Washington, St Mary
*THIS PAGE WILL SOON BE REVISED*
Bell |
Weight |
Diameter |
Nominal |
Note |
Founder |
Cast |
Canon |
Hanging |
1 |
4-1-5 cwt |
27.00" |
1294 Hz |
E |
John Taylor & Co |
1930 |
Full Circle |
|
2 |
4-2-21 cwt |
29.00" |
1152 Hz |
D |
1878 |
Full Circle |
||
3 |
5-1-21 cwt |
30.75" |
1028 Hz |
C |
1878 |
Full Circle |
||
4 |
7-3-15 cwt |
34.25" |
968 Hz |
B |
R (Presumably R W) |
c1350 |
Full Circle |
|
5 |
8-0-6 cwt |
35.31" |
865.5 Hz |
A |
John Taylor & Co |
1929 |
Full Circle |
|
6 |
9-2-5 cwt |
38.38" |
770 Hz |
G |
Whitechapel Bell Foundry |
1974 |
Full Circle |
About the Bells
6 Bells, 9-2-5 in G
Washington has a ground floor clockwise ring of 6. All bells are rung by a red, white and blue sallied rope. Even though the draft is rather short, they act like a long draft. The ringing room does not have a rope guide in it.
Washington is well known for having the oldest ringer in the country, Frank Brook, 99 years.
From downstairs, the room is similar to Balcombe which has a glass wall so the ringers and the ropes can be seen. An Ellacombe apparatus is also present in the North West side of the tower. From the main body of the church the bells can be heard from a square door on the ceiling. Inside the ringing room the bell trapdoor is present so it's a wonder why there are two possible routes to the belfry.
A 38 rung ladder is required to gain access to the trapdoor in the body of the church.
The tenor has the inscription G. S. which stands for General George Sandham who was the son of Major Charles Freeman Sandham who died in Washington in 1887 where he lived. The letters " P R" on the 5th are reversed.
Before there were a ring of 6 in the tower, Washington originally had a ring of four in 1724 but one of the bells were cracked. The old tenor which was cast in 1608 had the inscription "Our hope is in the Lord Jb 1608 RE" the RE would suggest that it was cast by Richard Eldridge of Horsham.
Access to the belfry is from outside.
A green wooden door opens to a 14" corridor to an Anticlockwise spiral stair case which leads up to the belfry and also down into the church. There is no door at the top of the stairs similar to Edburton.
All the bells are hung on a Black painted cast iron frame made by John Taylors & Co, Loughborough in 1930.
The Iron frame has Z trusses and are layout in the typical 6.1 bell frame configuration, Similar to Cowfold.
The Frame is supported and is raised off the floor by about 2 foot, probably to allow room for the Ellacombe pully system also by Taylors.
The belfry is very spacious!
A small window is at the base of the belfry and from outside you can see the treble ringing. Looking above you, you can see all 4 of the louvres which are not covered by any means of bird mesh.
In the North East side of the tower there is a tall wooden ladder with a cage around it, most likely by Taylors as well, which leads up to a see through platform where you can see the bells from above. Further more, from the platform is again another wooden ladder which leads to a small door that goes onto the roof.
During my visit to Washington, The information of the turning was collected by me.
Each bell has not be turned. All the bells have 3 point of wear on them. 2 for the full circle ringing and 1 for the Ellacombe hammer. The wear marks for the Ellacombe suggest that they have been used recently and regularly as they're deep and shiny.
Inside each of the six bells, "WASHINGTON" is written in blue chalk.
The 1602 commission report states: "the belfry is very badly borded it rayneth into the churche in divers places the rough cast on the west side of the steeple in decay. Belfry have no locke and keyes
1930:
In 1930, all the bells were rehung and tuned by Taylor's, the bells appear to be Simpson tuned on a vertical lathe judging by the marks inside the bells.
All of the bells have hasting stays and sliders, bells 2,3 and 4 all have conventional canons with Black cast iron canon retaining headstocks with a Taylors inscribed on them.
Washington has a ground floor clockwise ring of 6. All bells are rung by a red, white and blue sallied rope. Even though the draft is rather short, they act like a long draft. The ringing room does not have a rope guide in it.
Washington is well known for having the oldest ringer in the country, Frank Brook, 99 years.
From downstairs, the room is similar to Balcombe which has a glass wall so the ringers and the ropes can be seen. An Ellacombe apparatus is also present in the North West side of the tower. From the main body of the church the bells can be heard from a square door on the ceiling. Inside the ringing room the bell trapdoor is present so it's a wonder why there are two possible routes to the belfry.
A 38 rung ladder is required to gain access to the trapdoor in the body of the church.
The tenor has the inscription G. S. which stands for General George Sandham who was the son of Major Charles Freeman Sandham who died in Washington in 1887 where he lived. The letters " P R" on the 5th are reversed.
Before there were a ring of 6 in the tower, Washington originally had a ring of four in 1724 but one of the bells were cracked. The old tenor which was cast in 1608 had the inscription "Our hope is in the Lord Jb 1608 RE" the RE would suggest that it was cast by Richard Eldridge of Horsham.
Access to the belfry is from outside.
A green wooden door opens to a 14" corridor to an Anticlockwise spiral stair case which leads up to the belfry and also down into the church. There is no door at the top of the stairs similar to Edburton.
All the bells are hung on a Black painted cast iron frame made by John Taylors & Co, Loughborough in 1930.
The Iron frame has Z trusses and are layout in the typical 6.1 bell frame configuration, Similar to Cowfold.
The Frame is supported and is raised off the floor by about 2 foot, probably to allow room for the Ellacombe pully system also by Taylors.
The belfry is very spacious!
A small window is at the base of the belfry and from outside you can see the treble ringing. Looking above you, you can see all 4 of the louvres which are not covered by any means of bird mesh.
In the North East side of the tower there is a tall wooden ladder with a cage around it, most likely by Taylors as well, which leads up to a see through platform where you can see the bells from above. Further more, from the platform is again another wooden ladder which leads to a small door that goes onto the roof.
During my visit to Washington, The information of the turning was collected by me.
Each bell has not be turned. All the bells have 3 point of wear on them. 2 for the full circle ringing and 1 for the Ellacombe hammer. The wear marks for the Ellacombe suggest that they have been used recently and regularly as they're deep and shiny.
Inside each of the six bells, "WASHINGTON" is written in blue chalk.
The 1602 commission report states: "the belfry is very badly borded it rayneth into the churche in divers places the rough cast on the west side of the steeple in decay. Belfry have no locke and keyes
1930:
In 1930, all the bells were rehung and tuned by Taylor's, the bells appear to be Simpson tuned on a vertical lathe judging by the marks inside the bells.
All of the bells have hasting stays and sliders, bells 2,3 and 4 all have conventional canons with Black cast iron canon retaining headstocks with a Taylors inscribed on them.
Inscriptions:
*Underlined text is inscriptions within the inscription band*
Present ring
1 |
TAYLORS * FOUNDERS * LOUGHBOROUGH * 1930 |
2 |
MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON 1878 |
3 |
MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON 1878 |
4 |
+ IN HONORE SANCTE MARIE |
5 |
ROGGER TAPSIL TW TC TF 1614 P R ⊜ RECAST 1929 |
6 |
*TO BE CONFIRMED* |
Former ring
1 |
SANCTE MICHAEL + R |
2 |
IN HORORE SANCTE MARIE + R |
3 |
ROGGER TAPSIL TW TC TF 1614 |
4 |
Our hope is in the Lord Jb 1608 R E |
Latin Translation:
4: IN HONORE SANCTE MARIE - In honour of saint Mary.
Old 1: SACTE MICHAEL - Saint Michael.
⊜ = Fig. LVIII,c (Bell 5)
4: IN HONORE SANCTE MARIE - In honour of saint Mary.
Old 1: SACTE MICHAEL - Saint Michael.
⊜ = Fig. LVIII,c (Bell 5)
Photographs:
