| Appleton, Oxon |
| Workshop (Balscote Ring) |
|
|
| Bell |
Date |
Founder |
Dia. |
Weight |
|
| Treble |
1997 |
Whitechapel |
9.5" |
0-1-8 |
|
| 2nd. |
1997 |
Whitechapel |
9.5" |
0-1-6 |
|
| 3rd. |
1958 |
Mears & Stainbank |
10.25" |
0-1-6 |
|
| 4th. |
1958 |
Mears & Stainbank |
10.5" |
0-1-6 |
|
| 5th. |
1957 |
Gillett & Johnston |
11" |
0-1-14 |
|
| 6th. |
1963 |
Mears & Stainbank |
11.5" |
0-1-14 |
|
| 7th. |
1952 |
Gillett & Johnston |
12.5" |
0-2-0 |
|
| 8th. |
1952 |
Gillett & Johnston |
13.125" |
0-2-14 |
|
| 9th. |
1958 |
Mears & Stainbank |
15" |
0-2-25 |
|
| 10th. |
1952 |
Gillett & Johnston |
16.25" |
1-0-0 |
|
| 11th. |
1952 |
Gillett & Johnston |
17.5" |
1-0-20 |
|
| Tenor |
1958 |
Mears & Stainbank |
19.25" |
1-2-16 |
in Bb -23
(Hum=460Hz) |
|
| sharp 2nd. |
1969 |
Mears & Stainbank |
9.5" |
0-1-6 |
|
| sharp 4th. |
1964 |
Mears & Stainbank |
10.5" |
0-1-6 |
|
| sharp 5th. |
1963 |
Mears & Stainbank |
10.75" |
0-1-13 |
|
| sharp 8th. |
1963 |
Mears & Stainbank |
13.25" |
0-2-9 |
|
| sharp 9th. |
1952 |
Gillett & Johnston |
14.75" |
0-3-7 |
|
|
|
|
|
Brief History |
Charles Jarvis purchased a ring of six bells from Gillett & Johnston in
1951 with a tenor of 1.0.20 in C at a cost of £186 to include fittings.
He hung them in an outhouse at his farm in Balscote, Oxon. In 1956 he purchased
two smaller bells from Gilletts (Ab and Bb) at a cost of £72 possibly in
an attempt to regain the record for the lightest ring of six which Arthur
Jopp had just stolen with his Stoulton Campanile (0.3.23). His long-term
plan was to complete the ring of ten but this was halted when Gillett &
Johnston went into liquidation. In the end an order was placed with the
Whitechapel bell foundry for four new bells in 1958. The small C bell and
larger Eb bell produced the light six he was after (tenor 0.2.25) whilst
the other bells augmented either end up to a slightly heavier ring of ten.
Two more Whitechapel bells were added in 1963 and further additions in 1964
and 1969 brought the total up to sixteen bells hung for ringing. The possible
permutations included two rings of ten (in Bb and C), three rings of eight
(in Bb, C and D), seven rings of six (in Bb, C, D, Eb, E, F and G) and nine
rings of five (in Bb, C, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G and A.)
In 1971 Charles Jarvis retired from Home Farm to a bungalow at Greenways
Farm also in Balscote. He constructed a campanile in a barn on this property
and rehung the bells there. In January 1987 the farm was sold, the frame
went for scrap and the bells were stored until being bought and restored
by Whites of Appleton in 1996. They were hung in a new frame at the works
but three of the original bells (Db, Ab and Gb) were not reused. Instead
two new trebles were cast to complete the ring of twelve. |
Sources: |
| RW 97/745 |
| SCWH |
|
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