Prestonville, St LukePrestonville has a single bell hung in a south facing tower. The present church replaces an old iron one that was built in November 1871 and burnt down 10 days later! On March 29th 1875, an agreement was made to buy the new church for £1,500. It was designed by John Hill.
|
|
The Bell
Bell |
Weight |
Diameter |
Nominal |
Note |
Founder |
Cast |
Canon |
Hanging |
1 |
4 cwt |
26.38" |
1564 Hz |
G |
Thomas II Mears |
1830 |
Removed |
Swing |
1 Bell, in G
The campanological history of this tower is an interesting one, and according to John Warner & Sons catalogue, a chime of 8. "Prestonville Church, Brighton, 8."
The Gillett & Johnston archives for 1884 show a hemispherical bell from St Luke's weight 3-3-0cwt was broken up in the foundry. It is a wonder where the other 7 went though.
In 1884, William Deacon of Mabledon Park, Tunbridge wells donated a bell and clock, both made in 1830. There is no record of where they came from but it's possible they came from that area. 101
Marbledon Park House doesn't contain a clock tower but instead a sundial on the south wall.
The bell is rung from the ground floor by a red, white, and green sallied rope.
Access to the belfry is first by a small flight of stairs followed by a second flight.
A wooden ladder takes you up to a platform where the bell is hung.
It is hung in a timber B frame around 12' above the belfry floor. It is chimed by a lever, similar to that at Offham.
Prior to this, it was rung by a wheel of interesting design. George Elphick provides us with a full sketch of it.
The campanological history of this tower is an interesting one, and according to John Warner & Sons catalogue, a chime of 8. "Prestonville Church, Brighton, 8."
The Gillett & Johnston archives for 1884 show a hemispherical bell from St Luke's weight 3-3-0cwt was broken up in the foundry. It is a wonder where the other 7 went though.
In 1884, William Deacon of Mabledon Park, Tunbridge wells donated a bell and clock, both made in 1830. There is no record of where they came from but it's possible they came from that area. 101
Marbledon Park House doesn't contain a clock tower but instead a sundial on the south wall.
The bell is rung from the ground floor by a red, white, and green sallied rope.
Access to the belfry is first by a small flight of stairs followed by a second flight.
A wooden ladder takes you up to a platform where the bell is hung.
It is hung in a timber B frame around 12' above the belfry floor. It is chimed by a lever, similar to that at Offham.
Prior to this, it was rung by a wheel of interesting design. George Elphick provides us with a full sketch of it.
It has intersecting bottom spokes going up to a transom. Although it's not completely clear whether these are intersecting spokes or one long spoke with 2 branching off it either side.
Unlike the modern form of wheel, there is no meeting spoke.
The rest of the wheel is just like you'd expect to see, a pair of main spokes with high spokes branching off them. The wheel is no longer here.
The bell is bolted to a wooden headstock. It would have had a conventional canon but has since been removed.
It is hung on ball bearings by Mears & Stainbank which have now become rusty.
The bell has a very unique, shortened inscription .
The letter L and F are 1" in tall and the rest are 0.75" including the numbers. A bell of this date would usually have:
T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT [date].
It is inscribed around the inscription band and has nothing on the waist.
Just above the moulding wires on the crown, many small notches can be seen right around the bell. This is where the head mould joins up with the rest of the bell. What we do know is that Thomas Mears strengthened the canons where they join the head of the bell by rubbing away the loam.
The dimensions of this bell are as follows:
The bell has been quarter turned. As seen in the photographs, and has the common moulding wire configuration of 2:2:2:3:2.
1 bell in fairly good condition.
Visited with Dylan J Thomas 24/02/2023
Unlike the modern form of wheel, there is no meeting spoke.
The rest of the wheel is just like you'd expect to see, a pair of main spokes with high spokes branching off them. The wheel is no longer here.
The bell is bolted to a wooden headstock. It would have had a conventional canon but has since been removed.
It is hung on ball bearings by Mears & Stainbank which have now become rusty.
The bell has a very unique, shortened inscription .
The letter L and F are 1" in tall and the rest are 0.75" including the numbers. A bell of this date would usually have:
T. MEARS OF LONDON FECIT [date].
It is inscribed around the inscription band and has nothing on the waist.
Just above the moulding wires on the crown, many small notches can be seen right around the bell. This is where the head mould joins up with the rest of the bell. What we do know is that Thomas Mears strengthened the canons where they join the head of the bell by rubbing away the loam.
The dimensions of this bell are as follows:
- Crown diameter: 15.25"
- Length from crown to lip: 17.75"
- Mouth Diameter: 26.38
The bell has been quarter turned. As seen in the photographs, and has the common moulding wire configuration of 2:2:2:3:2.
1 bell in fairly good condition.
Visited with Dylan J Thomas 24/02/2023
Recording of the bell:
How the bell is tuned in relation to the nominal, using Simpson's theory.
Key [measured in cents]:
-99 ~ -90 -89 ~ -80 -79 ~ -70 -69 ~ -60 -59 ~ -50 -49 ~ -40 -39 ~ -30 -29 ~ -20 -19 ~ -10 -9 ~ -0
0 ~ 9 10 ~ 19 20 ~ 29 30 ~ 39 40 ~ 49 50 ~ 59 60 ~ 69 70 ~ 79 80 ~ 89 90 ~ 99+
-99 ~ -90 -89 ~ -80 -79 ~ -70 -69 ~ -60 -59 ~ -50 -49 ~ -40 -39 ~ -30 -29 ~ -20 -19 ~ -10 -9 ~ -0
0 ~ 9 10 ~ 19 20 ~ 29 30 ~ 39 40 ~ 49 50 ~ 59 60 ~ 69 70 ~ 79 80 ~ 89 90 ~ 99+
Hum - 423Hz - A-47
Prime - 692Hz - F+4
Tierce - 934Hz - Bb+23 (minor 3rd)
Quint - 1263.5Hz - Eb+46
Nominal - 1564Hz - G+15
Prime - 692Hz - F+4
Tierce - 934Hz - Bb+23 (minor 3rd)
Quint - 1263.5Hz - Eb+46
Nominal - 1564Hz - G+15
| prestonvillestluke_1.mp3 |
Inscriptions:
*Underlined text is around the inscription band*
1 |
LONDON FECIT 1830. |
Latin Translations:
FECIT - Made
FECIT - Made
Photographs:
Sources:
- https://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/places/placechur/st-lukes-prestonville/st-lukes-prestonville
- ELPHICK, George. P (1970): Sussex Bells & Belfries p.368
- Gillett & Johnston Croydon tuning book BELLS p.124.
- Main Sussex File Chris Pickford.
