Poynings, Holy Trinity
Bell |
Weight |
Diameter |
Nominal |
Note |
Founder |
Cast |
Canon |
Hanging |
1 |
26.75" |
1341 Hz |
E |
Roger Tapsell |
1625 |
Swing Chime |
||
2 |
28.50" |
1265.5 Hz |
D# |
Edmund Giles |
1595 |
Swing Chime |
||
3 |
31.75" |
1086.5 Hz |
C# |
Stephen Norton Successor |
c1400 |
Swing Chime |
||
Unused 1 |
24.50" |
Samuel Knight |
1715 |
Unhung |
||||
Unused 2 |
27.88" |
Robert Rider |
c1370 |
Unhung |
About the Bells
3 Bells, in C# ( Tuning 1-3 of 4)
Poynings has a chime of 3 bells hung in a central tower with the addition of 2 unused bells which formed part of the former peal of 3.
In terms of bell investigations, I believe that Poynings will always be the most memorable and it'll stick with me for as long as I shall live.
The bells are rung from the ground floor between pews on the North side of the tower. The ropes fall in a straight line which have red sallied ropes. Interestingly, two ropes holes in the South East corner of the tower are also present.
Access to the belfry is one of Sussex's greatest landmarks! It composes of a 47 rung wooden ladder which is most likely as old as the tower itself and probably the oldest in Sussex. It appears that the ladder composes of two complete timbers which stretch right the way up. Around half way up is are metal clamps due to a 5ft crack in the North Timber.
The first half of the ladder is fine. As you slowly approach the top, due to the ladder slightly bending, it becomes more vertical. One surprising thing about the ladder is that it doesn't shake or wobble.
The ladder is fixed to a small platform at the top. From here, you need to climb across into a door way.
The intermidiate chamber is huge!! In the South East corner is an old tub which has the old fittings from the old bells. This shows that the ropes for the old bells were red, white and blue. A 25 rung ladder takes you from the intermediate chamber to the belfry making a total of 72 rungs to climb in total! Both ladders are of the same design.
You enter the belfry from the North East side of the tower with the bells behind you.
The belfry has 5 bells. 3 in use and 2 unused.
The three bells in use are in the North West corner of the tower in an O frame in the the 3.1 layout. This was also the frame used for the old peal of 3. Mortises in the braces suggest that it could have been of an M frame.
The bells are chimed with half wheels and they also have the original clappers.
The bells that are used today were transferred from Lewes, All Saints and a truss from their frame was also brought across too. A note on the frame explains details on the frame. This can be seen below.
The treble was cast by Roger Tapsell in 1625. It features 3 shields by him. Roger Tapsell wasn't the most neatest maker when it came to bell design and this can be shown in his work that his knowledge for bell design was practically nil.
The treble is in fact the shortest bell ever cast by Tapsell.
The 2nd is cast by Edmund Giles which was his most earliest and most decorative bell. Giles also used a variety of sized letters for his bells with the 2nd at Poynings having the biggest letters out of all his bells.
The 3rd cast by Stephen Norton features beautiful black lettering which puts it in the region of c1400
In addition to the 3 bells, on the other side of the tower is the 2 unused bells. The lightest cast by Samuel Knight has a circular hole right through the bell which is big enough to fit your thumb through. Knight used a variety of the letter I with the plain basic type at Poynings. Next to it is the other unused bell cast by Robert Rider and has some of the cleanest letters on a Pre-Reformation bell. It must have been cast by Robert Rider and Richard de Wymbis as he was known as at a later date for Poynings has a curved head and not a flat top. It has a 4" long crack above the soundbow. To conclude with the state of these bells, both of them are cracked and were stepped down in 1980 for 3 bells from Lewes, All Saints.
The 2 bells also have their old ancient style wheels connected. Instead of the shrouding being screwed on to the frame of the wheel, tapered pins hold it together due to fact that screws can rust up and become a large problem.
The headstock are fairly large and all the metal fittings have all rusted.
Both bells now sit unhung on wooden pedestals and still posses the old clappers.
A good head for heights required!!!
Visited by Kye L Leaver, Lucas J Owen and Emily L Willson 22/08/2022
.24/11/2022 Visited by Kye L Leaver & Dylan J Thomas
Poynings has a chime of 3 bells hung in a central tower with the addition of 2 unused bells which formed part of the former peal of 3.
In terms of bell investigations, I believe that Poynings will always be the most memorable and it'll stick with me for as long as I shall live.
The bells are rung from the ground floor between pews on the North side of the tower. The ropes fall in a straight line which have red sallied ropes. Interestingly, two ropes holes in the South East corner of the tower are also present.
Access to the belfry is one of Sussex's greatest landmarks! It composes of a 47 rung wooden ladder which is most likely as old as the tower itself and probably the oldest in Sussex. It appears that the ladder composes of two complete timbers which stretch right the way up. Around half way up is are metal clamps due to a 5ft crack in the North Timber.
The first half of the ladder is fine. As you slowly approach the top, due to the ladder slightly bending, it becomes more vertical. One surprising thing about the ladder is that it doesn't shake or wobble.
The ladder is fixed to a small platform at the top. From here, you need to climb across into a door way.
The intermidiate chamber is huge!! In the South East corner is an old tub which has the old fittings from the old bells. This shows that the ropes for the old bells were red, white and blue. A 25 rung ladder takes you from the intermediate chamber to the belfry making a total of 72 rungs to climb in total! Both ladders are of the same design.
You enter the belfry from the North East side of the tower with the bells behind you.
The belfry has 5 bells. 3 in use and 2 unused.
The three bells in use are in the North West corner of the tower in an O frame in the the 3.1 layout. This was also the frame used for the old peal of 3. Mortises in the braces suggest that it could have been of an M frame.
The bells are chimed with half wheels and they also have the original clappers.
The bells that are used today were transferred from Lewes, All Saints and a truss from their frame was also brought across too. A note on the frame explains details on the frame. This can be seen below.
The treble was cast by Roger Tapsell in 1625. It features 3 shields by him. Roger Tapsell wasn't the most neatest maker when it came to bell design and this can be shown in his work that his knowledge for bell design was practically nil.
The treble is in fact the shortest bell ever cast by Tapsell.
The 2nd is cast by Edmund Giles which was his most earliest and most decorative bell. Giles also used a variety of sized letters for his bells with the 2nd at Poynings having the biggest letters out of all his bells.
The 3rd cast by Stephen Norton features beautiful black lettering which puts it in the region of c1400
In addition to the 3 bells, on the other side of the tower is the 2 unused bells. The lightest cast by Samuel Knight has a circular hole right through the bell which is big enough to fit your thumb through. Knight used a variety of the letter I with the plain basic type at Poynings. Next to it is the other unused bell cast by Robert Rider and has some of the cleanest letters on a Pre-Reformation bell. It must have been cast by Robert Rider and Richard de Wymbis as he was known as at a later date for Poynings has a curved head and not a flat top. It has a 4" long crack above the soundbow. To conclude with the state of these bells, both of them are cracked and were stepped down in 1980 for 3 bells from Lewes, All Saints.
The 2 bells also have their old ancient style wheels connected. Instead of the shrouding being screwed on to the frame of the wheel, tapered pins hold it together due to fact that screws can rust up and become a large problem.
The headstock are fairly large and all the metal fittings have all rusted.
Both bells now sit unhung on wooden pedestals and still posses the old clappers.
A good head for heights required!!!
Visited by Kye L Leaver, Lucas J Owen and Emily L Willson 22/08/2022
.24/11/2022 Visited by Kye L Leaver & Dylan J Thomas
Decoration on the Giles bell:
Letters on the Unused 2
Recordings of the bells:
Bell 1
Hum - 359Hz - F+48
Prime - 606.5Hz - Eb-43
Tierce - 805.5Hz - G+47 (minor 3rd)
Quint - 990Hz - B+4
Nominal - 1333.5Hz - E+20
Prime - 606.5Hz - Eb-43
Tierce - 805.5Hz - G+47 (minor 3rd)
Quint - 990Hz - B+4
Nominal - 1333.5Hz - E+20
| poynings1.mp3 |
Bell 2
Hum - 361.5Hz - F# -39
Prime - 546.5Hz - Db-26
Tierce - 759Hz - F# +44 (minor 3rd)
Quint - 1018.5Hz - C-46
Nominal - 1259.5Hz - Eb+21
Prime - 546.5Hz - Db-26
Tierce - 759Hz - F# +44 (minor 3rd)
Quint - 1018.5Hz - C-46
Nominal - 1259.5Hz - Eb+21
| poynings2.mp3 |
Bell 3
Hum - 288Hz - D-33
Prime - 498Hz - B+14
Tierce - 651Hz - E-21 (minor 3rd)
Nominal - 1084Hz - Db-38
Prime - 498Hz - B+14
Tierce - 651Hz - E-21 (minor 3rd)
Nominal - 1084Hz - Db-38
| poynings3.mp3 |
Altogether
| poyningstogether.mp3 |
Inscriptions:
*Underlined text is inscriptions within the inscription band*
1980 - Present
1 |
⋅ RI ⋅ HALLINGDAL ⋅ ROGER GODMAN ⋅ CHVR ⋅ WARDENS ⋅ 1625 ♦ RT |
2 |
☵☵☵☵☵☵☵☵☵☵☵☵☵ EDMVN ♦ GILES ♦ BELLFOVNDER ♦ 1595 ♦ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ |
3 |
𝕾𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖙𝖆 𝕶𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝕺𝖗𝖆 𝕻𝖗𝖔 𝕹𝖔𝖇𝖎𝖘 ▼ ◈ ▽ |
1 |
S KNIGHT MEE FECIT I MILES 1715 |
2 |
+ 🄰 🅅 🄰 ⫶ 🄼 🄰 🅁 🄸 🄰 |
Soon after 1724 - 1980
1 |
S KNIGHT MEE FECIT I MILES 1715 |
2 |
+ 🄰 🅅 🄰 ⫶ 🄼 🄰 🅁 🄸 🄰 |
Latin Translation:
3: Sancta Katerina Ora Pro Nobis - Saint Katerina pray for us
1 (unused): S KNIGHT MEE FECIT I MILES 1715 - S Knight Made mee J Milles 1715
3: Sancta Katerina Ora Pro Nobis - Saint Katerina pray for us
1 (unused): S KNIGHT MEE FECIT I MILES 1715 - S Knight Made mee J Milles 1715
+ = Fig. IV,c (Unused 2)
☵ = Fig. XXV,a (Bell 2)
▓ = Fig. XXV,d (Bell 2)
▼ = Fig. XI,c (Bell 3)
◈ = Fig. XI,b (Bell 3)
▽ = Fig. XI,a (Bell 3)
*Click on images to enlarge them*
☵ = Fig. XXV,a (Bell 2)
▓ = Fig. XXV,d (Bell 2)
▼ = Fig. XI,c (Bell 3)
◈ = Fig. XI,b (Bell 3)
▽ = Fig. XI,a (Bell 3)
*Click on images to enlarge them*
Photographs:
