The Bells and Clock

THE BELLS

Lambourn Church has a ring of eight bells which are among the finest in West Berkshire. The first mention of them is to be found in an inventory of 1552 which refers to ‘IV belles, one lytle bell callid a Sanctus bell’. In the 17th century there are several references to money being spent on the bells, including the considerable expense of recasting the tenor bell.

Over the centuries Lambourn bells have rung out to celebrate many events and they are now in good order thanks to restoration work. The church records mention ‘1694 Pd to Mr. Greenebury, for tolling ye Great Bell when ye late Queen Mary (of ever blessed memory) was berryed. 1s 6d’ and again in 1706 ‘Ye Ringers and ye Drums upon taking Ostend, 12s 0d’ which was one of the victories of the Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession, (1701-1713). Even the two most modern bells in the Lambourn peal were cast as long ago as 1804 in time for the celebration of the victory of Trafalgar in 1805. The bells were overhauled and rehung on ball bearings by Gillett and Johnston of Croydon in 1950 and again dismantled, renovated, tuned and rehung by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel, London, in 1968.

THE CLOCK

The mechanism of the church clock is one of the few examples of 17th century workmanship that is still in working order and has been greatly admired by experts from all over the country. 

Most of it is original with wooden barrels and ropes for the weights, the only alteration being a new escapement that was added in 1892. It is a genuine 17th century clock and despite the fact that it has been going for over 300 years it still keeps excellent time. The clock is first mentioned in an inventory of 1636 and 1637 there are two relevant entries for the churchwardens accounts – “Pd the Clarke for keeping the clock 6-8” and “Item Pd. the Clarke for oyle for the Clocke 1s.” Like most ancient church clocks this one had to be wound every day, but an electric motor to do this has now been installed.

OCTOBER 2007

For much of the year the clock had not been functioning. On 29 October 2007 the necessary repairs were made and for some time the clock was back in operation. These pictures show the removal and replacement of the hands on the east face:

OCTOBER 2011

But still more problems with the clock faces over the following years led to a decision to replace them:

The new faces are gently lifted into position on both East and West faces of the tower on 11th October 2011:

….and the re-gilded hands are fitted:

The fully restored clock, scaffolding removed, on Christmas Eve 2011: