OS: SP057488
Harvington, St James the Great
This is the tower where I started ringing and the one at which I ring for Church services.
The Parish Church of Harvington is dedicated to St James the Great, patron Saint of travellers and pilgrims, and is situated in the south of the village on, appropriately enough, Church Street. The church has a distinctive copper spire which is the only one in the Vale. There is parking on Church Street.
It is necessary to climb a fairly steep staircase to reach the ringing room, which is not large, but has space for 4 or 5 in addition to 6 people ringing. The staircase is inside the tower and can be accessed through the Church or through and external door on the South face of the tower. The bells are only just above this room and the ropes are consequently short making it relatively easy to ring them.
The Bells
At the time of the earliest reference to the bells in St. James the Great, made in 1552, there were
iii (3) bells in the steple
. What happened to these bells is not known, but by 1854 the bells had the following inscriptions:
- JESUS BE OVR SPED 1625
- SOLI GLORIA PAX HOMINIBVS
JOHN BALBROCK VALENTINE ABILL CW - JOHN RUDHALL GLOUCESTER FECIT 1805
These were taken down and recast as 6 bells by C & G Mears at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London. The bells were not re hung in the old belfry in which the bells had rung full circle, but in the new spire that was added to the church in 1855. They were hung in a new oak bell frame for chiming rather than full circle ringing. Whitechapel records show that they invoiced the Vicar for £170 and the cost was borne by Lydia Ward.
The bells were recast again, to make them "more tuneful", in October 1947 by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough and tuned in November. While it was intended to re hang them for full circle ringing there were insufficient funds so they were hung in the old frame during December and were dedicated by the Bishop of Worcester at Evensong on 14th December. The cost of this work was £511 9s 0d and was paid for by Mrs Edith Towers as a memorial to her husband Samuel.
Today, the tower has a ring of 6 bells with a tenor weighing 8-1-14 in A. These were recast in 1947 by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough and rehung in 1998 in a new bellframe to allow full circle ringing. Additional information on the bells can be found at Dove's Guide.
| Bell | Inscription | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Dove's Guide to the bells at St James |
WE GIVE THANKS TO THEE O GOD | ||
| 2 | WE GLORIFY THEE O GOD | |||
| 3 | WE PRAISE THEE O GOD | |||
| 4 | GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN | |||
| 5 | ON EARTH PEACE | |||
| Tenor | GLORY BE TO GOD ON HIGH | |||
