The Visitors’ Book

The Bells

ringing out across the centuries!

The records for 1553 state that there were ‘ four bells in Tysburye church.’

Bells

Today, there are six bells as follows:

No 1. Cast in 1700 by William Cor and inscribed ‘God Bless King William’.
No 2. Cast at a similar time by William Cor.
No 3. Cast in 1720 by William Cockey and inscribed ‘God Preserve the Church’.
No 4. Originally cast in 1783 by William Bilbie, but had to be recast in 1989 by Whitechapel Bell
Foundry, as it was cracked. It is inscribed ‘Edward Bracher & James Dinnis Church
Wardens’.
No 5. Cast in 1700 by Robert Cor.
No 6. Cast in 1700 by William & Robert Cor and inscribed ‘Richard Doue Esq & William
Breacher’.

The bells hang in an iron H-shaped frame on two levels following their rehanging in 1927 by
Gillett & Johnston. Before they were rehung, the tenor bell (the biggest one) weighed about 21
cwt, but after re-tuning in 1927 it weighed in at around 16 cwt. Bells 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6 retain their cannons and have cannon-retaining headstocks.

The ornamentation on the Cor bells is recognised as some of the best in the country, reproduced below:

Bell 1-6 inscriptions