The Bellframe at the church of St.Nicholas, Little Horwood (Diocese of Oxford)
A report prepared by Chris Pickford FSA for the Incumbent and Parochial Church Council of St.Nicholas’ Church, Little Horwood, September 2016.
1 Introduction
1.1 Little Horwood church has five bells. They have fallen silent owing to the state of the frame and fittings. It is hoped to restore the bells and bring them back into use. Because of the historical interest of the installation the church authorities are now exploring a range of options for rehanging the bells prior to submitting proposals for faculty approval.
2 The Church (History summary)
2.1 Dedicated to St.Nicholas, the church is situated in Church Lane at the north end of the village. The Ordnance Survey grid reference is SP790308. The church is Grade II* listed in the National Heritage List for England. The earliest parts of the present fabric dates from the C13. It was restored under J.P. St. Aubyn & Wadling in 1899.
3 The Tower: Description
3.1 The west tower dates from the C15. It is in three stages with an embattled parapet. The style is Perpendicular and the tower is built of dressed stone with what Pevsner and Williamson describe as “uncommonly large ashlar blocks”. It abuts the west wall of the nave, with the tower arch within the walling between the nave and tower. There are diagonal buttresses (possibly added) to the two lower stages on the west side. The bell stage has louvred openings in each face, each of two lights with tracery. This stage is rendered. On the west side the tower has a door with a four-5 centred arch, above which there is a two-light traceried window. The head of the window cuts into the string course between the first and second stages. Higher up there is a small oblong window to light the intermediate chamber. There are also two small rectangular windows lighting the vice or spiral stair in the South-West angle. The lower stages of the north and south sides are plain, without openings of any sort.
4 The Bells (history of the bells, frame and fittings)
4.1 The medieval church evidently possessed three bells as the Edwardian inventory of church goods of 1552 lists “three bells in the steple” here. There was also a small Sanctus bell whose successor, recast in 1690, remained in the tower until 1895 when it was scrapped to provide extra metal for the recasting of the tenor bell.
4.2 The history really begins in 1672-3 when the Chandlers of Drayton Parslow – probably Anthony Chandler and Richard Chandler II – cast a new ring of five for the church. Of this ring two bells remain, the treble dated 1673 and the third of 1672.Although the figures on the bell said “1672” the former second (recast in 1934) also belonged to the set and bore the initials of Anthony Chandler along with those of two churchwardens “I F” and “R B”. The former tenor (recast in 1895) was also a Chandler bell of 1672 (see Appendix 1).
4.3 Of the original ring, three bells have since been recast – the fourth by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel in 1793, the tenor by Mears & Stainbank in 1895 and the second also by Mears & Stainbank in 1934.
4.4 The bells were restored by the bellhanging firm of Webb & Bennett of Kidlington, near Oxford, in 1895 (Appendix 2). They rearranged the frame, provided all-new ringing fittings and had the cracked tenor recast. The bells were rededicated at a Harvest Festival service on 10 October 1895. Richard White of Appleton rehung the second bell after it had been recast in 1934. William Weir was the superintending architect when the bells were attended to in 1934.
4.5 The inscriptions on the bells (from Matthew Smith’s survey) are as follows:
Chandler Made Me 1673 (Bell 1)
Mears & Stainbank, London. 1934 (Whitechapel foundry mark) (Bell 2)
Chandler Made Me 1672 (Bell 3)
The founders, dates, sizes, notes and other physical details of the bells are as follows:
Bell 1 Founder Chandler 1673, Diameter 29″ Cwt 4 3/4
Bell 2 Founder Mears & Stainbank 1934, Diameter 30″ Cwt 5-0-14
Bell 3 Founder Chandler 1672 Diameter 32 3/4″ Cwt 6
Bell 4 Founder Thomas Mears 1793 Diameter 34 1/2″ Cwt 7 1/4
Bell 5 Founder Mears & Stainbank 1895 Diameter 38 1/2″ Cwt 9/2/22
For the full report, please see below