Normanton-on-Trent St Matthew

Bells

St Matthews possesses three bells, hung in a wooden frame with wooden headstocks and plain bearings.

The oak bell frame comprises head and base sills with diagonal bracing struts and secondary braces; in form it is an Elphick W, Pickford Group 6.D. The frame was certainly in place by 1784, and may be 16th or 17th century in date. The bells hang side by side and occupy the eastern two-thirds of the tower, swinging in an east-west plane. The frame was designed for full circle ringing.

  Date Inscription Size Weight
1

c. 1500

ave maria

26"

c. 3cwt
2

1784

THOS HEDDERLY NOTTM FECIT
IOHN GILBY CHURCHWARDEN

28.5"

c. 3.5cwt
3

c. 1540

SAC MARIA OPI

31.875"

c. 6cwt

The treble bell is the work of the Seliok family who worked from c. 1500 until c. 1530. The second bell is of 1784 and was cast by Thomas Hedderley, while the tenor came from the Chesterfield foundry of Geoffrey Heathcote, which was casting between 1525 and 1558. All three bells retain their original canons. The fittings are somewhat decayed and the bells could not be rung in 2015.