from th e fact th at in 1732 the bells of Wigan parish churc h were sent to Gloucester to be recas t,

II which would hardly have been th e case had th ere been a ny good foundry in th e tow n." The ab ove list, how­ ever , shows that there was a bell-foundry ac tively engaged in Wigan for more th an twenty yea rs after th e

75. Now in W igan Pu blic L ibrary. 76. The U rswick bell bore Lu k e's name befo re recasting. 77. Trans. Hist, So c. Lanes, and Ch eshc, xlii, 170-177. 112 T HE CHU R CH BELLSO F UNG.ISllIRE.

parish church bells were recast at Gloucester. Luke Ashton took th e seve ra l oa ths of all egiance at the ope n Court Leet held in Wigan on 3 S eptember 1737, and a month lat er his name appear s, as a serg ea nt, subscribed to simi lar oath s. It a lso occurs agai n in t he years 1738, 1739, 1740 (as se rgeant), 1747 (ba iliff),78 1759, and fina lly, as se rgea nt, 5 October 1762. 79 The dat e of his death I have not discovered . 1\1 r. Earwak er sear ch ed in vain for a ny will s of this As hto n fnrnil y .'? It certa inly seems cur ious t hat th e churc hwa rde ns of Wigan should send th eir bells to Gloucester when a founder in their own town was casting bells for regions as far apart as North Wales and the Isle of Ma n.81 Two Wigan bells in the county of Denbig h, at LlandriJlo-in­ Rhos (1752) an d at Llanneffydd (1753), which have hithert o bee n attributed to Luke As hto n, have on exam inatio ns? been found to bear th e nam e or initials of a second R al ph Ashton;" who apparently was in cha rge of th e Wigan foundry during the lat er years of the life of L uk e. Of th is second R al ph enquiry so fa r has elicited nothing , and his relations hip to Luke ca n only be co njectured . There is, however , no doubt as to his casting the above bells in 1752 and 1753, and it may be not ed that Luke Ashton's nam e does not occur on a ny of th e Wigan bells in La ncas hire after 1750. It is th er efore likely t hat Luke retired abo ut 1751 a nd th at the bu siness was ca rried on by thi s seco nd R alph for som e years afterwa rds. The lat est date that I have noted so fa r for a bell from th e Ashton foundry is 1756:

78. Mr. Luke Ashton a nd Richar d Fairbroth er presented acco un ts as Ba ilives for the year 1747. 79 . Wi gan Oaths of Alleg ian ce : MS. book in W igan F ree Library. 80. Trans. Hi st , S oc. La nes, and Ches h., xlii, 177. 81. The following ha ve been noted : LJanwrid a (two, 1724). Ru thin Castl e (1728), LJandudn o (1730), Bryneylwys (1735), LJan aelh ai arn (1749). 82 . Ex inform . Mr. J. M. Botto mley , who has kin dly supp lied me wi th r ubbi ngs. 83. T he LJandrilla bell has a device with supporter" a nd the name .. Ral ph Ashton, W igan ." T he l.I an nefydd bell has R .:\. only, divided by two heart-sh aped stops; it is 20 ~ in. in dia meter, in a bell-cote. THE CHU RCHBE LLS GF Lil NC ,ISHIRE. 113 oth ers may exist in North W ales'" and elsewhere whi ch a syst ematic exa mination of th e belfries may reveal. The full histor y of the W igan foundry has ye t to be written , but eno ug h has been said to show th at through­ out the 17th and first hal f of th e 18th cent. it was very fully employed and supplied bells to churches not only in Lancashire but in th e who le north-western a rea from Cumberla nd and the Isl e of Man to North Wales;" Further inve stigation may bring to light the date and circums ta nces of th e closing of the Ashton foundry, but th e so mewha t desultory methods whi ch up to now I have alone been ab le to pursue leave the end of th e story untold. Before leavin g th e subject of the Wigan bell-founders, however , it ma y be well to mention the names of one or two men who have sometimes been included in thi s cat egory, bu t without suffici ent evide nce . Mr. Ear­ waker has pointed out th at during th e who le of th e 17th and the ea rly part of th e 18th cent. Wigan appear s to have been th e hom e of a large number of persons who carr ied on th e trad e of b raz iers , pewtere rs, etc.," two of whom at least styled themse lves "founders." H e mentions the wills of John H arvey, braz ier, 1614 ; Edward Ma rkland, or Monkland, founder, 1669 ; W illiam Fairbrot her, founder , 1726 ; and R obert Orrell, brazi er (already referred to), 1734, all of Wigan. But th e word " founder" probabl y mean t little more than brass-founder , thou gh the possibility th at one or other of th e ab ove ma y have occasionally cast a bell need not ------84. The a uthors of T he Old Churches of Snowdonia (1924) state th a t "Ashton mu st have do ne a good trade in th ese parts ju dg in g from th e number of his bells we have come across " (p. 283). 85. L uk e Ashto n, like the first R alph, also cast pharmaceutical mortars. O ne of th ese, m ad e to se rve as a bell , is now in th e W igan Pu blic L ibrary. It is inscri bed " 1. Hull 1740 " and bears Luke Ash­ to n 's name. See also article by W. K irkby in Phar m aceutical Journal, 6 May 1916. 86. oe. cit., p. 177. 114 THE CHURCH HE I.LS OF L1NC:ISHIRJ-:. be rul ed ou t. Something ha s already been sa id about R ob ert For d of Wigan, who cast two brasses for a bell in Ches ter in 1617.87 In Thomas' History of th e Diocese of S t. Asaph there is men tion of a bell at Hope, Flintshire, by Ashpool of Wigan , cast in 1793,88 but so far exha us tive search in W igan Librar y has revealed nobody of the name of Ashpool, tho ugh Aspull is common eno ugh.89 At Booti e, Cumberla nd, th e larger of the two old bells is inscribed S .R. vVI G AN 1790 in large R oman characters .?' but the identity of th e founder has not been establis hed . THE YORK FOUNDERS . Exa mples occur of the wor k of three 18th cent. York founders, Samuel Smith II, Edward Seller, and George Dalton. T he bell at Br oughton Tower is also apparent ly by a York founder, but bea rs no maker's nam e or ini tial s, and th e ornament differs slightly from th at used by Smith or Seller. Samuel S m ith 11. After th e dea th of Abra ha m S mith in 1662,91 the Yo rk foundry passed to Samuel Smith, wh o carried it on till his dea th in 1709, when he was succeeded by his son of th e sa me name. The first Samuel S mith cast four bells for Burnley parish churc h in 1702, which remained in the tower for a hundred

------.._. ------~ - _ . - 87 . Supra, p. 105. 88. Op. cit. , p. 594. The bell is one of three; th e others are dat ed res pectively 1623 and 1720. 89. I am ind ebt ed to Mr. A.J . H aw kes,F .S .A., the librarian, for this information . Mr. H aw kes has exam ined all lists of inhabitants, no t onl y in search of a n " Ashpoo l .. but of anyone desi g na ted as bell­ founder . The ea rliest Wi gan Direct ory, ho wever, is 1797: in it a re th e names of four Aspulls, two of whom wer e innk eepers and two coo pers. T hou g h bell-fo unders we re usu all y pewterers, it is unl ikely that a cooper wo uld follow any trade but his ow n . The D irector y contains the nam e of J ames Ashton, pew terer . 90. l owe thi s information to Mr. H .B . W alter s, F.S.A. The lett ers a re 1 ~ inc hes high: the Sand N are reversed, 91. Su pra, p. 100. tnt: ClJ URrE-T HEI.LS OF L:IVCISHIRE. 115 years and were then disposed of.92 Of the second Samuel 's bells th e following are found in Lancashire :­ ]717 Bacup. ]724 Bolt on-le-Sands, 1st. 1731 Tunstall, ten or. 1731 Warton, tenor. Lik e all S mith 's bells, these are marked by orname nta l borders in which are inserted numerous bells and a s hield, or med alli on, with th e initials" 5.5. Ebor." Edward Seller J]. A rival foundry was started at York in 1710 by Edward S eller, wh ose bells are similar in sty le to Smith's. S eller d ied in 1724 and was s ucceede d by his son of th e same name, who di ed in 1764. 93 The following Lanca shire bell s arc by Edward S eller II : 1729 Tunstall, 2nd. 1734 Cartrnel Fell, 1st. 1739 \ Vhittington, ten or. 1747 H olme-in-Clivig er. These bells range in diam eter fr om 16 in . at Holme to 41 ~ in. at Whittin gton. Those at Tunstall and 'W hittingto n bear th e inscription" Gl oria in altissimis Deo,» which was a lso a favourite motto of th e Smiths' and occurs on th e Bolton-le-Sands trebl e. Edward Seller II also ca st a rin g of six for Whalley in 1741,94 one of which bor e th e sam e motto; an other was recast in 1823, and th e whole ring after the fire of 1855. Georg e Dalton. The last of this line of York founders" was G eor ge Dalton, who was cas ting between 1750 and 1791. Three of his bells rem ain in Lanca­ s hire : 1756 ' Mossl ey , 1764 Littleborou gh. 1782 W arton, 1st.

92. Tr ans. xxxiv, 17. 93. V .C.H . Yor ks. , i i , 452. 94 . Tr an s., xxxiv, 67. 95. V.C.H. Yo rk s.• ii, 452. 116 THE CH URCH BEl.LS OF L.4 NCtlSHIRE.

Of th ese, Mossley is 20 ~ in. in diameter and Warton 351 in. All three bear Dalton's nam e and date, but the Littleborough bell alone has an inscription.

THE PETERBOROUGH F OU1\DRY. Henry Penn had a foundry at Peterborough from 1703 to 1729, and cast a large number of bells, including rings for Ely a nd Peterborough ca thedrals. A bell of Penn's dated 1706 was formerly, according to Mr. Beamont, at H oly Trinity, W arrington, but is at neither of the pl aces to which he indifferently accredited it. 96 There is, however, a small bell by this founder dated 1708 at the U nita ria n Church , Stand, near Manch ester.

THE BROM S GROVE FO UNDRY. A foundry at Bromsgrove was worked from 1703 to 1738 by Richard Sanders, whose bells are common in Worcestershire, a nd from 1738 to 1750 by William Brooke. There a re thirteen of Sanders' bells in Lanca­ shire, d istributed as foll ows :- 1711 Winwick, Ist-3rd, 5th-6th. 1718 Deane, 3rd-5th and tenor. 1718 Farnworth, 2nd-5th. These orig inally represented rin g s of six at Winwick and Dean e, and of five at Farnworth, but eac h rin g has suffered from recasting. Sanders often used " lower­ case" lettering in his inscriptions, but it occurs in Lancashire onl y on the Deane tenor.

T HE CHEPST OW FO ONDRY. Evan and William Evans carried on a foundry at Chepstow, Monrnouthshire, between 1690 and 1765, their earlier bells bearing the initials of Ev nn and th e later of William, while both sets of initials occur from

96. Trans., xxxii, 107. THE CH URCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE. 117

1718 to 1729.97 The wide reputation of the Evanses can be estimated from the fact that three of th eir bells are found in N orth Lonsdale, th ough not elsewhere in Lancashire :- 1726 Cartmel, 1st (E .E., W.E.). 1729 Cartmel, 2nd (W.E.). 1737 Satterthwaite (W.E.). On the Cartrnel treble th e motto "P eac e and Good Nei ghbourhood," so dear to the Rudhalls, is used. The Satterthwaite bell is 15 in. diameter, th e othe rs 32 in. and 34 in. respectively.

THE B:\RROW-ON-H U~IBE}~ FOUI\DRY. J am es Harrison , of Barrow-on-Humber, in Lincoln­ shire, cast a ring of six bells fo r Hawkshead in 1765, all but o ne of wh ich (the 5th) rema in. He a lso rehung L est er and Pack 's bells a t W alton-le-Dale in 1760-61, but th ose at H awksh ead a re the only bell s in L an cashire which ca n definitely be ascribed to him . It is, howev er, possible that he cast the ring of six a t Hornby (1761), though th e" lower-ca se" lettering used in the inscrip­ tions is unlike that on t he H nwkshead bells. The Hornby bell s are without mak er 's name or mark, and th eir origin is un certain . Harrison 's H awksh ead bells a re notable for th eir rh yming in scriptions a nd som ewhat elabo ra te ornament. James Harris on be g an casting about 1761_2,98 a nd was succ eeded in 1770 by Henry Harrison, foll owed in 1788 by James Harrison II, who co ntinued th e foundry till 1833 .

THE GLOU CE ST ER FOU :\,DRY. There was a foundry at Gloucester a t th e end of the 16th cent., which co nt inue d intermittently throughout th e 17th ce nt. , and after a break between 1676 and 1684

97. The initials of Evan Ev an s alone occ ur on so me bells till 1729. 98 . He was ch osen to re cas t th e bells of Preston pa ri sh church in 1762, but it is not qui te clear whether he did so : Tr an s.• xxxviii, 92. 118 THE CHURCH BELLS OF LlNCISHIHE.

"arose with renewed vigour and established itself firmly for 150 years under the leadership of the famous family of the Rudhalls."99 The story of the Rudhall foundry has been set out by Canon Ellacombe, t and has often been retold. Suffice it to say here that the career of Abraham Rudhall I extended from 1684 to January 1735-6. With him was associated, from 1718, his son Abraham II, who died a few weeks before his father, and whose son Abel began to cast in his own name in 1736. Abel died in 1760, leaving three sons, Thomas (1761-83), Charles (1783-85), and John (1783-1835), who were all associated with the business and cast bells in their own names within the periods signified. The foundry nominally closed in 1828, but bells with John Rudhall's name were cast for seven more years, when the business was bought by Mears of London. The successive owners of the RudhalJ foundry are said to have cast in all 4,521 bells, of which some 700 were for their own county. In the" Catalogue of Bells cast by the Rudhalls of Gloucester from 1684 to 1830," printed as Appendix B to Ellacombe's book, thirty-six" rings of bells in Lancashire, ranging from five to ten in number, are included, the heaviest being that of Wigan (eight) with a tenor weighing 30 cwtP: but of these rings only eight remain unaltered. The following is a brief record in chronological order of the bells from the Rudhalls' Gloucester foundry existing in Lancashire when the present survey was made (1914-21) :- 1. Abraham Rudhall I (41 bells). 1706 Manchester Cathedral, 3rd-5th, 7th-9th.4 1707 Liverpool, St. Augustine.s 1707 " Knotty Ash." 99. Walters, Ch. Bells of Shropshire, 442. 1. Ch . Bells of Gloucestershire (1881), 5: pedigree of Rudhall family, 79. 2. But 51. Nicholas, Liverpool, is named twice. 3. Elsewhere the weight is given as 29 cwt. 2 q. 14 lbs, 4. All recast 1924. 5. From the old ring of 51. Peter's, Liverpool. THE CHU RCH B ELLS O FL ANCASHIRE. 119

1709 Eccles, 3rd, 5th-7th.6 1711 Aldingham, 1st. 1711 U rswick, 2nd. 1712 P enwortham, 2nd to 6th. 1713 Goosnargh, 3rd and 4th. 1714 Copp . 1714 Middleton, 3rd to 8th. 1714 O rmskirk, 3rd to 6th. 1714 Standish, 3rd and 6th. 1715 " 4th and 7th. 1715 Aughton, 1st to 4th . 1718 Rusholm e, Platt Chapel. 2. Abraham R udhall II (35 bells ) . 1721 Prest wich, 5th to 8th. 1722 Bury , 3rd to 8th. 1722 Leyland, 2nd, 3rd and 7th.7 1722 Oldham, St. james. " 1722 " St. P eter. " 1723 Euxton (school). 1723 Ga teac re, Unitarian C ha pel. 1727 Didsbury, 1st to 6th. 1727 Eccleston, 1st , 2nd and 5th. 1732 Wigan , 1st to 7th, and sa nctus . The old bell of Birch C ha pel, Rusholme, 1727, is probably a lso one of Rudhall's, but is without name or initials. 3 .A bel Rudhall (57 bells) . 1736 W alton-on-the-Hill, 1st to 6th. 1737 Blackburn, 5th to 9th. 1737 Eccleston, 3rd. 1740 Leigh, 3rd to Sth . 174~ P oulton-I e-Fylde, 1st to 5th. 1742 Goosnar gh , l st and 2nd. 1742 Prestwich , 3rd. 1742 St. Mic hael-on-Wyre, ten or.

6. All recast 1929. 7. All reca st 1929. 8. From old ring of O ldha m pa rish churc h. 120 T HE CH URCH BE/.LS OF Ll NC;J SHIRE.

1744 Lancaster , Ripley H ospital." 1744 W yresd ale. 1747 Blackburn, tenor. 1747 Lancaster , S t. John, Ist." 1748 Cockerha m, rin g of six . 1748 Salford, Sacred Trinity , 1st to 5th.1O 1749 H eywood , S t. James. 1749 Manchester Cathed ral, 6th.u 1752 R ochdale, 3rd to 7th. 1753 Goosna rgh, teno r. 1753 i\Jelling , 2nd to 6th. 1754 " 1st. 1754 W hitting ton , 4th. 4. Thomas Rudhall (14 bells) . 1761 Leig h, 1st and 2nd. 1769 Ma nches ter, St. Ann . 1774 Ashwort h .12 1774 O rmskirk, 1st, 2nd an d 7th. 1776 L iverpool, S t. Paul, S toneyc roft ." 1779 Ashton-under-Lyne, 4th , 6th to 8th , l Oth, and 11th. 5. John Rudhall, associated 7vith Charles 1784-86 (42 bells) . 1786 H aisall , l st, 2nd and 4th. 1786 Manc hester, S t. j ames." 1787 C ros ton, 3rd, 5th an d tenor. 1787 R ochdale, 1st a nd 2n d. 1790 Ashto n-und er-Lyne, 3rd . 1792 C horlto n-cum-Hardv . 1795 Eccles, S1. Andrew.!' 1798 L iverpool, Christ Church , Hunter Street. " _ ._ -- ..._-- _._- -- . . . _._ ------9. From old ri ng of Lan cast er pa rish church. 10. All recast 1922. 11. R ecast 1924. 12. No name or initials, but probably Ru dhalls, 13. Church to be pulled dow n. The bell is now at 51. Cri spin's Church, W ilbra ham Road, Fal lowfic ld . It has no name or initi als. u . F rom S t. P eter's Church. Ma nchest er, pulled dow n 1907. 15. Ch urch pu lled down 1927; bell stolen .ind pro bably broken up. THE CHURCH B EL LS OF LI1VCilSHIRE. 121

1806 Bolton parish church, I st to 3rd. 1806 " S t. Geor ge, rin g of eig ht. 1806 Croston , 1st, 2nd and 4th. 1806 Flixton, 4th to 8th. 1811 Halsall , tenor. 1812 R och dale, ten or . 1813 Hoole. 1815 Man chester Cathedra l, tenor;" 1825 .. ,, 1st and 2nd. 16 1825 Eccles, 1st, 2n d an d ten or.!? 1828 " 4th Y This list of John Rudhall's bells brings us beyon d our peri od , but as the Gloucester foundry ceas ed to function in th e third decad e of th e 19th cent. a complete d account of its work in Lan cashire seemed desirabl e. As se t out above, the tota l number of th e Rudhall s' bells in th e county at the close of th e G reat War was 189, but rece nt ac tivity among bell-founde rs ha s redu ced th e n umber by ab out twen ty-five, inclu d ing some of the oldest of th e bell s-six at Manchester Cathedral bein g dat ed 1706, a nd three at Eccles 1709. The disappea rance of the Cathedra l 7th and 9th is par ticul arl y to be regretted as they bore inscriptions in Go thic lettering-the onl y kn own exam ples of Abraham Rudhall's use of thi s style of lett erin g in th e kingdom. A number of RudhaJls' bells either recast or other­ wise made to di sappear before th e War may also be recorded :- 1707 Liverpool, St. Catharine (b roken up ). 1714 St andish, 5th (recast 1913). 1715 Denton (recas t 1896). 172~ Childwall, 2nd to 6th (recas t 1912). 1724 Liv er pool, St. John (disappear ed). 1728 Blackl ev" (recast 1808). 1744 Lan caster , 3rd , 5th a nd 8th (reca st 1846). -_ ._ - - - _._- - -- 16. Recast 1924. 17. Recast 1929. 18. No initials or name. but probably by R udh al l. 122 T HE CHURCH BELLS OF L ,lIVClSHIHE.

1748 Salford, Sacred Trinity, ten or (recast 1901). 1751 Childwall, 1st (recast 1912). 1784 Liverpool, S t. Joh n (at L iscard,C hes hi re). 1803 F lixto n, 1st a nd 3rd (recast 1888).

THE WHlTECHAP EL FOUNDRY. T he Whitech apel bell-foundry, London, was started in 1570, and under various owners has subsisted to th e present day. It s hist ory has often been told. No bells from thi s foundry cast befor e th e middle of the 18th cent. occur in Lan cash ire, th e ea rliest bein g dated 1760. In chronolog ica l order th e Whitech apel bells a re as follows :- B y L ester and Pack (12 bells) . 1760 Walton-Ie-Dale, 4th. 1761 " 1st to 3rd, and 5th . 1 1768 Manc hester, S t. John, Deansgate, 1st to 7th. \l By Pa ck and Chapman (2 bells ). 1773 As hton-in-Makerfield . 1780 Walton-Ie-Dale, ten or. By Chapman an d Mea rs (1782-84) . N .D. Blackrod, tenor. By W illi am Mea rs (5 bells) . 1786 Blac krod , l st to 5th. William C ha pman, who had ta ke n "Mears into partner­ ship, died in 1784, and Mear s th en bega n to cast in his own name. The former 6th be1l at Lancaster, dated 1786, was insc ribed " W m. Mears of London fecit , lat e L ester & Co.," tho ugh Lester' s nam e had disappeared from th e title of the firm in 1770. Three years after C hapma n 's dea th William Mears took int o pa rtnership his son T homas, and both names appear on bells between 1787 an d 1791. There ar e non e of t hese, how­ eve r, in Lancashire, the next in date bearin g th e nam e of Thomas only, who reigned alone ti1l 1805.

19. Remo ved to Eccles parish churc h in 1929. THECH URCH BJi LLS OF U NC:lSHIR F.. 123

By Thomas M ears I (15 bells). 1792 Dean e, 6th. 1793 Chipping, ring of six . 1794 Liverpool, Holy Trinity, Wavertree. 1802 Burnley, 1st to 7th.20 O n th e Dean e bell th e inscription is •• Thos. Mears lat e L est er P ack a nd C ha pman of London fecit. " Thomas Mears took his so n of the same nam e into partnership in 1805, and di ed in 1810. During these five yea rs th e sty le of th e firm was Thomas Mears & Son, and so a ppea rs at Accr ington (1805. a ring of six) . a nd on th e 2nd at Garstan g T own (1807). Thom as Mears II the n cast in his own name till his death in 1844, and during this peri od furn is hed bells for the following of the older Lancashire churches :-Singleton (1811, rin g of six), Preston (1814, ring of eight), Colne (1814, rin g of six), Blackburn, S t. P aul (1814), Ashton­ unde r-Lyne (1818, ten or). Ri bch est er (1821, ring of six), Over K ellet (1824, third), T arleton (1824), Garstang (1828, rin g of six) , Lindale (1828), Liverpool , S t. Peter (1829, ring of eig ht),21 Newchurch-in-Pendle (1830). D eane (1831, seventh), Adrnarsh (1836), T odrnorden, Ch rist Church (1836), U lve rsto n (1836, rin g of six ), Oldham (1837. ring of twe lve)," Liverpool , St. P eter (1839, two treb les)," Stretfor d (1842), Ma nch ester , St. l\Ia rk, Cheeth am Hill (1842), P resto n, St. George (1843) . A ring of six for Horwich (1831) was recast in 1913. Bel1s by th e second Thom as Mears also occ ur in some of the churches founded af ter 1800. The lat er be lls of th e W hitec ha pe l foundry , by C . a nd G. Mears (1844-61). George Mears & Co . (1861­ 65), and Mears & Stainbank (1865 to date), are very numerous in th e county.

20. All rec a st in 1924; the tenor had been recast in 1857 . 21. Moved to t he new 51. Helen s parish ch urc h in 1927. 22. All recast 1923. 124 T HE CH UR CH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE.

ANONYMOUS 18TH CEN TU R Y BELLS . The lik elihood of several anony mo us 18th cent. bells" bein g by Rudhall has been mentioned-but their ascr iption to th e Glou cester fo und er is not certa in . The foll owing 18th cent. bells a re also without the founder's name or initials, and bear no distinguishing marks :-Maghull (1709), Ruslan d (1752), H ornby (1761, six) ,24 G rimsargh (1765), T atham (1771, first). Gran ge (1772), H ollinfare (1778), T atham Fell (1774), and Farnwo rth (1789, first). The old bell now at T or ver sc hoo l-house (1730) is from a Dublin foundry, but has no name or initials. There are al so three a nonymo us sanctus bells-St. Jam es, Toxteth, L iverpool (1775), H ol y Trinity, Wavertree, L iver pool (1782), and H oly Trinity, Li verpool (1792). The blank bells at Blawith , Littledale and North Meols are almost certainly 18th cen t. , and p roba bly ot he r of th e blank bells also .

V. THE NINETEENTH C ENTURY. Over thirty bell s by William D obson , of D ownham, Norfolk, rem ain in the olde r Lan cashire churches. D ob son was ca sting betw een 1806 and 1833, but hi s foundry passed into the hands of Mears of WhitechapcJ. H e d ied in 1842.25 H e cast th e ring of twelve for St. N icho las, Li verpool, in 1812-13, all of which, excep t t he ten or ;" still remain; a ring of six for Hale, 1814; two tr ebles for Sefton, 1815 ; a bell for S t. S tep he n, S alfo rd, 1817 ; a ring of eight fo r Newto n H eath, 1818, now a t St. L uke, L iverpool ; a bell fo r St. John, Blackburn, 1822 ; and a ring of six (two since recast ) for Kirkby Ireleth, 1831. The bell at H oly T ri nity, Liverpool (1820), is p robably h is, and he ca st a rin g of six for th e new church at T yl desl ey in 1825. The g rea t Lo ughborough firm of th e Taylo rs, th ou gh th ey have don e a great deal of work in Lancash ire since ------23. Birch , Rusholme (1727), Ashworth (1774), Liverpool, St. Pau l (1776), and a form er bell at Blackley (1728). 24 . But see supra, p, 117. 25. For the Downham fou ndry see L 'E st range, Ch . B ells of Norf olk , 48-49. 26. Rec ast in 1911 by Warner & Sons, London. THE CHURCH BELLS OF LANCASHIRE. 125 th e middle of the 19th cent., appear to have cast no bells for the older churches till about 1844. In that yea r th ey cast a sing le bell for Altcar, th e next in date being one for St. Michael, Manchester, 1848, but after 1860 their bells are numerous. The firm ca n tra ce back its history to the Eayres of Kettering, from which pla ce it migrated by way of St. Neots to Leicester. R obert Taylor left St. Neots for Oxford a nd founded th ere till 1854. John Taylor opened the Lou ghborough busin ess in 1840: th e Alt car bell is thus one of his ea rliest. The firm' s work is found allover Lan cashire: the present rin g of eight at Lancaster pa rish church is theirs. J. Warner & Sons, of Cripplegate, London, date only from about 1850 as a bell-founding firm. Their bells are more numerous in the south and east of England th an in the north, but in Lancashire th ey are repre­ sented by several import ant rings in th e olde r chur ches, as at Childwall (1912). Chorley (1896), Dalton-in­ Furness (1913), Garston (1877), Milnrow (1869) and Swinton (1869, 1872), besides sundry additions and si ng le bells. Their work is found in many of th e modern churches. William Blews and Sons, of Birmingham, cast a ring of six for Church (1876) and single bells for White­ chapel (1875) and Ov erton (1878). They were casting from 1852 to 1886, bein g succeeded by Charles Carr, of Smethwick. Carr's bells are found at H oly Trinity, Morecarnbe (ring of six, 1897), and at U nsworth. James Barwell, of Birmingham, is represented by a single bell at Billinge (1887). His work also occurs in modern.churches." The steel productions of Naylor, Vi ckers & Co., of Sheffield (late V ickers, Sons & Co.), ar e to be seen at Ainsworth (1867), Ireleth , Lowick (three, 1885), and St. Mary, Walney (1872).

27. Trails., xxxii, 120, 123. 126 T HE CHURCH BE L LS OF LA NC/ISH/RE.

Gill ett a nd Johnson , of Croyd on, recast th e ring of eig ht for Heywood in 1911 and again in 1921. They have also rece ntly recast th e bells of Sacred Trinity, Salfo rd, Man chester Cathedral, and of Leyland pari sh c hurc h. Their work also is found in modern churc hes. J. Mur p hy , of Dublin, cast a bell for St. P aul, Liver­ pool, in 1861, a nd one for Maghull in 1895. Tubes, or " tub ular bells," occur at As hwo rth, Blackl ey, Chorlton-cum-Hardy , Finsthwaite, H ollin­ wood, Li verpool St. Ann, Newto n H eath , R oyton and W rea Gree n. At H olme-in -Cli viger is a set of hemi­ spherical bells. An onymous ea rly 19th cent. be lls are found at Ell el (1804), Li verpool, S t. Peter (sa nctus , 1807), Dendron (1810), H ey (1814 a nd 1819), Longton (1817), W ood­ plumpton (1837), and Shiresh ead (two, 1838). A certain number of Lancashire firms not primarily concern ed with bell-founding sh ould be notic ed as h avin g cast individu al churc h bells :- George Ainsworth, of Warrington, cast the sa nctus for W arrington parish churc h in 1806. H e also cast a bell for Tilstock, Shropshire, in 1815. John Stevenson , of P resto n, cast two bells (the 4th and 6th) for Leyland in 1835.28 W atson , Dagl eish & Co ., of S t. H elens, cast a bell for St. Helens pa rish church in 1840, and probabl y th e small bell there in 1837. Both peri sh ed in th e fire of 1916. Benjamin Hi ck & Son, of Bolton, cast a bell for Lon gridge in 1840.29 Cowg ill and Comer , of Liverpool, cast a bell for -o smoth erl y (U lve rston) in 1839, and as Cowgill, Comer and Jones, one for L ydi at e in 1841.

28. R ecast in 1929. 29. Benj am in Hi ck, ir onfoun der, died 9 Septe mbe r, 1842, age d 52. TH E CH U RCH BE l. LS O F L.4 NC.'ISHIRE. 127

Bathg ate a nd Wilson , of Liverpool, recast th e ten or bell (no w th e 7th ) fo r West Ki rb y pa rish church, C heshire, in 1854. W. R ob ert s & Co., of Ne lso n, cast a bell for Little Marsden in 1873.

VI. BL:\:-i"K B ELLS. Blank bells, tha t is bells without inscription, date, mak er 's nam e or initial s, occ ur at Blawith (1st), Burton­ wood, Bury (S t. John), Carrrnel Fell (2nd) , Conistan (two) , Darwe n, Egto n, Fi eld Brou ghton (at v ica rage), H esk et h-cum-Becconsall, Littledal e, North Me ols (I st ), Pilling (two), Stalrni ne (two), Stav eley-in-Cartrnel, T otting ton , a nd Wig an (St. George): and sanctus, or priest's bell s, at Cop pull, H al e, L ive rpool (C h rist C h urch) and Li verp ool (St. Stephen ). S ome of th ese are p robabl y 18th cent., others appa rently belong to th e early 19th cent. None a ppea rs to be med iaeval, An undated It alian bell at a pri vat e house (M iln­ wood ) near Dalton-i n-Furness is in a categ ory by itse lf.

S pace does not all ow for a revi ew of the ringing customs mention ed in the fo regoing papers, nor of a n a na lysis of th e mottoes and in scriptions on th e later bells. As existing wh en th e survey was made (1914-21), th e bells in th e olde r Lan cashire churc hes, classified chronologically, were as foll ows :- Pre-Reformation ... 22 Transition (1550-1600) 6 17th cent. 36 18th cent. 265 19th cent. and after 594 Blank bells 23

946 128 THE CHURCH BELLS OF VINC/ISHIRE.

Of these, three are of foreign onglO. The number of bells earlier than the 18th cent. is disappointingly small, but it should be remembered that at the Refor­ mation there were only fifty-eight parish churches and about a hundred chapels in the whole of the county. This document is provided for you by The Whiting Society of Ringers visit www.whitingsociety.org.uk for the full range of publications and articles about bells and change ringing

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