The Winchester & Portsmouth Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers GUILD NEWS March 2007 150th Anniversary at Newport he present Church of Ss Th omas King Henry II. Some historians give the Most likely the dedication to St Th omas Tin the County Town of Newport, date as 1173 while others say 1180. It of Canterbury was made at the insist- Isle of Wight is celebrating its 150th was established as a chapel of ease to the ence of Richard of Ilchester, Bishop of Anniversary in 2007 but the history of Church at nearby Carisbrooke and as Winchester; he caused all new churches a church on this site goes back much such it was to remain for seven hundred in his dioceses to be named in honour further. years. At this time Newport was merely of the new saint. However, in 1536 Th e ancient church, dedicated to St a small port. Carisbrooke, with its cas- King Henry VIII issued a proclama- Th omas of Canterbury was built by tle, was the major parish in the centre tion declaring Th omas à Becket to be a Richard de Redvers, Lord of the Isle of of the Island, stretching as far as Cowes traitor and it became prudent to drop Wight, towards the end of the reign of in the north to Chale and the coast in the reference to “St Th omas of Canter- the south. bury”. Over the course of time it was generally assumed that the church was dedicated to “St Th omas the Apostle”. Th e Isle of Wight was invaded by the French in 1377 and Newport was burnt to the ground. However, records show that the church was the only building not to have been destroyed. Over the centuries there were many alterations and structural changes to the church. Th e tower was added in the 15th century and an extension at the western end made provision for what early documents refer to as “Th e Engine House”. Th is probably housed the town’s fi re engine. With the passing of the years the building had got into a very bad state of repair and an architectural survey judged the structure to have been too far decayed for any repair to be eff ec- tual. A writer of the time said “after a long series of incongruous additions and repairs the structure had become quite unsafe”. It was decided to demol- ish the church but retain the tower and in order to fi nance the work a subscrip- tion list was opened. Among the fi rst contributors were Her Majesty Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In fact, the royal family were ex- tremely involved with the rebuilding of St Th omas’. Prince Albert laid the foun- dation stone on August 24th 1854 with a long procession of the town’s main dignitaries to the sound of the bells from the old tower. After the ceremony there was a reception at the Guildhall where the Vicar of Carisbrooke agreed to the separation of Newport from Carisbrooke. Newport sons the coffi n was only marked with the initials E. S. It was was fi nally to become a parish in its own right and the church completely overlooked until it was accidentally discovered by was now dedicated to both saints, Th omas the Apostle and workmen in 1793. A plaque was placed on the fl oor above Th omas of Canterbury. the tomb but when the church was rebuilt Queen Victoria General opinion at the time held that Parish status was considered that there should be some more fi tting memorial achieved as a result of royal intervention. It was said that and she commissioned a marble sculpture in her memory. Prince Albert would not lay a stone unless the building was At the same time Queen Victoria directed that the window to become a Parish Church. Whether this story is true cannot above where the memorial was placed should be of stained be claimed with certainty but it has persisted to the present glass so that only a gentle light would fall on the statue. day. Special permission was given for the fi rst services which In 2006 a fundraising campaign was launched to raise 2 mil- were held on Sunday December 21st 1857, this being the lion pounds for the renewal of Ss Th omas’ Church. A service feast of St Th omas the Apostle. Th e church was consecrated was held and attended by the patron, HRH the Earl of by the Bishop of Winchester, Charles Sumner on Tuesday Wessex. Its aim is not just to renew the fabric of the building, January 20 1858. but also its heritage, its role on the life of the Island and its At fi rst the estimated cost came to about £6,500 but as time service to the community. drew near for commencing the work, the plans were changed Th e Bells and the decision was made to pull down the old tower and Th e bells were originally cast as a ring of six in 1674/5 by rebuild a new one, “to satisfy those who desired that the sa- William Eldridge of Chertsey. Th omas Mears and Son of cred edifi ce should be worthy its character as the Metropoli- Whitechapel augmented the bells to eight in 1808, supply- tan Church of an Island which is every Englishman’s pride”. ing two new trebles and recasting the third and fi fth of the Th is raised the total cost to £10,719. eight. John Warner and Son of Cripplegate recast the treble Links with royalty go back much further than Queen Victo- in 1857. Th e same fi rm retuned the bells and removed the ria. Princess Elizabeth Stuart, the second daughter of King canons in 1917. In 1920 they recast the sixth of 1675. Charles I died while imprisoned in Carisbrooke Castle aged For many years concerns had been expressed about the condi- 14, shortly after her father’s execution. Her remains were tion of the wooden bell frame which had been transferred interred in a vault in the chancel in 1650 but for political rea- from the old church. By the end of the 1970’s it was obvious Treble that without work being carried out the bells would soon *JOHN TAYLOR & CO * FOUNDERS * LOUGHBOROUGH * 1988 FREDA ANN BRIGDEN become unringable. BEATRICE ELIZABETH LIDDELL 4-2-26 Second After several attempts, the church fi nally gave permission *JOHN TAYLOR & CO * FOUNDERS * LOUGHBOROUGH * 1988 in the mid 1980’s for fundraising to take place to rehang IN MEMORY OF ALBERT AND ALICE HARVEY CITIZENS OF NEWPORT the bells as long as no fi nancial burden was to be placed on ANNE MAY GUY WILLIAM T WHITE the church itself. Th e local ringers set about organising and 1931-1987 4-3-12 fundraising for the project. In 1987/88, John Taylor and Co Third *JOHN TAYLOR & CO * FOUNDERS * LOUGHBOROUGH * 1988 of Loughborough recast the 1675 tenor, replacing the 1857 IN MEMORY OF A BELOVED SON STEPHEN GEOFFREY COTTON treble of the old eight and adding four new trebles, augment- GIVEN BY PETER & SARAH COTTON 4-2-0 ing the ring to twelve. Th e last ringing on the old eight was Fourth *JOHN TAYLOR & CO * FOUNDERS * LOUGHBOROUGH * 1988 for evensong on January 3rd 1988 and the twelve were fi rst LESTER BAILEY FRANK S TAYLOR 1912-1985 1906-1984 rung on the evening of Friday April 28th 1989. Th e bells DR J BRUCE WILLIAMSON WILLIAM UPTON 1892-1979 1888-1967 were formally opened on May 7th 1989. Th e total cost of the 5-0-22 Fifth JOHN TAYLOR & CO FOUNDERS CAST 1987 SAINT PAUL work came to £28,500. 5-2-2 Sixth With the fi nancial constraints of the time not all the work WM BARTON. JEREMIAH SELF. CHURCHWARDENS. RICHARD BASSETT ESQ. MAYOR THE PUBLIC RAISED US WITH A LIBERAL HAND. WE COME WITH HARMONY TO CHEER THE LAND. MAY that could have been done was done. Since that time many EACH SUBSCRIBER IN THESE NUMBERS LIVE AND UNIONS EVER FEEL THOSE JOYS THEY GIVE T. MEARS & SON OF LONDON FECIT. 1808 improvements have been made and it is hoped in the near fu- 5-0-17 Seventh ture to recast four of the old bells and retune the rest to suit, RD BASSETT ESQR MAYOR. WM BARTON. JEREMIAH SELF Church Wardens 1808 T MEARS & SON OF LONDON FECIT which should leave Newport with a very fi ne ring of bells. 5-1-22 Eighth GVILIEMVS ELDRIDGE ME FECIT 1674 Th e Ringing 5-2-16 Ninth WM BARTON. JEREMIAH SELF. CHURCHWARDENS. RICHARD BASSETT ESQ MAYOR Although the bells were rung regularly, it is not until the MAY ENGLANDS COASTS THE PRIDE OF COMMERCE SEE AND BRITONS PRIDE BE ALWAYS TO BE* FREE MAY PEACE RETURN TO BLESS BRITANNIAS SHORE AND FACTION FALL TO RAISE HER * HEAD NO appearance of William Rayner that proper records were kept. MORE * T MEARS & SON OF LONDON FECIT 1808 7-1-24 For more on Willian Rayner see the article about him on Tenth JOHN WARNER AND SONS RECAST ME 1920 Page 3. WILLIAM ELDRIDGE MADE MEE Tradition has it that William Rayner and the Newport ringers 1675 8-1-6 Eleventh were so impressed by the feat of change ringing at Caris- WILLIAM ELDRIDGE MADE MEE * 1675 * I * K ** 10-0-4 brooke described in the piece that they formed themselves Te n o r * NICHOLAS CHESTLE MAJOR * PHILLIP ODAR JUSTICE * ROBERT POSTE * JOHN FACY into a society with the specifi c aim of learning and practising CHURCHWARDENS * WILLIAM ELDRIDGE MADE MEE 1675 JOHN TAYLOR RECAST ME 1988 the new art of change ringing.