Beckbury, St Milburga

Beckbury exterior

6 bells, tenor 4-2-18 in Db Ground floor TF11 9DG SJ 765016

Sunday: by arrangement, check with tower correspondent

Tuesday: 7.45 - 9.00pm

Treble: John Taylor & Co., Loughborough  1903
Second: Eayre and Lewis  2001  This bell was cast in the Xmeco foundry in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Third: John Warner & Sons Ltd, London  1898
Fourth and fifth:  John Martin of Worcester  1658
Tenor:  William Clibury of Wellington  1615

The front three bells are flat-topped while the remainder all preserve full sets of canons and are hung from canon-retaining headstock. The 1980s low sided frame (Pickford 6.9: A5, B4, C3, D2, E1, F6) has been galvanised and repainted. All new fittings by Taylors for the 2011 augmentation.

Inscriptions

The bells are rung from the vestry at the base of the tower, with the fact that the ropes fall behind or though the organ making this a challenging augmentation project.

Beckbury Tenor
The finely decorated Tenor,
cast by William Clibury in 1615,
with its canon-retaining headstock.
Beckbury 2nd
The second bell,
with its very heavy moulding wires.
It is thought to be the only bell
cast in South Africa in a ringing peal in Britain
Beckbury Treble date Beckbury 2nd date Beckbury 3rd date Beckbury 5th date Beckbury tenor date

The range of casting dates of the bells

Beckbury shield

John Martin's foundry mark on the fifth bell

Beckbury mark

An inverted N - one of two examples in these John Martin bells

Beckbury 5th stop

Cross used as a stop on the fifth bell