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 Yarkhill
Church contains four bells all dating from the 17th
Century. There were bells in the tower before this which we know
from the King Edward Inventory carried out in 1553 throughout
the country. Below is an extract for Yarkhill.
Yerkyll. Item iiii
belles whereof the least of xxviii inches the second of xxx
inches the thirde of xxx inches & quarter of inches the iiii of
xxxiii di brode over in the mouthes
These
bells were recast and the bells of today are of larger
dimensions than the medieval bells. Yarkhill’s present bells are
of two dates and founders. The tenor is the oldest bell in the
ring and was cast in 1636 by John Finch of Hereford. John Finch
is remarkable for the aesthetic quality of his bells and
Yarkhill’s tenor is of the same fine standard. Finch lived and
worked through the time of the Civil War, this affected his
output of bells and we find very few left in the country, those
remaining are mainly in Herefordshire. John Martin of Worcester
cast the other three bells in 1671. John Martin’s founding was
much more prolific, most bells were cast after the commonwealth
regime and more examples of his work may be found around the
country.
The details of the
bells are as follows:
Bell
Inscription
Weight approx
Treble 1671 *GOD* SAVE*THE*KING*EH CW*
5-1-0
Second ALL *PRAYSE*AND *GLORY
BE TO GOD FOREVER* EH CW*
1671 5-3-0
Third SOLI DEO GLORIA PAX HOMINIBVS
7-2-0
EDWARD HANCOX CW
1671
Tenor GLORIA DEO IN EXCELSIS
1636 9-2-0
All the bells
have the relevant founders marks
The sound quality of the bells is somewhat disappointing;
various bell hangers have reported that they are of poor tone
and little can be done to bring them into modern tuning. At
present they are in no scale, being too much out of tone. We are
at a loss why this is so, it seems that John Martin when tuning
the four did not bring them into a medieval mode or modern
scale. The bells, starting with the treble is sharp of C#,
slightly sharp of C, somewhat sharp of A and very flat and A.
The nearest scale to this is Phrygian mode. Because of this they
are rendered worthless as a modern ring but are important
historically. A part of the problem in tuning
these bells also lies in their
partial tones. To bring the bells into tune would require a
great deal of metal being taken away leaving them dangerously
thin. Since these bells have historical merit because of their
connection with Francis Stedman (and possibly Fabian), and for fear of ruining them,
we feel that to attempt to tune them is too risky
 The Frame
and Fitting
When
we come to the Yarkhill frame we have an excellent example of
medieval activity in this tower. The frame is on two tiers with
the heavier three bells on one frame and the treble hanging from
two transverse beams. The frame was probably made in the first
half of the seventeenth century. This suggests that these beams
were originally used in an older frame. This does seem to fit
together. The medieval bells were hung in the older frame, which
was taken apart between 1600 and 1650, the bells were recast and
fitted in a newly designed frame reusing some of the old
timbers. From this we have more evidence of swinging bells
during medieval times with scraped masonry to allow the medieval
bells to swing and not hit the walls of the tower. This rich
history of forming full-circle ringing from a medieval half-wheels swing is unprecedented.
The fittings are interesting in their own right. These are
newer, being chiefly made in the nineteenth century. They all
have elm headstocks, strapped gudgeons, stock-hoops, and plain
brass bearings. The wheels are of usual design except the treble
which is the work of a local wheelwright. The treble and second have
latchet stays and sliders and the third and tenor have
traditional stays and sliders. All the fittings and frame are in
a derelict state and the treble has had to be removed to a safe
position for fear of it falling.
The
Tenor Bell cast by John Finch of Hereford in 1636
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