from which date up to the present on January 1st. Notice to the Churchwardens or Sidesmen of the Burial of Bodies in Woollen required by Act of Parliament passed in the reign of Charles II. for the encouragement of the woollen trade, were also entered in the Parish Registers, and note is made in our Register of Burials for the year 1713-14 that no less than four bodies were interred in contravention of this most unpopular Act; and it is a somewhat singular coincidence that the last corpse interred in woollen in this Parish was that of the Vicar, the Rev H. Vaughan, on March 15th, 1762.

THE RESTORATION OF THE TOWER OF THE PRIORY CHURCH, LEOMINSTER.

By F. R. KEMPSON, F.R.I.B.A.

WHEN Our Hon. Secretary asked me to write a paper on Leominster Priory Church, he explained to me that the Vicar would describe its history, and refer to various papers which have already been written on the subject, and suggested that I should confine my remarks chiefly to the tower. The construction of the tower has some great peculiarities, inasmuch as the western bay of the old nave has the basis of its piers set at a somewhat lower level than the other nave piers, and its arches (unlike the remainder of the nave arches) are slightly pointed. The stairs and upper side arches of the western bay indicate that there were probably western chambers over the western bay of the nave and aisles, communicating with the choir by means of upper aisles or side passages (perhaps dormitories) over the aisles of the Norman Church. The construction of the west end of the Church clearly indicates that the Normans did not contemplate a western tower. The Parish Church, which is in point of fact a south aisle to the Norman Church, was the first great addition to the Norman work. It demolished the original south Norman aisle, which was like the present north aisle. The next great addition was the second south aisle, with its magnificent 14th century or late 13th century windows. When this work was built the want of a west tower was felt, and in order to make a foundation for one, and at the same time to retain the grand west entrance and the great Norman window over it, piers and arches were constructed within the bay of the nave, without taking down any of the Norman arches except perhaps one which was probably across the nave between the east piers of the painted side arches, which form the western bay of the Norman nave arcade. The 14th century piers and arches were carried up within, and partly upon, the Norman work, but not incorporated into it; and when the structure was brought up above the Norman work, the upper part of the tower, viz., the two top stages, were built partly on the 14th century piers and arches, and partly on the old Norman work, with the result that the new work subsided a little, whereas the old work could not subside, and therefore became bulged and cracked. The south-east pier seems then to have settled, but there are no indications of recent movement in it. The upper stages of the tower were built with a very friable stone, which became much decayed, particularly on the east, south, and west sides, including the upper part of the stair turret, the window mullions, tracery, jambs, sills, the string courses, parapet, and pinnacles. There were some cracks in the interior of the stair turret, also over the heads of the tower windows in the interior angles behind the buttresses, and in the ringing loft. The butttresses themselves were never properly bonded into the walls. They became detached in places, and consequently were bound up to the walls by iron bands. They thus became a source of weakness, instead of strength, to the tower.

The iron bands gave way, and the stonework became loose and dangerous. The buttresses have, therefore, been rebuilt, the utmost care having been taken to obtain a proper bond with the stonework of the tower walls. The parapet, window mullions, tracery, jambs, sills, and strings have been re-set and partly renewed. The cracks in the tower over the windows and elsewhere have been opened and carefully strengthened by the introduction of hard, flat bedded bonding stones across the openings and cracks, set and well filled up with strong liquid cement. Some idea of the dangerous condition that the tower was in before these repairs were undertaken may be imagined when I tell you that, after washing out the cracks, nearly 40 tons of a specially prepared mixture of liquid cement was poured into the interior of the walls, some of which percolated down as much as 20 feet and 30 feet below the point where it was poured in. I have here a specimen of the material used. It has been lying about in the churchyard, exposed to the weather, for eighteen months. The stone which has been used throughout the recent repairs is from the celebrated quarries at Luston, which is similar to the stone used by the Norman builders at Leominster, Shobdon, and other neighbouring places. The bells are at present a source of danger to the tower, or would be so if rung. Knowing the weak points in the structure, I carefully considered the question of rehanging, and also obtained advice from Messrs. Taylor, of Loughborough. The Church Building Committee, through their Hon. Secretary, courteously thanked me for my exhaustive report, and have, I understand, proceeded to make their own arrangements, for which I can, of course accept no responsibility

ANCIENT CHURCH BELLS.

By the Rev. JOSEPH BARKER.

AMONG the many objects of interest to be seen in the Churches of St. Andrew's, Laysters, and St. Mary's, Middleton-on-the-Hill, not the least worthy of special notice are the bells in the several towers. I do not know whether there are any members of the Club present to-day who pay particular attention to Church bells, but should there be, and they are adventurous enough to climb the ladders leading to the top chambers in the towers, and do not mind encountering the dust which has accumulated for years, I can promise they will not be disappointed with what they see of the bells and their frame-work, or "cage," as it is called, and above all with the inscriptions on them. I have myself more than once paid visits to the bell chambers of Laysters and Middleton, and though the ascents are attended with some difficulty and one needs a brushing up after the return is over, yet the inspection of the bells well repays for the trouble. May I just say, in passing, and I feel sure brother incumbents and any churchwardens here to-day will forgive me for the suggestion, that a day's clean out in most of our Church towers is, like the restoration of discipline, "a thing much to be wished," and I cannot think a man's day's wages, or at least the respectable shilling, will ever be grudged for such a good purpose. The chief interest attaching to the bells of Laysters and Middleton is that out of the six in the two towers no less than five are ancient bells, or as they are sometimes called, "pre-Reformation" bells. It is not, I think, usual to find so many ancient bells in one area of a few miles; still, if other churches in this neighbourhood were visited, more might probably be found. At Kimbolton Church, indeed, which we passed on our way, there is one ancient bell out of the ring of four. In the Rev. William C. Lukis' "Account of Church Bells," though he gives lists of bell inscriptions in many other counties, he does not supply one of Herefordshire, so I presume he never visited any of our Church towers. It is not unlikely, however, that this county may be more rich than others in ancient bells. To show that they are not very commonly met with, Mr. Lukis says, page 29, "In the Archdeaconry of Wilts there are one hundred and eight churches, of which I have examined the bells of eighty-eight, with an aggregate of 406 bells, and of this number only 23 are clearly of a date prior to 1500, ten of the 16th century, and 164 belong to the 17th century." And in a newspaper report I have lately seen of a paper read by the Rev. H. T. Tilley at the Midland Institute, Birmingham, in February last year, it is stated that in 95 Church towers in Warwickshire which he had visited there were only 16 ancient bells--a very small percentage indeed-while in the 120 towers in the same county dealt with in a former paper there were as many as 40. But this only gives 56 ancient bells in 215 towers.

Church bells were, it is supposed, first introduced during the 6th and 7th centuries. With respect to England, the Venerable Bede, A.D. 680, speaks of the

sound of a bell as a well-known summons to prayer, for at the death of the Abbess S. Hilda, he tells us (Book iv., chap. 23) that one of the sisters of a disant monastery, as she was sleeping, thought she heard the well-known sound of that bell, which called them to prayer, when any of them had departed this life. "Hæc tunc in Dormitorio sororum pausans exaudivit subito in aere notum campanæ sonum, quo ad orationes excitari vel convocari solebant, cum quis eorum de seculo fuisset evocatus." "This nun, being then in the dormitory of the sisters, on a sudden heard the well-known sound of a bell in the air, which used to awake and call them to prayers, when anyone of them was taken out of this world" (page 215). S. Dunstan, who died in 988, is said to have founded and made donations of bells for many churches in Somersetshire, and Mr. Ellacombe, in his History of Devonshire Bells, quotes from an ancient source that three bells, or two at the least, are allowed to an ordinary Parish Church, seven to a Cathedral or Abbey Church; and he classes 434 bells into three divisions-mediæval bells, with or without inscriptions; bells cast between 1530 and 1600; and modern bells, 1600 to present time. The earliest inscriptions on bells are in single capitals placed widely apart. Ecclesiologist, No. cxliv., June, 1861. Gradually, as they became larger, the letters were grouped into words with an ornamental stop between each, and in the 15th century the single capital letter type gave way to what is usually called Black letter. The letters generally had fine illuminated initials enclosing human heads and figures of birds and beasts; in other examples each capital is crowned. The crosses at the beginning of the inscriptions are of great beauty and variety.

On the ancient bells of Laysters and Middleton there are, so far as I have been able to trace, no initials or marks to show at what time or in what place they were founded, but they may be assigned to the 14th century, or earlier. They may possibly have been cast at Leominster, for a bell foundry formerly existed there, as we learn from Dingley's History from Marble. "The bells," he writes, "belonging to this Cathedral (Hereford) carry these circumscriptions." The fifth bell, otherwise called St. Richard's bell, hath "Wilhelmus Warwire construxit me in Sanctæ Trinitatis Honorem." The sixth bell hath "Sancte Cuthberte "Sum Rosa Pulsata Mundi

ora pro nobis." The treble to the sixth bell, Katherina Vocata." Another (bell), the fourth, has "Laudate Deo in simbalis sonoris, MDCXXII. I.P. God send me to sing Gulim Stephan me fecit." St. John's bell, cast at Leominster town in this county, is circumscribed "Soli Deo Immortali Sit Gloria." Another "Gloria Deo in Excelsis." So we have in our Cathedral a bell cast in Leominster town, and probably others from the same foundry may have gone to other churches in the diocese.

In the preface to Mr. Lukis' Church Bells, he says, "It is certain the bells were sometimes cast in monasteries and sometimes by clerics," and among others he instances "Sir William Corvehill (who died in 1546), priest of the service of our Lady at Wenlock, Shropshire, as a good bell-founder and maker of frames." Wenlock Abbey would not be so very far away from these churches. But there were also itinerant bell-founders, and much has yet to be done in elucidating the history of bells.