Church Bells of Warwickshire

LEA MARSTON St John the Baptist 3, 6-1-8 in B - Anticlockwise

Grid Reference	139/927204
Postcode	B46 1GA
Recording
Affiliation	St Martin's Guild
Peals	None
Sunday	None
Practice	None
Other Information	Anticlockwise

History

The church seems to have existed by 1252, when it was a dependent chapelry of Coleshill Parish Church, and was granted to the Benedictine Markyate Priory.  The south wall of the nave and possibly the north wall date from this era. Two windows in the north wall are early 14th century in style.  The nave was extended 9 feet (2.7 m) westwards in the 15th century for the addition of a bell-cot.  The south porch is another addition that seems to date from the 15th century.  In 1876-77 the chancel was rebuilt and the north-west tower was added

The bells are hung anticlockwise and are housed in a wooden frame, possibly from 1793. The frame therefore pre-dates the current tower. This date his is carved into the frame alonsdie the intials "T P". Fittings were supplied in 1907 by James Barwell of Birmingham, at a cost of £33/2/6. These bells are perfectly ringable.

There looks to be room for 2 bells swinging at 90 degrees to the existing 3. The current bells, however, would need some time on the tuning machine in order to bring them into a diatonic scale - listen and find out how much!

The tuning figures, supplied by Bill Hibbert are very roughly as follows (hum, prime, tierce, nominal):

Treble : 322  589  746  1254
Second:  293  571  664  1059
Tenor :  270  464  589   985

Therefore, the three nominals are D#+ 13c, C + 21, B - 5. The spacing of the bells from treble to second to tenor is roughly 3 semitones and 1 semitone. This is not a combination that occurs in a major diatonic scale. The middle bell is a semitone flat of where it "should" be.

The present tenor replaces one cast in 1629, weighing 5-2-7. Vestry records show that by 1873 the treble had been cracked for some time. The bells were transferred and the old frame and fittings reused when the new tower was built. They all retain their canons. The two tenors have been quarter turned, the treble not having been turned.

The inscriptions are given in Tilley and Walters' book, "The Church Bells of Warwickshire":

Details of the Bells

1 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough   1873  5-1-13  29.50"  1254.0Hz (D#+12c)
2 John Rudhall, Gloucester         1791  5½ cwt  30.25"  1059.0Hz (C+21c)
3 John Taylor & Son, Loughborough  1855  6-1-08  32.50"   985.0Hz (B-5c) 

Photo Gallery
The Treble	The Second	The Tenor

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