Plumstead

PLUMSTEAD, St Nicholas

	6 bells
	Tenor: 7-1-18 in A (860.5 Hz)
	Grid Ref. TQ459786
	Frame: 1656 (enlarged 1686)
	Lewisham District
	Retuned: 1958 Mears & Stainbank
	Hung dead with Ellacombe Chime

DETAILS OF THE BELLS

Bell	Weight	Diameter	Cast	Founder
1	3-0-3	23¹³/16"	2000	Whitechapel
2	3-1-24	25⁹/16"	2000	Whitechapel
3	3-1-10	27¹/4"	1686	Christopher Hodson
4	4-1-27	29¹/4"	1686	Christopher Hodson
5	5-2-25	31¹/2"	1959	Mears & Stainbank
6	7-1-18	36"	1790	Thomas Mears I

NICHOLAS

A D 2000
WHITECHAPEL

FRANCIS

A D 2000
WHITECHAPEL

в CHRISTOPHER в HODSON в MADE в ME в 1686 в в в вв

IOHN в EVERITT в THOMAS в FITCH в CHVRCHWARDENS в

в CHRISTOPHER в HODSON в MADE в ME в 1686 ввввв

IOHN O EVERITT O THOMAS O FITCH O CHVRCHWARDENS O

CHRISTOPHER HODS N в MADE в ME в 1686 вввввввв

IOHN в EVERITT в THOMAS в FITCH в CHVRCHWARDENS вввв

RECAST
19		59
MEARS LONDON

THO^S MEARS LATE LESTER PACK & CHAPMAN OF LONDON FECIT 1790 (10 Whitechapel Loops Border)

в denotes a crown, в a halfcrown and в a shilling of King Charles II. The inscription on the fifth bell has been reproduced, rather faintly, at least one letter and a coin being missing. The third, fourth and tenor retain their canons; the others were cast without them.

The bells are tuned to the Just Tuned scale.

2000		Two bells were added to the chime to make 6.
c. 960		The foundation of the church dates from this time.
1552		Record of 3 bells in the tower.
1656		Tower built of 2 inch red bricks. A frame for 3 bells was installed.
1686		4 bells cast by Christopher Hodson and hung in the frame, which was extended to include the additional pit.
1790		Tenor recast by Thomas Mears I
1818		The nave was built.
1864		Parish created from that of St Margaret's, becoming the new Plumstead Parish Church.
1867-8		Church restored by C.H. Cooks.
1907-8		Extensive enlargements were effected by Greenaway and Newberry.
1908	*18th July*	Restored church dedicated.
1945		Church damaged.
1959		3rd (of 4) recast by Mears & Stainbank. The bells were tuned and rehung dead with Ellacombe apparatus in the existing frame as a chime. Church repaired by T.F. Ford and Partners in the wake of the War.
1975	*May*	GPE Southwark Survey notes a chime of 4 bells hung dead and clocked in a wooden frame.
2000		2 more bells were added to make a chime of six, by Whitechapel.

The treble (below) and second (above) hung dead.

A view of the belfry. The tenor is in the foreground (left) with the 5th on the right. The 4th is in the middle with the 3rd at the back on the left.

Rev'd David Cawley standing in the pit of the old treble, pointing to the brass bearings that are still let into the frame. The 2nd is in the foreground on the left with the tenor on the right.

The bells have hardwood deadstocks and supporting ironwork or bell bolts. Independent crown staples support carillon type clappers on the four largest bells and trigger-action clappers on the two trebles. Prior to being taken down, the four old bells had been hung for ringing. It is not known when they were last rung in full circles. The old brass bearings remain in situ, and some slider runnerboards. They are sounded from an Ellacombe manual at ground floor level.

The bell frame made for the three bells in the new tower in 1656 is the work of an able carpenter and is of a type necessary only when the bells were to be swung up. It is of heavy section throughout and the heads are supported by massive simple braces – the precursor of the modern lowside frame. The return heads are mortised into the outer frame-sides; the heads of the inner frame sides in turn are mortised into the return heads, or frame ends. The frame is still of some height, and corner-posts were inserted to give additional stability. When the fourth bell was added and the others recast in 1686, a long queen-post frameside was installed, at right angles to the other three, so that there was room to take two more bells if required. Hodson had done precisely the same thing at Brookland in the previous year. In both cases the work was inferior, and in the case of Plumstead Church, the fifth bell was not installed. Subsequently the newer frame was strengthened by the insertion of additional struts and ties. The older part of the frame remains much as it was built, although its position very high in the tower is far from ideal for full-circle ringing, though ideal for chiming as at present. Originally, the tenor hung in the centre pit of the old three-bell frame, with the third to the south and the treble to the north, the second hanging in Hodson’s extension frame. The tenor presently occupies its old pit, along with the fifth; the fourth hangs to the south; the new treble and second hang in the old treble (of four pit) apparently having displaced its original tenant which now occupies the south end of the 1686 extension.