The Bells of St Andrew’s
Kildwick has an excellent ring of eight bells, cast in Loughborough in 1914. The “middle six” still bear facsimiles of the inscriptions from the old ring of six, cast in 1780.
The inscriptions on the bells
The bells hang in a standard Taylor’s low-side frame and are equipped with Hastings stays. Their most notable feature is that they are rung with Yorkshire tail ends. The bottom of the rope, instead of the more normal doubled loop of rope ends in a second “fluffy” bit, like the sallie. There are said to be only six towers still equipped with these Victorian inventions. If you are visiting, don’t let them put you off!
Long periods of ringing can be tiring – and they can’t easily be adjusted for length but they aren’t really any harder to ring than the ropes you are used to!
A brief history of the bells
| 1400 C | The tower was built and three bells installed. They were rung from the ground floor but they would have been simply swung. Full circle ringing as we do now wasn’t invented! |
| 1709 | The Clock was installed. This was the gift of W. Currer of Steeton, late citizen of London. Interestingly, the Currer family also installed a sundial in 1729. Perhaps the clock was a little wayward! |
| 1772 | West doorway was enlarged to allow a hearse to be housed in the tower. Tradition has it that the local pub started to charge too much to store it there. The door is still very narrow for any sort of waggon. |
| 1780 | 6 bells were cast by Chapman & Pack, Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Money for the bells was raised by subscription and the bells carried the names of five churchwardens and the tenor carried the name of the minister. A floor was laid across the lower part of the tower and the bells were rung from this new floor. A doorway was cut in the spiral staircase for access and the bottom of the arch into the church was walled up. |
| 1825 | A gallery was added over the font in the church |
| 1828 | The clock face on the outside of the tower was renewed by subscription. |
| 1830? | Hearse found alternative housing and evicted from the bottom of the tower |
| 1867 | The clock that it still working today was set going on August 24th |
| 1868 | The Gallery was removed and the west end opened out and cleaned. An oak screen was placed across the bottom of the tower arch. A new West window was inserted and it is likely that the carved “face of Odin” was discovered when they opened the rubble-filled wall. This was then inserted into the stonework above the door. |
| 1889 | The bells were rehung by W Brown & J Butterfield (at Eastertide) |
| 1901 – 1903 | This was a period of a major restoration of the church. The raised ringing floor was removed at this time, leaving a door in “mid-air” on the south wall. A new heating system (a “Grundy” boiler) was installed under a slightly raised concrete floor. The bottom of the oak door was sliced off to accommodate this. |
| 1914 | The old six bells were recast and a new smaller and larger added to complete the octave. The whole peal was hung in a new iron frame by John Taylor & Co Loughborough, complete with an Ellacombe chiming apparatus |
| 1987 | The bells & frame were restored by Taylors of Loughborough. At the beginning of World War 1, the development of roller bearings for bells was greatly accelerated because of their alternative use in tanks. The old plain bearings were replaced with roller bearings during this restoration. In the bell chamber, there is still an oilcan, nestling in a niche that will have been used for the old plain bearings. |
