The Bells Of St Mary

Magdalene

by David Bryant   

St Mary's is the principal parish church of Taunton, and its highly ornate perpendicular tower, 163½' high to the top of the pinnacles, is one of the best-known examples of the exuberant Somerset towers financed by the prosperity created by the wool trade. The tower was in fact rebuilt in 1858-62, but is an exact copy of its predecessor. The church itself is also mostly perpendicular, and although dwarfed by its massive tower is nevertheless a large building. In 1993 a new extension, housing a new vestry, meeting room and toilets, was added onto the north-west corner of the building (architect Michael Stancliffe), this being an excellent example of a successful modern addition to a highly important church.

History

The early history of the bells in the beautiful tower of St Mary's is, unfortunately, rather vague and full of doubts and unproven possibilities. The church, being a significant one, probably possessed six bells from medieval times, but there is no proof of this. The first definite evidence we have of there being six bells dates from 1633. In this year a book entitled 'The Particular Description of the County of Somerset', by Thomas Gerard of Trent, was published. From this the following passage is taken: 

"The church of this town (for they have but one, but it seems to have two by reason of a parish joins so close unto it that it seems part of the town), is exceeding large and so it had need, somewhat low built, but of its breadth that within a few feet it equals St Paul's in London, which is the cause they have sustained the roof with four ranks of pillars, but what the church wants in height the bell tower at the west end hath with advantage, for exceeding height, largeness, curious workman-ship even from bottom to the highest pinnacles top, it exceeds any that hitherto I have seen, and a kind of wonder it is to see how strangely it gages when the bells are rung, being six heavy bells. I desire it may not be thought a greater vanity in me to specify a good ring of bells, than in another in a treatise of this nature to mention a worse, namely Hinckley in Leicestershire but it seems that good rings were scarce in that county. I am sure they are not here seeing almost every parish have five or six, and the towns rather more than less...." 

(The spelling has been modernised in many places) 

Apparently Gerard was a reliable author, so it seems certain that St Mary's had six bells by 1633. From the extract it appears that the tower swayed considerably when the bells were rung. There are now twice the number of bells that there were then, and, unsurprisingly, the tower still sways considerably during ringing. We know little of the bells in this ring other than the third. This bell, the predecessor of the present ninth, is recorded in Ellacombe's 1874 book on Somerset bells. It  was cast in 1616 by George Purdue of Taunton, who was one of a famous family of bell founders. The bell was inscribed:

       ANNO  .  DOMINI      :   1616   :   :   G.   :   P   :

It had a diameter of 42 inches and would have sounded the note F-Sharp, as its successor does.

The next bell we have any definite knowledge of is the tenor. We know from the inscription of the present bell that its predecessor was cast in 1647. The inscription of the old bell, which was reproduced on its successor, was frequently used by Robert Austen I of Compton Dundon, so the old tenor was probably by him; it would have been his largest bell. When scrapped in 1861 it was found to weight 30-1-9 including the staple of 0-1-2. Austen's bell must have replaced one existing in 1633, but unfortunately we have no details of this earlier bell.

During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries there was a notable bell foundry in Gloucester, operated by the Rudhall family. The Rudhalls produced several catalogues listing bells they had cast, and 'Taunton Magdalen Parish' appears for the first time in the 1751 catalogue. According to this catalogue two bells were supplied and as the church is not mentioned in the previous catalogue, published in 1715, we can deduce that the two bells were cast between 1715 and 1751. The present eighth bell bears the inscription and date of its predecessor, and as the inscription is one which was often used by the Rudhalls it is safe to assume that the old bell was one of those cast by them. The date, 1725, would indicate that it was cast by Abraham Rudhall II. The original bell would probably also have had his initials and stamp on it, but these have not been reproduced on the present bell. From Whitechapel's records, we know that Rudhall's bell weighed 12-1-2 including the staple of 0-1-9 when it was scrapped in 1865. The other Rudhall bell may also have been cast in 1725, or it may have been cast at some other time between 1715 and 1751. It was a predecessor of the either the seventh, tenth or eleventh. There is no way of knowing which, as the inscriptions on these bells give no clue.

In 1748 the eleventh, now the oldest bell in the tower, was cast by Thomas Bilbie I, of Chewstoke. The Bilbies, like the Rudhalls, were a notable bellfounding family. Nothing is known of the bell's predecessor, although there undoubtedly was one. The bells then remained as they were for over half a century, until in 1816 the treble of the ring, the present seventh, was recast by Thomas Mears II of The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, London. As with the eleventh, we know nothing of the bell's predecessor, although we know that one existed.

The next event in the history of St Mary's bells was the augmentation to eight, which occurred in 1840. The augmentation was effected in the usual manner, namely by adding two trebles to the ring. These were cast in May 1840 by Thomas Mears II, who had cast what is now the seventh twenty four years earlier. The two bells still survive, as the fifth  and sixth of the present ring of twelve. At the same time, the sixth bell (of the eight) was recast. We know that it was a recast, (i.e. it replaced an older bell), but we have no definite details of this older bell other than its weight, which Whitechapel's records tell us was 15-2-18 including the 9½ lb staple. The 1840 bell survived until the 1950's, when it became cracked and was recast (details of this are given later). Its weight as supplied is not recorded, but after canon removal and tuning in 1885 it weighed 15-2-9 and had a diameter of 44½"

In 1858 the tower of St Mary's was judged to be unsafe, and was completely demolished. The tenor bell, which was cracked, was sent to The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, where it was recast in 1861 by George Mears & Co. The new bell, as supplied, weighed 31-1-14 and cost £79-8-3. The weight has since been reduced by canon removal and tuning. Work on building the new tower, which is a facsimile of its predecessor, commenced immediately (architects George Gilbert Scott and Benjamin Ferrey) but whilst the church was awaiting its completion they needed bells to summon the faithful to worship. The problem was solved by constructing a wooden belfry over the south porch, into which were hung (for chiming only) the three smallest bells of the octave, the present fifth, sixth and seventh. The remaining four bells were stored pending completion of the tower. The new tower was finished in 1862 and a local man was given the contract to supply a new bell frame and hang the eight bells (the tenor had by this time returned from the foundry). The work was done immediately, and the new tower was opened amid much rejoicing on 8th September 1862. Further work was necessary in 1865, when the present 8th bell was cast. Details of its predecessor have already been given. The new bell cost £26-15-7.

The tower under reconstruction.
Note the temporary timber tower over the south porch
in which three of the bells were hung for chiming while the work was in progress

Part of the inscription of the present (1861) tenor bell
(photo by the author)

Apparently the 1862 bell hanger didn't do a very good job, as within ten years the bells had become unringable. They remained so for a couple of years, at which point Taylor's of Loughborough were called in to make recommendations. However, in the event the parish ignored the recommendations made, and strengthened the existing bell frame and rehung the bells. This patch up job lasted little more than ten years. The beams supporting the bell frame sunk, and the bells again became unringable. Following this, it was decided to accept expert advice, and the Loughborough firm of Taylor was again called in. John William Taylor, head of the firm, advised the removal of the old bellframe and fittings, as any more money spent on them would be wasted. This work was carried out in 1885, and in addition to the bell frame and fittings the four supporting beams wee also removed. These were in pairs, one set running east-west and the other north-south. They were all considerably weakened at the centre. The beams were replaced by two large RSJs, and on these the new bell frame was built. This was typical of the type constructed by Taylor's at that time, consisting of an oak foundation, cast iron high-sided 'A' frames, made at Loughborough, and oak heads. A surviving example of this type of frame can be seen at St Cuthbert's church, Wells. The ten ringing bells were accommodated on one level, with the four chiming bells in a smaller, chiming-scale, cast iron high-sided 'A' frame supported on two RSJs above the ringing bells. The three surviving chiming bells are still hanging in this frame.

Before being hung in the new frame, the bells were taken to Loughborough for tuning. Unfortunately the oldest bell, the fifth of the octave, was found to be so flat that it couldn't be satisfactorily tuned to match the other bells, so it had to be recast. When this was done, a mistake was made in copying the date of the old bell onto the new one. '1816' was given, instead of '1616'. There were also six new bells cast at this time. Two of these were trebles to augment the ring to ten bells. The other four were for the new tune playing mechanism (the old tune playing mechanism and clock having been removed along with the old bell frame), and were hung for chiming only. Three of these four bells still exist. They are a sharp fifth, a flat sixth and a sharp ninth, so they sound the note a semitone sharp of the fifth, flat of the sixth and sharp of the ninth respectively.

The 9th, the largest of six bells cast in 1885 by Taylor's
(photo by the author)

The other bell supplied at this time was equivalent in note to the present second. It was inscribed:

J : TAYLOR AND Co FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH 1885. / PRESENTED BY WILFRED G. MARSHALL, ESQUIRE. / SAMUEL ADAMS M.A. VICAR. / CHARLES PAULL E.R. YOUNG ARTHUR STEEVENS CHURCHWARDENS / FEBRUARY 1885.

The bell had a diameter of 27½", weighed 5-3-6 and sounded the note F-Sharp. It was recast into the present second in 1922.

In 1922 the bells were augmented to twelve, the present number. Initially, it seemed as if this would not go ahead as the Chancellor of the Diocese was afraid that two extra bells would place too much strain on the tower. Although prepared to give permission for rehanging the existing ten bells, he refused to grant a faculty for augmentation to twelve. The church didn't accept this as final, and called in Mr G.H. Phillott of Cheltenham, a well-known ringer who was also an experienced architect. He examined the tower and gave a favourable report on the proposal for augmentation. The church re-submitted for a faculty, backed up by this expert opinion, and this time it was granted. A committee was elected to see to the work being carried out. This committee consisted of the clergy, the churchwardens, the organist and five of the ringers. The job was given to Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel, London, and the eventual total cost was £1279-9-5.

The old frame was removed and replaced with a new cast iron low sided frame, holding all twelve ringing bells on one level and supported by two pairs of RSJs, one pair running east-west, the other north-south. The frame is really positioned too high in the tower, which is not particularly strong. The Whitechapel foundry (along with Taylor's and Gillett and Johnston, who also quoted) recommended hanging the bells on two levels lower in the tower, but certain local 'experts' who thought they knew better insisted that the bells all be hung on one level. The only way this could be accomplished was by hanging them near to the top, above the offset, where the internal dimensions of the tower are greatest.

The ten ringing bells were hung into the new frame, together with the two trebles. The smallest was new, given as a memorial to four St Mary's ringers killed serving in the Great War. The second was cast from the metal of the smallest of the chiming bells. New fittings were provided for all twelve bells. The three larger chiming bells were not rehung, and to this day are still hung 'dead' in their framework above the ringing bells. The brass barrel type chiming machine, installed in 1885, was retained when the bells were rehung and augmented, but has been modernised since. The wires operating the hammers were replaced about thirty years ago by an electro-pneumatic piston on each hammer, operated by a compressor installed in the middle chamber of the tower. Ten years or so ago the chiming machine was replaced by a computerised unit, manufactured in Holland and housed in the vestry. Parts of the old machine remain in the middle chamber of the tower. All fifteen bells are used for playing tunes and imitating change ringing, and the Westminster quarters are struck on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th, with the tenor being the hour bell.

The treble of twelve cast in 1922
(photo by the author)

In the 1950's the tenth bell became cracked due to the action of the chiming hammer. It was recast in 1955, with the same inscription, by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The old bell had a diameter of 44½" and weighed 15-2-9.

For further reading & technical information please visit David Bryant's web site by clicking here