Caldecote

SS Theobald & St Chad 3: 1½cwt in E (Steel Bells)

Grid Reference 140/348951 Caldecote. Source: Webspinners
Postcode CV10 0UL
Other Information Steel Bells

History

This Grade II* church was built in the late 13th Century. It was restored, altered and porch, vestry, organ chamber and turret added by Ewan Christian in 1857.

These are a chime hung in a gable end turret.  This replaced a plain brick turret that contained a single bell. The notes are approximately E, F# and G.  They are hung for swing chiming in a three level wooden frame that is placed diagonally within the turret.

The inscriptions are given in Tilley and Walters’ book, “The Church Bells of Warwickshire”:

Caldecote Inscriptions

 

 

He almost certainly misread the date as 1868, rather than 1858, given the low serial numbers of the bells and that the company traded as “Vickers, Sons and Co, after 1867.

Access is extremely difficult. The middle bell is/was on the floor of the church, (seen there by CJP, lowered in 1984). They are hung for swing chiming in a three tier wood frame placed diagonally within the turret. They have cast iron headstock, fixed steel gudgeons. plain bearing, clappers and iron chiming levers.

Details of the Bells

1 Naylor Vickers, Sheffield  1858 17.00″        (G)
2 Naylor Vickers, Sheffield  1858 18.50″        (F#)
3 Naylor Vickers, Sheffield  1858 21.00″  1½cwt (E)

Photo Gallery

Caldecote Bells. Source: George Pluckrose Caldecote Bells. Source: George Pluckrose
Caldecote Bells. Source: George Pluckrose Caldecote Bells. Source: George Pluckrose
Caldecote Bells. Source: George Pluckrose Photographs of the bells/turret taken by George Pluckrose when there was access to the bells in the early 1980s as work was being carried out.
There are clearly holes showing in the two visible bells.