A brief history of the Felsted Church bells from 1900.
In 1900 the 5 bells at Felsted church had not been rung
since 1879 as the bells were cracked and the wooden Bell frame was decayed. The Tower which had lit a lantern to warn of the Spanish
Armada lay silent.
Under the Rev. Doherty and Tower captain William Farrow the five bells were sent to John Warner of Spitalfields foundry to be recast in 1915 and eight bells were sent back to Felsted.
Here are our "new" number six and number seven bells.
The old bells were originally cast by :-
Miles Gray in 1628
Miles Gray in 1638
John Waylett of London in 1731
Lester and Pack of London in 1764
T Mears of London in 1818.
The 8 bells were rehung on an iron and aluminium vertical cantilever frame supported by short steel girders which are attached to the structure of the tower.
The weight of the bells ranged from 4cwt to 12.5 cwt and the notes are F, G, A, B flat, C, D, E, F. There was a service held by the Bishop of Chelmsford on July17th in 1915 to celebrate the dedication of these bells.
Incidentally the foundry of John Warner went bankrupt in 1916 and Chelmsford Cathedral also has a peal of bells from this foundry. There is a plaque in the tower commemorating the death of a ringer James Sivell who died fighting in the 1st World War.
The band of ringers improved in Felsted and under the command of a one-eyed schoolteacher, Billy Ebert, rang Quarter Peals for the Sunday services before the 2nd World War. At this time the bells were rung from the floor of the church which is now the Choir Vestry.
After the 2nd World War the ringers struggled with the whole family of Telfers giving some splendid support. A new Bell chamber was constructed half way up the Tower so the bells were rung from here. The Rev John Vick was a keen bell ringer and the older ringers remember his support and encouragement. During this time bell ropes were donated on occasions by generous benefactors in the village. From the 1970’s boys from Felsted school were taught bell ringing.
In 2000 there was a major maintenance programme to ensure that the bells were maintained and a few faults were corrected. Also in this year a computer was acquired so three hours training on the bells could be taught without the bells being heard outside of the Tower.
The new Millennium was rung in by 22 ringers from Felsted. Felsted currently has 18 ringers and has trained two new ringers in 2005. More ringers are always welcome – please contact me if you are interested and we will be delighted to show you.
The next objective is a major refurbishment to the bells as there is a fundamental flaw in the engineering design of the bell-frame, in that the bells are held onto their frames by one large bolt, whereas it is safer to have three bolts holding the bells to their frames. Also tests have shown that the sound of the bells is out of tune and needs correcting, so quotes are being obtained to correct these problems. The ringers have raised thousands of pounds towards these costs and the balance will be obtained from grants. It is not intended to use money from general Church funds for this refurbishment
Felsted is known locally as a friendly tower, and the district centre for excellence training school on Saturdays is shared between Coggeshall, Finchingfield and our tower.
