Rumboldswyke, St Mary

Rumboldswyke, Former Church of St Mary

Rumboldswyke no longer has any bells, hung in the west-facing bellcote. The church dates back to the 11th century, and originally had a small boarded turret, similar to that at Ford, St Andrew. In 1866, architect Gordon Hills added a new masonry bellcote in place of the belfry.

The bells

1906 - 2001

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Nominal	Note	Founder	Date	Canon	Hanging
1	2cwt	22.00"	1489 Hz	F#	John Sturdy	c1450	Yes	Swing

Before 1906

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Nominal	Note	Founder	Date	Canon	Hanging
Old 1		20.13"		A	John II Clarke	1607	Yes	Swing

1 Bell, 2cwt in F#
The earliest reference to bells dates back to 1607, when John Clarke Jnr* cast a single bell. Unfortunately, we don't know whether it was supplied to Rumboldswyke originally, or if it had a previous home. It was likely the former. The early boarded belfry was probably added in the 16th century, and had a single round-headed bell opening on each side.

Chichester, St Martin's gets demolished
In 1906, the mid 15th century bell cast by John Sturdy was transferred to Rumboldswyke, following the demolition of Chichester, St Martin's. This meant that Clarke's bell had to be stood down.
It was then transferred to St Nicholas of Myra where it is now hung for stationary chiming above the chancel roof in a 9.E frame, and serves as their service bell.

On the move again!
Sturdy's bell only served for 70 years here before the church became redundant in the mid 1970s. It was hung for swing chiming on a timber headstock; secured by iron straps, and rung by the means of a quarter wheel.
Members of St Wilfrid’s parish council later sought listed building consent to have the bell lowered and transferred to St Wilfrid’s Church. Permission was granted in 1999, rescuing the bell from silence and decay.
Two years later, Nicholson Engineering was given the go-ahead to carry out the work, rehanging the bell on brand-new fittings for stationary chiming with an internal levered clapper in a new wooden structure on the south wall of the church. It is now hung at Chichester, St Wilfrid's, meaning this bell has had a total of 3 homes. For more info on the bell, see Chichester, St Wilfrids.

Visited: 7/10/2023

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+