i6 repton's merry bells. 



Extract from the diary of Mr. George Gilbert. 



" A.D. 1772, Oct. 7th. The third bell was cracked, upon ringing at Mr. John 

 Thorpe's wedding. The bell, upon being taken down, 

 weighed 7 cwt. 2 qr. 18 lb., clapper, 24 lb. It was 

 sold at lod. per lb., ^35 i8s. Re-hung the third bell, 

 Nov. 2ist, 1774. Weight 8 cwt. 3 qr. 24 lb., at 13d. 

 per lb. , ^54 7s. 8d., clapper, i qr. 22 lb., at 22(1., 

 £\ 2s. lod. £SS- 9^ 6^d." 



This is all the information I can gather about " Repton's 

 merry bells " from ancient sources. 



For some time our ring of six bells has only been " chimed" 

 as, owing to the state of the beams which supported them, it was 

 considered dangerous to " ring" them. 



During the month of January, 1896, Messrs. John Taylor & Co. 

 of I^oughborough, descendants of a long line of bell-founders, 

 lowered the bells down, and conveyed them to Loughborough, 

 where they were thoroughly cleansed and examined. Four of 

 them were sound, but two, the 5th and 6th, were found to be 

 cracked, the 6th (the Tenor bell) worse than the 5th. The 

 crack started in both bells from the "crown staple," from which 

 the " clapper " hangs ; it (the staple) is made of iron and cast into 

 the crown of the bell. This has been the cause of many cracked 

 bells. The two metals, bell-metal and iron, not yielding equally, 

 one has to give way, and this is generally the bell metal. The 

 "Canons," as the projecting pieces of metal forming the handle, 

 and cast with the bell, are called, and by which they are fastened 

 to the '• headstocks," or axle tree, were found to be much worn 

 with age. All the "Canons" have been removed, holes have 

 been drilled through the crown, the staples removed, and new 

 ones have been made which pass through the centre hole, and 

 upwards through a square hole in the headstocks, made of iron, to 

 replace the old wooden ones. New bell-frames of iron, made in 

 the shape of the letter |-| , fixed into oak beams above and below, 

 support the bells, which are now raised about three feet above the 

 bell chamber floor, and thus they can be examined more easily. 



