A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 



though it does not necessarily refer to his 

 work, it shows a contemporary custom con- 

 nected with his trade : 



Itfn. payed for halowyng of the grete bel namyd 

 Harry . . . vjs. viijd. 



And over that Sir William Symyz. Richard Clech. 

 And maistrez Smyth beyng god faders And god 

 moder at the consecracyon of the same bell. And 

 beryng al other costes to the ffufrygan. 



In 1510-11 the same accounts have : 



Itm. payd for trussing of the ij d bell to 

 Hasylwoodes man . . . xijd. 



This would refer to John Hasylwood, the 

 son and apparently successor to William. It 

 is doubtful whether there are any bells which 

 can be assigned to him or whether the next 

 group, besides the bells in Warwickshire, 

 Hampshire and Somerset already referred to, 

 are not the work of John's successor, John 

 White, possibly at first as manager for John 

 Hasylwood. White's name appears from 1515 

 (vide Sussex Bells, and that is not necessarily 

 his first appearance) to 1539. His earliest 

 appearance that I know of is in the Church- 

 wardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence's, Reading, 

 for 1516-17 : 



It. for tylling of the grete bell at the knyll of 

 Whit the belfownders wif . . . xijd. 



The preceding item 



Inprimis for ryngyng of the grete bell for the 

 knyll of Raphe White of Okynglim . . . xijd. 



though proving nothing, suggests that John 

 White may have migrated with the foundry 

 from Wokingham to Reading. 



There are several bells which seem to be by 

 John White : and I suggest, though with 

 considerable hesitation, that W, either singly 

 or in combination on bells having Wokingham- 

 Reading stamps except where W.H. are 

 both in Hasylwood's capitals always stands 

 for John White. 



A bell at Hoggeston (Bucks) and one at 

 Caldecote (Cambs.), both have a string of 

 stamps, chiefly already known as belonging 

 to this foundry ; the former has H W in the 

 Wokingham crowned capitals, the latter only 

 the W. A bell at Ewelme (Oxon.) has a 

 meaningless (so far as I can guess) string of 

 black-letter smalls, preceded by a capital D, 

 both of which sets of letterings came into use 

 in this foundry from about this time, and in 

 the middle of the inscription are the letters 

 (wrong side up) K I W, the two former in 

 W. Hasylwood's letters, the last a large plain 

 letter. 



A bell at March Baldon (Oxon.) has the 

 cross and last seven letters of the Wokingham 

 crowned set, alternated in a sportive manner 

 in two lines, the upper of which is completed 

 by Hasylwood's cross, a circular stamp not 

 occurring to my knowledge elsewhere, and 

 the later lion's head. The tenor at Boveney 

 (Bucks) bears the first seven letters of the 

 alphabet in Hasylwood's capitals, without 

 initial cross or other ornament. And a bell 

 at Bloxham (Oxon.) has in the Wokingham 

 crowned capitals, or their sixteenth century 

 reproductions, and the large black-letter 

 smalls already mentioned as on a bell at 

 Ewelme : 



SANCTA MARIA HORAPRONOBIS W. 



Sancta ends as well as begins with a capital and 

 the last three words are run together, and an 

 aspirate prefixed. The W is followed by 

 the later lion's head. 



The above group seem to be the works of 

 John White. The following entry * in the 

 Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Lawrence, 

 Reading, for 1520-21, shows him in a different 

 ' line ' : 



It. paid to White the Belfounder for' 

 arrerag 1 of the glasse for the new 

 wyndows in the quere in full payment 

 for the same wyndows. 



xiijs. iiijd. 



John White had a son of the same name, 

 who continued paying the ' yeres rent of the 

 tenantes in the South side of the newe ftrete ' 

 regularly until 1547-8 : and in 1553 a bell- 

 founder of this name, ' of Brystowe,' recast 

 three bells belonging to the church of Weston 

 under Penyard in Herefordshire, 3 which 

 parish is divided from that of Bridstow by 

 the parish of Ross. 



In 1539 John Saunders took over the 

 foundry. He was probably not a Reading 

 man, but came there expressly ; and seems 

 to have been in some way connected with 

 Winchester and London. There are a few 

 bells which bear his initials, and which it 

 may be taken for granted are his work, but 

 there are other bells connected with these by 

 lettering or other stamps, most of which are 

 almost certainly by him, while one or two 

 might be by an unknown founder (else- 

 where), whose stamps Saunders subsequently 

 acquired ; others again might possibly be by 

 their next owner. They occur in Berkshire, 



1 Various other documentary evidences of this 

 founder are quoted in Church Bells of Sucks, 

 pp. 46, 64, 65, 66. 



> Exch. K.R. Ch. Goods Heref. 7 Edw. VI. 

 A No. 2. 



416 



