The Sun.
London, England, 1826-09-08 00:00:00

•
•
.rY

PRICE In.

BOW BELLS.

On Tuesday a. Vestry Meeting was held at Bow.
Church, to receive the report of the Committee appoint-
ed to examine into the state of the bell, belonging to the
church, and of the masonry of the tower, as connected
with them.

„ .
Mr. StraPspri, the chairman, stated, that the committee
th6ughe proper to take the opinions of their Architect, and
of Mr. Mesis, a bellrfounder, who was a person of consi-
derable experience on the subject. The Chairman then
read the Report of these gentlemen. It stated, there could
be no question that much injury had , been done to. Or
tower since the year 1762, when the present peal was set
up. This injury they felt no doubt had arisen from three
.causes, namely, from the injudicious mode of hanging the
bells—from part Uf• the frame on which the bells, swing,
being wedged up against the masonry of the tower—and'
from a want of sufficient solidity in the eonstruetiou of the
tower itself to withstand the force created by the motion
of a peal of bells consisting of ten tons of metal. To
remedy the want of solidity in the tower, Mr. awilt sug-
gested the fixing of a chain of iron ties below the
main timbers of the bell-frame, which, he said, was de-,
cidedly the place were the tower suffered most.- The total
expellee of putting the tower in complete and safe repair,
and of effecting these alterations, they estimated at 7751.
A model had been prepared by these gentlemen, to ex-
emplify the. new mode of hanging, and was exhibited in
the vestry.
Mr. HICK said, the subject of these bells, which were
great favouritewin the city, had, as might be expected,
excited considerable public interest; and he had received
several anonymous letters from persons who felt anxious
on the subject. These letters he shoidd beg leave to read
to the vestry.
Mr. Taco, the bookseller, opposed the reading of these
letters. _ _

Mr. HIOK, ho*ever, read two of them.
Mr. AUGHTIE requested that Mr. Clwilt's previous re-•
ports might be read. These expressed an opinion, that in
the then state of the tower, the ringing of the bells ought
not to be persevered in. The parishioners contended that
they ought to be put a stop to, on the ground of the ex-
penee, He said that, in general, remedies were exceed-
ingly expensive, but he urged that this would cost nothing.
(Smiles of approbation from several of the parishioners.
He lived next door to the church, and he assured the ves-
try tint, when the bells were at work, his house was
shaken by the steeple, that there was not a piece of fur-
niture, nor an article of his trade, which was not set in
vibrutory.rnotiOn by it.
Mr. M‘Laustiot seconded the motion. • .

Another Parishioner, whose house is next door but one
to the church, declared, that such was the effect of the
ringing, that evert in his house it made his chandeliers swing
seven or eight inches.
The motion was put, and carried by a large majority,
there being but four against it.
Mr. AUGHTIE then' proposed a motion, declaratory of
the reasons for the resolution the vestry had just adopted,
but this was laughed at, and he withdrew it.
Mr. TATS drew the attention of the vestry to the con-
dition of the acroteria, and the urns placed at the four
angles of the tower. These, it; was reported, were in a
state of decay, one of them dangerously so. A long and
warm discusaioo took place.
• 'Mr. Two, and several others, wished to stay further
reintirs until the parish got more money. Several were
for pulling down the acroteria to save further expence.
Mr. LEWIS inquired of the architect, whether he consi-
dered that the acroteria formed part of the original design
of Sir Chriitopher Wren ?
Mr. GWlLT—Certainly.
Mr. LEWIS submitted that they ought not on that
ac-
count to be destroyed.
One orator spoke with great vehemence on theuseless-
ness of the burns.

Mr. HICK rose, and exhorted. the vestry not further, to
make themselves the laughing-stock of every intelligent
person. Let them pull down all the - urns, Or repair the
whole ; and not make the church look, with one. of the
four pulled down, au grotesque as a pig with one ear. fli
declared his conviction that the bells might be rung. with
perfect safety, and that they were not justified in stopping
them.

Mr. Luwis asked Mr. Gwilt what would be the expense
of repairing that one of the acroteria and the urn which
were in a dangerous condition ?

Mr. GIVII.T said, 60/. or 701., at most.
Several of the parishioners wished to know whether
Mr, Gwilt.would would guarantee the repair of them for
that sum ?

Mr. GWILT said he would, though it was not his pro,
fassion, and he ought not to participate in the profit of
Work which he recommended to be chine. •

After a long discnssion, the offer of Mr. Gwilt was so
cepted. _ .

Two of the parishiobera then gave the Committee a
" set to" for ordering the urn which was in a dangerous
condition to be taken down, and thereby incurring ex-
pence to the parish.
Mr. MEAIS, the artist, who bad, with Mr. Gwilt,,pre7
pared the model, here rose, and requested that the expense
of his share might not weigh upon them, for he would
Mike them a present of it. •
" Well I that's very handsome of you," exclaimed a
parishioner, and the eriont was pocketed.
. After much discuoision, in which the Committee urged
that what they had ordered was requisite, the Vestry agreed
to sanction the measure. The report of the Committee
was approved, although its recommendation had been re-

jected.
The Meeting then adjourned.
Such was formerly the zealin favour of these hells, that
one citizen left two Houses in Bow-lane (from which the
parish receive loot. per annum), for maintaining two of
the bells. A lady also bequeathed 2,0001. for embellish-
ing the church, and furnishing it with bells.

The. alarm respecting the safety of Bow-church steeple,
occasioned by its Vibration when the bells are ringing, is
quit,. udowided. In many places where the bells are oiily
half the weight of those in .the tower of Bow-church, there
is more vibration caused in ringing. The steeples of St.
others ; although containing
Margaret,. Westminster; Christ Church, Blackfriars-road;
St. D„„,tants, Fleet-street; St. Botolph, Aldgate ; St,
the peal is rung, that it ttaiy
—ow, yet vibrate,
The vibration of the brick tower of AllhalloWs, Barking,
bMeallrsY'noitKiii:ilogrtec"thinaiidi hialfaitlhe weight of R
when
be perceived in the street,,arid yet the Cainpunologists pur-
Tower..strot, is ,ti.i. great
:ue,,,tyzeir-hewthy scion:a without fear. the vibration of
the steerie of St. James's, Clerkenwell, and of the lofty
and nob e tower of St. Michael's, Cornhill, is also '
very
Radii .
greet, and a person st in i the tipper part will he
rocked to and fro. The four argest and heaviest peals f
bells iu 4otitioti, are those of Bow Chen sitl ' S o
Sa-
viour's, Southwark ; Spitalfields, and St. Af•e h e ;, --1.
l eel s, Corn-
hill. There are about 80 peals of belly
in the metropolis,
and in what_ is e.alled change till .1 •
, - ,___ . , , . 811 g, great science is dis-
nlayed.
,skt-ntallowgY,lnueea, is peculiar to this country,
and considered by the professorsconducive
, , . to health, al-
though requiring exertion.