The Six Bells of St Mary Magdalene

The ancient tower of St Mary Magdalene was built in the C12th, and received it’s present top stage in the C14th. It is very likely that new bells were provided at this time, though how many, or by whom they were cast we don’t know. It is possible that there were as many as four, a large number for a small church at the time, when the English Reformation took place in the C16th.

The C17th was the ‘golden era’ for Monkton’s bells. #3 was cast in 1615 by the great Kent bell founder, Joseph Hatch, whose foundry was at Ulcombe, near Maidstone. The #1 treble bell was cast (possibly added to the peal) by the same founder in 1633. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1661, two bells, the #2 and #4 tenor bells, were recast by the Canterbury founder, Thomas Palmer I, whose foundry was in St Dunstan’s parish, near the present Canterbury West train station.

The bells were well looked after at the time, and the earliest record of a payment is dated October 11th 1728:- “Paid Ye ringers at the King’s (George II) Coronation 2s 6d” (12½p ). With the passage of time, however, the bells fell into disrepair and around 1875 the #4 tenor bell, being cracked, was sold. This left 3 bells in a minor key.

In 1910, the then Vicar, Revd. Watkin S Williams, wrote to John Taylor & Co, Bell Founders of Loughborough for a specification for restoring the bells. Taylors’ report did not make pleasant reading:- “We beg to report that the whole of fittings and framework are in a most dilapidated condition”. The resulting restoration involved the tuning of the three bells at Loughborough, providing them with all new fittings and installing them in a cast-iron frame with space for a No.4 tenor bell. It all cost £89.4s.0d. Their offer to provide a new tenor bell (£64) could not be accepted owing to the cost. In the C20th the bells were not rung properly due to structural concerns about the fabric of the tower but restoration work at the end of the century solved this problem.

In 2012, the Derbyshire church of St Giles, Sandiacre, was having its peal remodelled, and a discarded bell was found to be almost exactly the right note for Monkton’s missing #4 tenor bell. A local retired vicar, bell enthusiast, and friend of Monkton Church, Revd David Cawley, put down a deposit to secure the bell which was at Taylors, and a generous Monkton benefactor stepped in to pay the balance of its metal value (rather more than in 1911 !) Various grants and practical assistance from the Kent County Association of Change Ringers enabled the bell to be tuned and re-fitted and it arrived in Monkton Church on 18th January 2014, prior to being hung – its newly engraved inscription, “Once More We’re Four” telling the story.

Serious bell ringing, presently for a Friday night practice, 5pm – 6pm, and occasional Sunday services with Monkton village beginners began in earnest.

By 2018, the Revd. Cawley had found two more light bells that were installed to make a more traditional peal of 6 bells, and bell ringers from far and wide visit Monkton on their tours and outings to ring quarter peals and the occasional peal.

#1 (F#) 24” 2cwt 3qt 17lb treble from 1961 comes from East Budleigh Church, Devon;

#2 (E) 26” 3cwt 2qr 7lb from 1938 cast by Gillett & Johnston, Croydon;

#3 (D) 27” 3cwt 1qr 22lb from 1633;

#4 (C#) 28” 3cwt 2qr 13lb from 1661;

#5 (B) 32” 5cwt 3lb from 1615;

#6 (A) 34” 7cwt 9lb from 1880.

There is a long, high, steep, but safe, wooden ladder up to the ringing room, built by village carpenter Robert Jakeman. Beginners of all ages are welcome to start learning, as are established ringers who wish to ring with us.