Shiplake Bells Restoration Photographs
Bells 4,5 and 6 were cast in the afternoon of the 24th July. This picture shows the 4th being cast.
Casting the new Bells
The new bells were cast in two batches, 4,5,6,7 and 8 on Friday July 24th and 1,2 and 3 on Friday 21st August 2009. A small group of donors, friends and supporters were able to witness these castings at the Whitechapel Bellfoundry in London. After tuning the bells were delivered to Whites of Appleton (our main contractors) on Thursday 8th October 2009.
The new bells were cast in two batches, 4,5,6,7 and 8 on Friday July 24th and 1,2 and 3 on Friday 21st August 2009. A small group of donors, friends and supporters were able to witness these castings at the Whitechapel Bellfoundry in London. After tuning the bells were delivered to Whites of Appleton (our main contractors) on Thursday 8th October 2009.
The old 6,7 and tenor were taken to Whitechapel on the 8th October 2009 and the new bells collected the same day and taken back to Appleton.
Bells 7 and 8 were cast in the morning of 24th July 2009. This picture shows the 7th bell being cast.
The 5th bell, the first to be lowered, appears through the trap door into the Ringing Room
The 3rd bell, (on the left) and the 4th bell (on the right), ready for lowering whilst Keith Vernon’s takes a well earned rest. Bells 1,2,5 & 6 have already been lowered and much of their frame removed.
Dismantling the old Ring
The dismantling team, Bob Partridge, Cyril Crouch and Keith Vernon in the Church with the front 6 bells
The old North frame side temporarily suspended to allow the old foundation beam ends to be dug out of the walls ready for cutting and lowering
Old bells 1 and 2 have been sold to Newnham in Hampshire to provide two of the three bells required in their augmentation from 3 to 6 bells
The old 5th bell is destined for Nunton in Wiltshire to augment their chime from 3 to 4 bells
The old bells in the Churchyard awaiting transport to Appleton
Building Work, Sanctus & Lifting Beams and Sound Control,
On completion of removal of the old frame, the first task for the Shiplake team was to fill in the old frame foundation holes with a mixture of stone, concrete and facing brickwork as required by English Heritage.
On completion of this work, the old North frame side was secured to the tower walls sitting back in its old position again to comply with English Heritage’s requirements. The photograph shows some of the filled holes and the retained old North frame side.
The next task was to cut the holes for the 3 new galvanised beams that support the Sanctus bell and provide safe anchorage for the lifting gear used to install the new frame and bells.
The photograph shows one end of two of the new beams and the Sanctus bell hanging in position. After installing the beams they were concreted in and the holes above the beams filled with matching stone & brick.
The Sanctus bell of weighing ¾ cwt was cast by Gillett & Johnson of Croydon in 1929 and was purchased from the Keltek Trust. It came from the Church of St Ethelburga, St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex where a chime of 5 bells had fallen into disrepair and 4 of the 5 bells were being scrapped to fund re-hanging of the other bell. Whites provided all the new fittings for the bell to enable it to be hung for swing chiming.
The focus then moved to installation of the weatherproofing/sound control which had previously been pre-fabricated in Cyril Crouch’s garage. The sound control behind each set of louvres consists of three separate sections. The lowest section comprises two sheets of 25mm plywood separated by a 50mm framework infilled with rockwool. 
Above this is the section containing the opening trap doors, two side by side, (except for the South side where only one trap is provided because of the space needed for the roof access ladder). The uppermost section is a blanking plate covering the apex area of the arch. The louvres are large, typically 2.2m wide and 2.6m high to the apex and consequently the sound control units are substantial structures. The traps are operated by ropes running over pulleys connected to galvanised steel angles bolted to each door. All timber used was treated with wood preservative. The photograph shows the West installation in position with the traps partially opened. Finally a platform with a handrail was built across the South wall to enable much safer two stage access to the tower roof. This was to a design by the Church architects agreed with the structural engineer.
On completion of removal of the old frame, the first task for the Shiplake team was to fill in the old frame foundation holes with a mixture of stone, concrete and facing brickwork as required by English Heritage.
On completion of this work, the old North frame side was secured to the tower walls sitting back in its old position again to comply with English Heritage’s requirements. The photograph shows some of the filled holes and the retained old North frame side.The next task was to cut the holes for the 3 new galvanised beams that support the Sanctus bell and provide safe anchorage for the lifting gear used to install the new frame and bells.
The photograph shows one end of two of the new beams and the Sanctus bell hanging in position. After installing the beams they were concreted in and the holes above the beams filled with matching stone & brick. The Sanctus bell of weighing ¾ cwt was cast by Gillett & Johnson of Croydon in 1929 and was purchased from the Keltek Trust. It came from the Church of St Ethelburga, St Leonards-
The focus then moved to installation of the weatherproofing/sound control which had previously been pre-
Above this is the section containing the opening trap doors, two side by side, (except for the South side where only one trap is provided because of the space needed for the roof access ladder). The uppermost section is a blanking plate covering the apex area of the arch. The louvres are large, typically 2.2m wide and 2.6m high to the apex and consequently the sound control units are substantial structures. The traps are operated by ropes running over pulleys connected to galvanised steel angles bolted to each door. All timber used was treated with wood preservative. The photograph shows the West installation in position with the traps partially opened. Finally a platform with a handrail was built across the South wall to enable much safer two stage access to the tower roof. This was to a design by the Church architects agreed with the structural engineer. 
On the 14th November 2009, around 40 donors, supporters and ringers were able to visit Whites workshop at Appleton to see the new bells assembled in their new frame. After the visit, the installation was dismantled and all the beams that form the foundation grillage of the frame were sent away for galvanising. The picture shows the bells in their frame on that occasion.
Completed concrete in the Northwest corner (7th pit)
Shuttering with feed-in hoppers in the Southeast corner (3rd pit)
