LANGTON BY SPILSBY

The bells in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Langton by Spilsby in Lincolnshire were cast here at Whitechapel by Thomas Mears II in 1825. They are a ring of six with a 3'-3" (980mm) tenor in the key of G. Due to deterioration of the original fittings in the almost two centuries since then the bells had become unringable. Whitechapel Bell Foundry was tasked with providing retuning the bells with all new fittings in the existing timber frame so that full-circle change ringing could once again be performed in the church.

Subsequent to the original installation, and probably towards the end of the 19th Century, an unusual hand chiming device was introduced so that one person, by turning a handle, could cause all six bells to chime. A total of three tunes are available and these are selected by sliding the levers in the chiming bar into one of the three tune positions. Cast in relief on the side of the chiming apparatus are the words ”Bailey Lanchester Albion Works Salford Wright Jones Patent no. 15”. This is the only occasion that we have ever seen one of these devices.

The apparatus operates in a manner similar to a giant musical box. A number of metal pegs are fixed circumferentially on to a barrel and these trigger levers in turn as the barrel is rotated. By triggering the levers, wires are pulled which lift the hammers clear of the bell and then allow them to drop by gravity. The six hammers are attached to the bellframe in such a way that they strike a downward blow on to the outsides of the soundbows. When fitted, a number of the frame timbers were heavily cut back in order to make space for the hammers. Similarly, a number of pockets were cut into the brickwork of the tower walls.

The bells and fittings were removed by Whitechapel bell-hangers Peter Scott and Neil Thomas, the bells being sent back to the Foundry for retuning and new fittings, and the original fittings being discarded.