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18
BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
18th annual edition
The Conservation
of Historic Timber
Bell Frames
Peter TJ Rumley
A
lthough rarely
seen by the
general public, a church’s historic
timber bell frame is a key element of its
tangible cultural heritage. As such, bell frames
should enjoy a level of protection that ensures
the preservation of both their historic fabric
and our cultural heritage of bell ringing, for
the benefit of present and future generations.
Use of the bells and their frames is crucial
to their significance and value, and has the
added benefit of meeting the social needs and
aspirations of those responsible for their repair,
maintenance and management: the bell ringers.
Responsibility for the management,
maintenance and repair of this precious
resource lies with the Central Council for
Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR), the diocesan
advisory committee bell advisors and the bell
ringers themselves, as well as with the parochial
church council and the churchwardens. Bell
ringers not only summon parishioners for
Sunday service throughout the land, they also
provide the all-important day-to-day care of
our historic church bells and bell frames.
Historic outline
Many early medieval timber bell frames have
been lost over the centuries. In Dorset, for
example, there is only one surviving medieval
timber bell frame (in the Church of St George,
Langton Matravers). These early frames were
finely crafted and usually consisted of massive
oak short-headed king post framed trusses,
with regional variations (see diagrams on
facing page). These frames allowed the chiming
bells to swing back and forth in a short arc
but afforded very little control to the bell
ringer. The bells usually hung in a line. A fine
example of this type of timber bell frame can
be found at the Church of St Thomas a Becket,
Hill Croome, Worcestershire (facing page,
top centre). Such chiming bells marked the
medieval daily canonical hours (or appointed
prayer times) until bell ringers discovered
Change is part of life – we cannot avoid it. All we can agree upon or argue about is merely the
degree and direction of that change, and its relation to what has gone before. …Accepting the
inevitability of change, we can still, however, set out to guide and influence it.
Sir Donald Insall CBE, conservation architect, 2008
A fine example of an inscribed timber bell frame dated 1634 by Thomas Cowper at St Botolph, Slapton,
Northamptonshire (Photo: Christopher Dalton)