1 68 SHERBORNE ABBEY AND SCHOOL. 



the Seven Bishops were found not guilty, for the surrender of 

 Limerick, for the victories of La Hogue, Blenheim, and 

 Ramillies, for the Union of England and Scotland, and I 

 know not what besides. I could tell you of the ravages of 

 the plague in Sherborne, of the Civil War time, when the 

 Church and School were the barracks, and the School-house 

 dining hall was the guard-room. But I must not run on in 

 this way, for I wish to give you a particular account of the 

 bells, seeing that the account of them in Hutchins' is so very 

 defective. 



The evidence concerning the bells is gathered from the parish 

 accounts from 1508 to 1670. Some few of the accounts for 

 these years are either lost or in the almshouse ; but a vast 

 amount of information still exists in the accounts now easily 

 accessible to a student in the Abbey muniment room. There 

 are in the tower ten bells, viz. : A peal of eight, a fire bell, and 

 a sanctus bell. The peal was of six till 1858, when the present 

 ist and znd bells were added ; they were cast by G. Hears, of 

 Whitechapel, London, and the inscriptions on them are correctly 

 given in Hutchins. 



The first mention of the bells in the parish accounts comes in 

 that for 1515, where 23. 4d. is paid pro custodia campanarum, and 

 135. 4d. is paid pro Sautura la Claper ?nagne Campane, and zd. is 

 paid in una corda empta pro panno. Here we have mention of the 

 great bell and of the fire bell or pan, so called from its shape. 

 Now Wolsey became Bishop of Tournay in 1513, and from 

 Tournay our great bell came ; I think that it was about the year 

 1515 that Wolsey gave the parish the great bell. There is no 

 early written evidence, nothing but tradition, that Wolsey gave 

 this bell. 



In the account for 1527 we find that 8d. is paid for mending 

 the bawdrick of the 5th bell. Therefore, before the parishioners 

 left Alhalowes for the Abbey Church, they had a ring of at 

 least five bells ; in the same account we are told that is. 4d. was 

 paid for a new bawdrick for the " littel " or sanctus bell. From 

 time to time repairs to the little bell are mentioned, but it has 



