Roffey, All Saints

Roffey has a single bell hung in an East facing tower.
The tower was built in 1878 by Arthur W Blomfield and has a shingled pyramid roof. Roffey became a suburb of Horsham in the 1840s and worship was held in the old school building until the idea of building a church was thought about. The cost of this new church was between £4,000 - £5,000.

The Bell

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Nominal	Note	Founder	Cast	Canon	Hanging
1		35.75"	950 Hz	B♭	Thomas C Lewis	1878	Doncaster	Full Circle

Recordings of the Bells

Inscriptions

Photographs

1 Bell, in Bb
Originally, the plans were to have a peal of 6, but due to cost, the church was financially restricted to just one bell. In 1878, Thomas C Lewis, a prolific organ builder and bell founder supplied a single bell weighing around 6cwt and cast with a stamped inscription.
The inscription is very typical for Thomas, bearing the date in roman numerals, and the initials of his name. Each letter being mediaeval in style. It's a very clean casting, and fairly well tuned too.

The bell is hung for full circle, complete with a wheel, stay, and slider in a timber 6.A frame, supported by 4 stone corbels.
It is hung around 13ft up, and accessed by a fixed wooden ladder
The floor of the belfry is completely carpeted in a 3" layer of twigs from Jackdaws, and accessed by a clockwise staircase outside.

Interestingly, the bell is hung on ball bearings, and suggests an overhaul since it was first installed.
It's rung using a yellow and black sallied rope from a ground floor in the vestry.

Visited: 17/06/2022

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+