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Plumtree
St Mary

Bells

In the reign of Edward the Sixth, Plumtree church had a set of three bells plus a “lytle bell”, later sold. These bells were replaced by three bells cast in the early 17th century by Henry Oldfield and son George, owners of the Long Row Bellfoundry in Nottingham, then one of the major bellfounding centres of the Midlands. The bells were hung in the tower on a huge oak frame for full circle ringing.

When the tower had to be partially re-built in 1906-1907, the bells were re-hung by John Taylor of Loughborough on a new steel frame with new wheels and fittings. This cost £107. However, a large case built around the clock mechanism stopped the tenor bell being rung. A set of pulleys and ropes for clocking (chiming) the bells was fitted in 1953 by Taylor’s to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In the 1980s, the tenor was turned round so that the bells could again be rung full circle.

The new tenor bell

In 1984 an appeal for £25,000 to purchase a new or second-hand peal of six bells was launched. Ultimately a ring of six bells was located at nearby Clifton, where the vibration of ringing had damaged the tower. Clifton wanted to buy a lighter ring of bells and sell their existing ones. Plumtree’s fund having reached £20,000, the Clifton bells were removed for retuning by Taylors at Loughborough, and ultimately installed in the tower at Plumtree in 1992.

Two additional bells were installed and dedicated in 2010 as a new treble and second.

The details of the full-ring circle of eight bells are as follows:

	Inscription	Size	Weight
1	HAYWARD MILLS ASSOCIATES NOTTINGHAM 2009  Waist:   ROYAL EIJSBOUTS Lower Waist:   HARK HOW ALL THE WELKIN RINGS GLORY TO THE KING OF KINGS	26.9”	5.0.20
2	HAYWARD MILLS ASSOCIATES NOTTINGHAM 2009  Waist:   ROYAL EIJSBOUTS Lower Waist:   RING IN THE LOVE OF TRUTH AND RIGHT	27.9”	5.2.1
3	O come let us sing out to the Lord Waist:   A.D.1894 JOHN TAYLOR & CO FOUNDERS LOUGHBOROUGH	29.5"	5.0.24
4	GOD SAVE HIS CHURCH 1707 Waist:   RECAST A.D.1894 JOHN TAYLOR	31.75"	6.1.20
5	my roaring sound doth warning give that men cannot heare always lyve 1603 Waist: As 4	34.5"	8.0.4
6	JESUS BE OUR SPEDE 1589 Waist:  As 4, plus the Clifton Crest	36.125"	9.2.4
7	my roaring sound doth warning give that men cannot heare always lyve 1603 Waist: As 4	40.5"	12.2.2
8	The love of Christ constraineth us Waist:   R.W.Wynne Ffoulkes,   Rector Henry Robert Clifton } Churchwardens George Wooton }   A.D.1894	45.375"	16.2.12

Hung in the rebuilt cast-iron H-frame for six bells, with metal headstocks and ball bearings.

The three old bells were:

They were hung for full circle ringing in a low sided metal frame for three bells but set out for eight by Taylors in 1906. The bells were in a minor key.

The treble was the work of Henry II Oldfield and the second and tenor bells were cast by George I Oldfield, the second being one of the earliest bells with George’s badge upon it.

Of these three old bells, the tenor was re-used as the tenor of the ring at Clarborough. The second has become the tenor at Scarrington, and the treble is the new tenor at Papplewick.