Bi Centenary of the Church Bells 1811-2011

The Bi-Centenary of the Bells of

ALL SAINTS CHURCH

Braunston (Northants)

1811 – 2011.

By Pater Wenham, with annotations from Chris Pickford.

All Saints Church, Braunston (also known in bygone days as “The Cathedral of the Canals”) with its 120ft spire is a prominent landmark at the western end of a high ridge overlooking the Grand Union and Oxford canals and parts of neighbouring Warwickshire. The six bells, all cast by John Briant of Hertford in 1811, were rehung by Taylors in 1922.

North’s book “The Inscriptions of Church bells of Northamptonshire” states that in 1552 there were “iiij bells in ye steeple & a sanct’ bell” (i.e. four bells and a separate sanctus bell 1) and that in 1672 these ancient bells were cast into a ring of six by Richard Keene of Woodstock. This, it seems, was not a complete success because No.3 was recast in 1681, founder unknown (2), and the entire ring was again recast by John Briant of Hertford in 1811.  The Churchwardens’ book for 1812 shows the total weight of the ring (17 cwt tenor) as 61 cwt 3 qtrs 13 lbs (3150kg). John Briant’s bill (paid in 1813) was for £237-15-6 (£237.78). A frame of “good oak” was ordered for the new ring at a cost of £60. (The Vestry minute book shows that Thomas Redhead contracted to make the frame ”according to Mr. John Briant of Hertford’s plan”.)

It is probable that the bells were transported from Hertford toBraunston by canal. If so, the last half-mile up the steep slope from the canal basin must have been the hardest part of the journey.

A strange story that the tenor bells of Braunston and nearby Willoughby (Warwickshire) were mixed up at the foundry is disproved by North, though it has been stated as fact in at least one book on Northamptonshire churches. (3)

At the time the bells were installed, there was quite a tradition of prize ringing in the area of south west Northamptonshire. The Northampton Mercury carried frequent advertisements for competitions and the results were often reported. After one competition in 1816 the Mercury reported that “Great numbers of people were brought together on the occasion, and the day was spent in the most harmonious and convivial manner.” (4).

The opening of new rings of bells usually attracted ringers from other towers and these, too, were sometimes covered in the newspapers of the day. There is no report of the “opening” of Braunston bells in 1811 but a competition to be held at the tower was advertised in the Northampton Mercury of 14 November 1818.

TO BE RUNG FOR.

At BRAUNSTON Northamptonshire

On the 19^th  of NOVEMBER, 1818. TWO

PRIZES: first, the best peal, Two Pounds;

best second, One Pound – the best of three six Scores,

 on five bells, and every Set to find their own Umpire;

not less than three sets to ring, or no Peal, no more than two

 parishes to find a set, - No sea Peals to be rung

after Twelve 0’Clock.

                                                                              a Dinner will be provided at the CASTLE INN

                                                                       At One o’Clock for those Gentlemen who choose to

                                                                                                             Attend.

The present bells were first hung in an earlier building. In the mid 1800s a new and larger church was built to accommodate Braunston’s rapidly expanding population caused by the growing canal industry. This, the third stone church to be built on the site, was completed in 1849. Much of the stonework would have been re-used and immediately above the bells we have an unusual feature of four corner lintels carved with cherub heads.

 In 1922 the bells were re-hung on cast iron headstocks with ball bearings in an all-metal frame by Messrs John Taylor of Loughborough. Messrs Taylors have kindly given copies of the few documents still remaining from this contract, being the handwritten order from the Parish Council, together with a letter of confirmation from the Council Secretary, and a sketch plan of the belfry floor which includes dimensions for a hatch with a note that it could be moved northward if necessary.  This suggests that there was no hatch in 1922 so it seems possible that the bells were transferred as the new tower was being built.

There is no mention of tuning in the order to rehang the bells, however there are apparently lathe marks over the original chip-tuning so presumably this was also done in 1922. The present day weights are somewhat less than those claimed by Briant, no doubt due to removal of cannons and the retuning. 

            The bill for this entire operation was £484; one wonders whether today this would even have covered the cost of transport to and from Loughborough.

Present and past weights are:

Treble:            6. 2. 27           (7. 1. 2)

2                      6. 3. 22           (7. 2. 20)

3                      8. 0. 22           (9. 0, 0)

4                      8. 2. 16           (9. 2. 0)

5                      10. 0. 23         (10. 3. 6)

Tenor              15. 1. 16         (17. 2. 13)  Note F.

(Given in cwts, qtrs, lbs. 1 cwt = 50 kg approx.)

            The only relic we have of the earlier installation is a faldstool made of wood from the old bell frame.

Thanks to Mrs Robin Woolley, whose father-in-law was an incumbent here, we have a draft of rules to be brought before the first General Meeting of Members on October 9^th, 1910, with regard to the proposed “Society of Church Bell Ringers for Daventry, Weedon and District”. There are various amendments in pencil, notably that “Society” should read “Assocation”. The fee for Ringing members was to have been One Shilling (5p) annually.

A new band was formed in 1993, continuing with regular Sunday ringing and practice nights to the present day. One of our early recruits, John Gwynne, being a computer technician, became interested in simulators and built one, making the sensors and interface by hand from the Abel diagrams. The early Abel program was later replaced by the Windows version and this functioned until 2006 when the spire suffered a lightning strike which caused serious damage to the church clock movement, electronic organ and some of the mains wiring, as well as sounding the death knell of the simulator. It is perhaps fortunate that a few years previously the bell frame was bonded to the lightning strap, since the bells and their fittings were not affected. We rebuilt the simulator, this time using ready-made external components from David Bagley (for which the insurance company paid) and the simulator is again in regular use for Branch training events and our weekly “Monday Group”, held on Monday afternoons and attended mainly by the more “mature” learners in the area.

As many ringing canal boaters already know, visitors are welcome to our Thursday practice nights (7.30 p.m.) and to Sunday ringing (10.20 a.m.)

1. As there was a sanctus bell in 1700 it was probably only the four ringing bells that were recast by Keene.
2. .Probably Keene or else Henry Bagley II or Matthew Bagley of nearby Chacombe.
3. 3. North’s explanation is repeated without further comment or explanation in Joyce Dodd’s Hertfordshire Bellfounders (Hatfield) 2003, p 262. Briant only cast five bells beside the Braunston ring in 1811, so the possibilties for confusion between commissions was limited – and the Braunston tenor is by some way the heaviest of the bells cast around that time. A search of the parish registers should indicate how Evans described himself – and clarify what position (if any) he held.
4. 4. Actually at Hanslope, Bucks. There are references to competitions at Great Brington, Byfield, Ravensthorpe, Wardington, Lilbourne, Dunchurch,, West Haddon, Pattishall, Yelvertoft, East Haddon, Weedon, Long Buckby and Watford in the period of 1905 – 1825 – but none of these contain such a good description of the nature of the occasion.

Thanks for help from Chris Pickford and for details from:

            “The Inscriptions on the Church Bells of Northamptonshire” by the Revd. North.

            “An Inventory of the Church Bells of the Diocese of Peterborough”, compiled by Denis Pearson, 1989.

John Caunt for Parish Records

             Messrs John Taylor.

             Mrs Robin Woolley.