Previous towers

Present tower

Modern era

Evesham Bell Tower in 1875

The church accounts show that regular repair work to the tower and the bells were necessary, most notably in 1848 when the stonework was repointed and the roof renewed, requiring scaffolding to be erected. The pinnacles were strengthened with iron clamps and the weathervanes on those pinnacles reset. The tower roof was repaired again in 1875 together with new internal floors and the regilding of the clock faces.^[1]

No further work was carried out to the tower itself until 1937 when concern began to mount about the condition of the stonework. The firm of architects Ellery Anderson Roiser & Falconer was commissioned to produce a detailed report on the fabric, and their findings were that the pinnacles were in particularly poor condition, suffering both the full force of the prevailing wind and damage from within by the iron clamps. The iron clamps had rusted and forced apart the stonework, causing it to crack. Though work was recommended, the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 stopped the work before it could begin.^[1]

It was not until 1947 that Roiser returned and provided a new report, in which they mention that the condition of the tower had deteriorated further. They did, however, suggest that the incomplete fan vaulted ceiling over the tower gateway could be completed as part of the work to restore the tower. The parish did not have the funds for such a large and expensive restoration, so a 'Bell Tower Restoration Committee' was formed to raise the funds, chaired by the Mayor of Evesham. The scope of the work, which lasted until 1952, included repairs to the stonework, repairing the clock and chiming mechanisms as well as recasting the bells. The total scheme, upon its completion in 1953, had cost £8,475, well over the cost estimated in 1947 of £6,000.^[1]

During August 2012, some large pieces of stonework fell from the tower, resulting in inspections on the condition of the structure. The inspections report in February 2013 showed that the tower needed an estimated £500,000 of repairs. Following a successful Heritage Lottery Fund application, which awarded £45,000^[10] in November 2013, and further fundraising, the work was undertaken between April 2015 and February 2016. The stonework on each level of the tower was cleaned and restored, the weathervanes regilded and the clock faces repaired. To complete the project, a commemorative stone plaque was placed on the tower.^{[1][3][4][11][12][13]}

Early bells

Though Lichfield's bell tower is the fourth to stand on the site, the first written record of any bells is in 1540, when shortly after the dissolution of the abbey, John of Alcester surveyed the contents of the abbey and found six bells within the bell tower. By October 1540, much of the abbey complex including the main structure of the church, had been demolished, leaving the bell tower as the principle monument. In order for the bell tower to be demolished, the bells within it had to be surveyed, removed and sold. A survey in 1546 found one bell remaining in the tower, listed as weighing approximately 30 long cwt (1,524 kilograms (3,360 lb).^{[1][8][14][15]}

In 1631, the 'great bell', likely the single bell mentioned in 1546, was recast by George Oldfield of Nottingham, to a slightly lighter weight of 29 long cwt 0 qrs 13 lb (1,480 kilograms (3,260 lb). In 1664, the bells in the churches of All Saints and St Lawrence were used to augment the bells in the bell tower. Two of the bells were sent directly into the tower, the remaining three were recast by Henry Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire. These five bells augmented the single bell in the bell tower to a ring of six.^{[1][9][14][15]}

18th and 19th centuries

Apart from regular minor maintenance each year, the next major work to the bells occurred in 1741. The 2nd bell, which had cracked the previous year, was recast by Abel Rudhall of Gloucester, along with every bell in the tower other than George Oldfield's tenor bell. Rudhall also cast two new lighter bells to make a ring of eight and hung them on new fittings in a new frame. In 1820, during work to the frame by the townsman John Jarrett, the tenor bell fell from its hanging and cracked. The bell was recast by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel, London, at a cost of £238 but by 1824, the bill had still not been paid. The weight of the new tenor was slightly larger, at 31 long cwt 0 qrs 21 lb (1,584 kilograms (3,492 lb).^[1][14][15]

During 1875, Whites of Appleton rehung the bells in a new timber frame that had been provided by George Vale, a local craftsman. A few full peals were attempted on the bells following this rehanging but were unsuccessful due to the difficulty of ringing them. The first peal in the tower was eventually scored on 27 December 1889 but with considerable difficulty, for it required three men to ring the tenor.^{[1][14][15][16]}

This was the only full peal scored on those bells, and by the following year, the bells were condemned due to concerns about the ability of the frame to support their weight. This was confirmed in an inspection by John Taylor & Co in 1898 who said they had "never seen such a thin frame for such heavy bells". They proposed a full rehang in a new frame but due to the financial situation of the parish, this never occurred. Instead, an Ellacombe chiming apparatus was installed for £20 to allow all 8 bells to be chimed by a single ringer.^[1][14][15]

20th century

In 1909, a quote by James Barwell & Co of Birmingham was accepted for £104 to rehang the bells in a new cast-iron frame. The following year, two donors gave enough money to allow the bells to be augmented to ten with two new lighter treble bells, also cast at Barwell's foundry. The bells were tuned and the larger bells had their canons removed, reducing the weight of the tenor to 29 long cwt 2 qrs 2 lb (1,499 kilograms (3,305 lb). The total cost of the rehang and augmentation was £600. The bells were rededicated by Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs, Bishop of Worcester, on 25 June 1910.^{[1][14][15][17]}

During the late 1930s, the condition of the tower itself was causing concern and a restoration scheme was mooted. Compared to the rings being cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough and Gillett & Johnston of Croydon at the time, Evesham's bells were considered inferior so the restoration plans included the recasting of the bells. However, the restoration of both the tower and the bells had to be put on hold due to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. It would not be until 1947 that the newly-formed 'Bell Tower Restoration Committee' were in a position to consider the plans again.^[1][14][15]

Modern recasting

In 1948, Gillett & Johnston and John Taylor & Co were both invited to tender for the complete recasting and rehanging of the bells, to include the casting of two new trebles to provide up to a ring of twelve bells. Gillett and Johnston's quote of £2,700 was recommended by the committee to be accepted. However, in 1949, Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel were also invited to quote for the job. Due to the condition of the tower, it was decided to postpone the recasting of the bells until such time that the tower had been restored, so in 1950, following its restoration, Gillett & Johnston and John Taylor & Company were invited to tender again.^{[1][4][14][15]}

Gillett & Johnston's quote was £2,880 and John Taylor & Co's was £2,944. The quote from Taylor's was favoured despite the slightly higher cost due to the neater frame design, layout and the slightly lower height at which the bells would be hung in the tower. The faculty for the recasting of the bells was granted by the Diocese of Worcester on 5 February 1951, with Taylor's receiving the contract. The bells, frame and their fittings were removed from the tower in the spring of 1951 and sent to their foundry on Freehold Street in Loughborough, Leicestershire.^{[1][14][15][18]}

The bells in the belfry following frame repainting in 2017. Tenor bell centre.

The bells were recast by John Taylor & Co in 1951, with additional metal, to make a slightly heavier ring of twelve. The size and scale of the bells were based upon the 11th of the ring of twelve at Worcester Cathedral, which had all been cast by Taylor's in 1928.^[15] The 11th at the cathedral weighs 34 long cwt 3 qrs 4 lb (1,767 kg or 3,896 lb) and has a diameter of 56.88 inches (144.5 cm);^[19] the new tenor bell for Evesham weighs 35 long cwt 2 qrs 20 lb (1,813 kg or 3,996 lb) and also has a diameter of 56.88 inches;^[20] both bells strike the note C^#.^[1][14][15]

The bells were hung in a new cast-iron frame for 13 bells, allowing for the future casting of a semitone bell. Uniquely, the frame featured an independent space for the new tenor bell in the centre of the tower, not touched by any other part of the frame, so that the tenor bell would not be affected by the forces generated by the other bells in the tower. The bells were dedicated by William Wilson Cash, Bishop of Worcester, on 8 December 1951, giving Worcestershire its second ring of twelve, after Worcester Cathedral. The new bells were described in the Ringing World as "the finest peal of twelve in a radius of many, many miles". The tenor bell has a reputation amongst ringers for the ease at which it can be rung.^[21] The total cost of the recasting and rehanging was £3,250.^{[1][14][15][18]}

Recent developments

In 1976, Walter Wornick, a New Yorker,^[1] funded the addition of a semitone bell to sit between the 6th and 7th bells in the frame; Taylor's had anticipated this occurring and thus had left a space for it in 1951. The semitone bell, called a flat sixth, was cast in 1976 at Taylor's in memory of Wornick's father.^[15] The bell was dedicated on 4 December 1976. This flat sixth bell, when substituted for the natural sixth, allows a lighter octave to be rung, using the 2nd bell as the treble and the 9th bell as the tenor. The 9th weighs 14 long cwt 2 qrs 26 lb (748 kg or 1,650 lb),^[20] less than half that of the tenor, which makes teaching new ringers easier.^[1]

At the same time, the ringing room was split into two sections, an upper and a lower room, by the addition of a new floor. Since then, the ringing room has been on the upper section, the lower section is empty.^[1]

In 1992, Wornick funded the addition of a 14th bell, another semitone, to sit between the treble and the tenor in the frame. Called an 'extra treble', this bell augments the lighter eight to a lighter ten, by using the extra treble and normal treble in addition to those used for the lighter eight. Like the other bells in the tower, this bell was also cast by Taylor's.^[15]

Following the restoration of the tower from 2015 to 2016, the bells received major maintenance by Taylor's, which included the repainting of the frame and the checking/replacement of moving parts.^[20][22] The bells are popular with visiting ringers and they are considered amongst both the finest products of the Taylor foundry and the finest rings of bells in the world.^{[1][3][4][11][14][18][22]}

History

The first reference to a clock at Evesham Abbey is in 1546 when the aforementioned survey mentions "one bell remaining in the clocke house". Details of this clock are unknown, but given that the tower was completed in 1532, it is likely the tower was designed with, or built with, a clock. The tower is called the 'clocke house' several times in surviving documents from the 16th century, but the first time any details appear is in John Leland's Antiquarii de rebus britannicis collectanea, in which he records that the clock dial not only shows the hour of the day, but also the phases of the moon.^[1]

Evesham Bell Tower as it appeared in 1794, showing the clock

The first recorded image of the tower is a drawing by Thomas Dingley between 1670 and 1680, where a clock face, supported by jacks, obscures one of the sets of belfry windows. The maker of the clock is unknown. The next reference to the clock is in the church accounts, dated 14 April 1731, when the moon dial of the clock face was repaired by William Harley, at a cost of 1 shilling. The clock was overhauled again by Harley, this time in 1740 when he also repaired the chimes. This is the earliest record of the chimes themselves. In 1742, the clock and the chimes were replaced by John Steight of Pershore, reflecting the augmentation and recasting of the bells the previous year. That work cost £27 and 10s.^[1]

By 1774, the clock needed repairs, and at a parish meeting on 17 August, the parish employed Thomas Perkins and John Field to remove the clock, repair it and re-erect it on the tower. The meeting also mentions that the wooden figures or 'jacks', suited in armour, placed on the tower to strike the bells with hammers, needed restoration. The clock that was removed in 1774 was found to not be in a good enough condition to repair, so a new clock was installed by William Worton of Birmingham. The chimes were not reinstalled until 1777. The clock face on the eastern side of the tower was replaced again in 1809.^[1]

In 1845, the first mention of the suggested removal of the wooden jacks appears, in George May's survey of Evesham. May describes their appearance as a piece of "carved absurdity", obscuring the tracery of the belfry windows. This appears to have made some impression, for in October 1848, Solomon Hunt removed the clock dials, jacks and canopy from the belfry windows. Two new clock faces, made by C. J. Husband, were installed in August 1848 by John Dones from Worcester. The jacks now reside in the Almonry Heritage Centre.^[1]

The clock and chimes were renovated again in 1877, this time by Gillett & Bland of Croydon (predecessors of Gillett & Johnston). The work, which lasted until 1878, included a new movement and mechanism for the clock, and a carillon to play tunes on the bells. The clock faces were regilded. Gillett & Johnston overhauled the carillon in 1906.^[1][14]

During the restoration of the bells by Barwell & Co in 1910, J. B. Joyce & Co of Whitchurch, Shropshire, overhauled the clock and the chimes for £70, and added an additional 7 tunes to the carillon machine. The clock and chimes would be restored again as part of the 1947−1953 restoration of the tower. In 1949, it was agreed by the committee that five firms would be invited to tender for the replacement of the clock and chimes, and to include the addition of a third clock face on the south side of the tower. Smiths of Derby won the contract to overhaul the clock and chimes, which they did by replacing the clock mechanism and providing two new chiming barrels to play tunes on the newly recast bells.^[1][14]

During the late 20th century, the carillon slowly deteriorated in condition, to the point where it no longer played any recognisable tunes, and had to be dismantled. A new clock and chime mechanism was installed in 2002 by Joyce of Whitechurch, using a Smiths of Derby-provided control system which featured 54 pre-programmed tunes played at three hour intervals during the day. The cost of the project to replace and renew the equipment in 2002 cost £35,000. The clock and chimes were dedicated by Dr. Peter Selby, Bishop of Worcester, in March 2002.^[1][23]