Tortington, St Mary Magdalene

Tortington has 2 bells, hung for swing chime in a West facing bell cote. The church was founded c.1150, and was then owned by the priory since 1380. At the time, the church was dedicated to St Thomas the Apostle, which explains the dedication on the tenor. The bellcote underwent some some alterations between the 17th and 18th century, as in 1625, the churchwardens presentments give: "and for selling the lead of the steeple away". In the 1780's, the belfry was no longer lead covered, but boarded like today. It was then rebuilt in 1904 in the same design and painted white like Ford, St Andrews, presumably to help with water navigation.

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Nominal	Note	Founder	Cast	Canon	Hanging
1		22.00"	1811.5 Hz	A	Mears & Stainbank	1873	Yes	Swing Chime
2		20.88"	1465 Hz	F#	John Saunders	c1550	Yes	Swing Chime

Recordings of the Bells

Inscriptions

Photographs

About the Bells

2 Bells, in F# (Tuning: Approx 1,3 of 3)
The present tenor bell is the earliest recorded reference to bells at this church. It was cast at the Reading foundry by John Saunders sometime after 1547, possibly with assistance from his successor. Around the inscription band it read:
S thomas treherne
The lettering matches that used on other Reading bells bearing Saunders’ initials, T S. Notably, the absence of the traditional prayer “ora pro nobis” suggests the bell was cast during or after the reign of Edward VI.
Edward VI, who reigned from 1547 to 1553, was a key figure in the Reformation. Under his rule, prayers to saints were condemned as idolatrous and systematically removed from the church. This gives us a likely casting period of 12 years between 1547 and Saunders’ death in 1559.
The inscription was created using wax letter moulds, and the first two letters of Treherne cut into the upper moulding wires. The bell is 2 inches larger than the treble, and most of its partials, particularly the quint, are very flat, indicating a relatively thin casting.

The 1724 Diocesan survey stated there were "Two bells, one of them cracked." However, when Daniel Tyssen carried out his county survey in 1860, there was just 1, suggesting that it was sold off.

A new bell was added as a memorial in 1873 by Mears & Stainbank. Doing some research, the only man who died in 1873 called Thomas with some association to the church was Thomas Leggatt. Sadly no other information can be found of him. The bell was cast with a conventional canon and cast in crown staple, and inscribed in the standard way of pressing stamps into the outer mould. It's a very clean casting and has a decent tone to it.
Since this bell is borderline Bb and the tenor is F# -18cents, this means together they form a rough major third.

The bells hang side by side, arranged in the 2.X1 layout using 1.E trusses. They swing north to south, rung by ropes attached to levers. The fittings on both bells appear coaeval with the treble, and are in good condition. The bearings are plain, and the wrought iron straps have been painted to protect them from rust.
Access to the belfry requires a 20-rung ladder to a beam, and then a smaller 12-rung ladder, bolted to the hatch and slotted in the gap between the beam and the wall takes you up the rest of the wall.

2 bells in a sound condition on inspection.

Visited by Kye L Leaver, Lucas J Bent & Emily L Wilson 24/08/2022

Recording of the bells:

How the bells are tuned in relation to their 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+

Bell 1