Table of Contents
Blencowe Families' Association Home Page
updated: 20 January 2003
| Blencowe Families' Association Newsletter | Volume 9 Number 2 June 1994 |
You may like to make a donation for a specific part for a bell. Here Is a list of prices for each bell:
| 1 | Slider pin | £15 |
| 2 | Slider | £25 |
| 3 | Supporting bolts | £30 |
| 4 | Bell rope | £70 |
| 5 | Crown staple | £80 |
| 6 | Clapper | £145 |
| 7 | wheel and brace | £550 |
| 8 | Runner board | £25 |
| 9 | Stay | £25 |
| 10 | Pair of rope bosses | £35 |
| 11 | Pulley unit & brkts | £75 |
| 12 | Pair of bearings | £140 |
| 13 | Headstock | £540 |
Total cost for one bell £ 1750 Inc VAT.
In addition many other expenses will be incurred, for example:
For over 350 years the five bells In the tower of the church at Marston St Lawrence In South Northamptonshire ham rung out over the village.
The bells of St. Lawrence's church are of historic interest. All the bells were cast before the English civil war and the second and third bells (known locally as "Thomas" and "Edward" due to their very fIne inscriptions) are medieval dating from the 14th Century.
It Is now over 100 years since the bells received any major attention, the fittings are worn through use and the ravages of time, making the bells difficult to ring.
The bells need to be taken down, tuned, turned to provide a fresh striking surface, fitted with new bearings and rehung.
The cost of all this work will be
This Is a very large sum of money for a small village of 200 people to raise, but as the present custodians of these fIne bells we feel It Is our duty to restore them to fIrst class condition.
Please be a Benefactor and give generously, to enable the bells of Marston St. Lawrence to ring out God's praises, to continue to call people to worship and to enhance the whole lIfe of the Church as part of the heritage of this country.
All donations will be commemorated In the records of St. Lawrence's church and could, If so wished, be dedicated to the memory of a special event or a loved one.
Please send them to:
"St. Lawrence PCC Bell Appeal"
C/o The Revd E.Turner, The Rectory, Marston St. Lawrence, Banbury, Oxon. OX 17 2DA.
Dear Helen,
I enclose a leaflet they [Marston St. Lawrence Church] are sending out. I believe I sent you the details of Thomas Blencowe's will of 1542 in which he left 20 shillings for a new bell. One of the supposedly 14thC bells is called "Thomas" so I am prepared to assume that one is the "BLENCOWE BELL" and propose that we try and raise a target sum of $6,000 to pay for the re-furbishment and re-hanging of that particular bell. I am including my cheque for $100 as my contribution to initiate the fund.
Jack Blencowe, Oxford, England.
THERE IS A PLACE ON THE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FOR YOU TO INDICATE YOUR DONATION.