The Bells

The tower of St Laurence church was built in the 15th century and we know that the top section was rebuilt in 1676 after a storm. The tower had six bells in it at the time and these were recast in 1711 by a local bellfounder in the village of Edgbaston. Edgbaston is now a suburb of the city of Birmingham but at the time Birmingham barely existed as a hamlet.

The tenor bell was melted down and recast by an Oxford founder in 1845. We don't know why they had to take such drastic action but the bell has survived 150 years since being remade.

Two more bells were added in 1891 to commemorate the appointment of Rev. Jex Blake as the Dean of Wells and this brought the tower to a full ring of eight bells which it holds today.

Our restoration work is the biggest project in the tower since 1891 and it will be the first time that the bells have been out of the tower since 1711.

Details

Bell	Founder and Inscription	Weight
Treble	Barwell Founder, Birmingham. 1891.	4 cwt
	T.W.Jex Blake. Rector
2	Barwell Founder, Birmingham. 1891	4 cwt 1 qtr
	Henry Ballard Harvey, M. Boulton, Wardens.
3	Joseph Smith, Edgbaston. 1711	4 cwt 3 qtr
	Glory be to God on high.
4	Joseph Smith, Edgbaston. 1711	5 cwt 1 qtr
	God save his church. 1711
5	Joseph Smith, Edgbaston. 1711	6 cwt
	If you would know when we were rung, it was March 22nd. 1711
6	Joseph Smith, Edgbaston. 1711	7 cwt 1 qtr
	Joseph Smith in Edgbaston made me 1711
7	Joseph Smith, Edgbaston. 1711	9 cwt
	Mr Samuel Warren, Curate. Robert Bayliss and William Hedges, Church Wardens
Tenor	Taylors, Oxford. 1845	12 cwt
	Rev.A.Hunter, Curate. Rev.I.Tonyn, Rector. W.Taylor. fecit MDCCCXLV. I.L.Wardand, W.Stibbs, Church Wardens.

Units

For those unfamiliar with Imperial measures, the weights are given in hundredweights (cwt) and quarters(qtr). The approximate conversions are:

1 hundredweight = 112 lb = 51 kg
1 quarter = 28 lb = 13 kg

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