Stowey and West Harptree, Somerset
Unusual 18th Century Bellframe Fittings
Roy Rice
I'm sure that every ringer is aware of what a stay and a slider looks like. Just occasionally, we come across unusual arrangements where the bellhanger has had to use his imagination to get around conditions in the tower. At Stowey and West Harptree in the 18th Century there was so little space that the bellhanger invented stays and sliders that were very different to what we are used to. After many years of being unringable, both rings of bells now have a completely new installation. Stowey bells have been augmented to six and rehung and West Harptree are now hung dead for chiming. The old fixtures and fittings have gone, but thanks to Roy Rice we have a photographic record of them.
Stowey
At Stowey there was a ring of five bells cast by Thomas Bilbie in 1730. The frame seems to have been made for three bells, then two more pits were added to the north and south to fit in when the bells were new cast into five. The frame was cut extensively to accommodate the swing of the bells, iron braces were put on most of these weak places in the frame to give extra strength. The wall of the tower was also cut out in places to allow the bells to swing.
Treble, 2 and 3 had very short stays with bolt action sliders
The Fourth had a similar stay but because of the lack of room it had a projection out on the wheel side that was fixed to the wheel above the headstock that acted as a stay, and it had a bolt action slider similar to the Treble, 2 and 3 bells.
The tenor had a normal slider with a long stay, but the slider went from under the 3rd bell into the tenor pit.
The ropes fell so close to the tower walls that ringing must have been extremely difficult. When ringing eventually ceased, the ringers tied up their ropes and left them as if they were intending to come back.
The bells had cast in crown staples but wooden top ends to clappers (replacing baldricks) The Tenor appeared not tuned, but all the others seemed to have slight file marks. All had canons, probably with argents as the headstocks and fittings looked original.
The restoration took place in 1991. Eyre and Smith installed a new low sided steel frame, with the four lightest bells in the top tier and the 5 and Tenor below them. The new Treble was cast by the Whitechapel Foundry.
These pages from Trevor Jennings' book "The Development of British Bell Fittings" show stays and sliders similar too those that were at Stowey. However, the arrangements that the bellhanger had to make at West Harptree are not featured, so perhaps they were very rare.
West Harptree
West Harptree had three bells until 1778, when a new Tenor cast by William Bilbie was added. To make room for this, the Treble had to be moved up into the base of the spire.
It seems that the 2nd was then moved into the Treble's pit, the 3rd into the 2nd's pit, and the new Tenor hung in the 3rd's original pit. Then the back three bells were a bit too big for their new positions and the frame had to be extensively gouged out to allow them to swing.
There was so little space in the tower that the bellhanger had to make a very innovative arrangement for the stay and slider of the 2nd bell. Instead of being underneath the bell, the slider was bolted to the top of the frame. The stay hung down from the headstock beside the bell.
The bells were taken down in 1996 by Andrew Nicholson of Bridport. The frame was repaired in order for the bells to be rehung dead, in their original positions. They can now be chimed by Ellacombe style chiming hammers.