History and details of the bells at St Mary's church

Parts of the tower date from the 1400's but the first bell, of which we have certain knowledge, was a single bell cast for St Mary's in 1603 by William Oldfield of Doncaster and York. This bell was recast in 1860 by George Mears at Whitechapel in London - the new bell weighing about 6.75cwt.

In 1989 the heavy ring of eight (tenor 23-1-13 in E) plus the largest and smallest of the three additional chiming bells at the now redundant Christchurch, Todmorden (together with the single bell from St Mary's) were sold to St Lawrence's church, Towcester, Northants. The middle chiming bell (cast in 1897 by John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough) was retuned by Taylors to form the tenor of a new ring of eight bells for St Mary's.

Casting new bells

In 1989 Taylors cast the seven new bells to complete this ring.

Construction of the frame

There was much preparation work to be done in St Mary's tower including the removal of a chimney breast, removal and replacement of three floors and installation of a bellframe. This work was done by the Todmorden ringers.

Arrival of the bells

The bells were finally hung in 1990, two years before the church was reopened.

Hanging the new bells

The weights of the bells are as follows:

Treble96kg
2107kg
3 122kg
4 144kg
5 156kg
6 170kg
7 231kg
Tenor 326kgC natural

The clock

The tower also contains a small clock bell (weight ~1cwt) cast by Charles and George Mears at Whitechapel, London in 1851 for All Saints, Harley Wood, Todmorden. This bell was rescued from Harley Wood by the Todmorden ringers, just before the church was demolished.

The clock was made in 1860 by Joyce's of Whitchurch, Shropshire. It was fully restored and converted to electric winding, in 1989.

These web pages have been compiled by Ian Swain and Jeff Kershaw.
email: ian@woodhousefarm.clara.net
Last updated 14th November 1999