The Church Bells

The church serves Boldmere district of the parish of Sutton Coldfield, being built in 1856-7. J. F.  Wadmore of London was the architect and Isaac Highway of Walsall was the builder,. The foundation stone was laid on 10th September 1856 and the church – then consisting of a chancel, nave and tower – was consecrated on 29 September 1858. The north aisle and the spire were added in 1871, and the church was further enlarged in 1895-6 when a south aisle was added by J. A. Chatwin. Only this aisle and the tower and spire survived a disastrous fire on 10 July 1964, which burnt out the old part of the building. This was rebuilt to a design by C.H. While when the church was restored on a smaller scale after the fire. After restoration the church was re-consecrated on 28 September 1967.

Prior to the installation of the present ring in 1906 there was a single bell by Blews – probably dating from 1870/71 when the spire was added – with a diameter of 29 inches and weighing about 5 cwt, probably replacing an earlier bell dating from the erection of the church and tower.  The current ring was given by Harriet and Charlotte Inston in 1906 in memory of their father, Thomas, at a cost of just under £600, after allowance for the old bell. The cast iron frame and fittings are mainly contemporary with the bells.  On Saturday, 22 December 1906, the bells were dedicated by Canon Mansfield Owen (afterwards Dean of Ripon) acting on behalf of the bishop of the diocese and rung for the first time. A peal was rung on the same day. This was reported in “Bell News” in the edition of December 29th 1906:

The front 7 bells are simply inscribed "BARWELL FOUNDER BIRMINGHAM A.D. 1906" around the shoulder and have the Barwell mark on the waist. The tenor is inscribed "BARWELL FOUNDER BIRMINGHAM" on the shoulder, and on the waist:

TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR FATHER
THOMAS INSTON
THIS RING OF BELLS WAS GIVEN
BY HARRIET AND CHARLOTTE INSTON
A.D. 1906

In 1946 the bells were found to be in poor condition and it was considered dangerous to ring them. An estimate for repairs and recasting obtained from a firm of bell manufacturers amounted to £1200 and not unnaturally was received by the church council with great concern. Fortunately, help was at hand. Mr. J. Grason with the aid of his son Arthur and his son-in-law, George Lister, offered with considerable trepidation as he himself admits to undertake the work. Enlisting the help of the church’s good friends, Messrs. G. T. Stephens and Son, Builders, who supplied the scaffolding they dismantled the bells under conditions of great difficulty – lack of manipulation space, amid filth and grease and exposed to the icy winds in the belfry – in their spare time during six weeks to complete their self-imposed task. The total cost of this work was £55/9/2!

The tenor was rehung on ball bearings by the local ringers in 1989. This proved successful and the rest of the bells were rehung in 1993. The bearing housings and gudgeon pins were specially designed to replicate the originals and produced by a local toolmaking company. In 2005 the original ground pulleys were replaced with replicas made of oak with Nylacast sheaves running on ball bearings. In 2008 the clappers were re-bushed with Tufnol/PTFE and fitted with new stainless steel staple pins by Whites of Appleton

These bells are a rarity in that they are a complete Barwell ring of 8. The only others are at Wolverhampton, Blakenhall (where the church has been sold to an American based church) and Capetown, Woodstock. They are in F (697Hz) and not F# as is often quoted. They were all cast with flat tops.

Details of the Bells

1 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906   4-1-09  27.375″  1407.0Hz (F+12c)
2 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906   4-1-11  27.625″  1324.5Hz (E+8c)
3 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906   4-2-00  28.25″   1177.0Hz (D+3c)
4 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906   5-0-24  30.25″   1040.0Hz (C-11c)
5 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906   6-3-06  33.25″    933.0Hz (Bb+1c)
6 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906   7-2-03  35.00″    877.5Hz (A-5c)
7 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906   9-3-03  39.50″    772.0Hz (G-27c)
8 James Barwell & Co, Birmingham  1906  13-3-14  43.75″    697.0Hz (F-4c)