Bell
Thomas Mears I
Category
Historic Services / Communications
Date
1812
Materials
Bronze
Measurements
305 mm (Diameter); 12 inches (Diameter)
Place of origin
Whitechapel
Order this imageCollection
Peckover House, Cambridgeshire
NT 781926
Summary
A historic communication system comprising a bell and clapper with a lever and wooden bell pull on thick wire. Bell dated 1812, possibly cast by Thomas Mears I of Whitechapel, London - 305mm (12") diameter, weighing 20kg (42lbs). It has an argent and pair of single canons (i.e. rather than the usual set of six). Mouldings 2:1-2:2:1. Note E (2589hz). Hung in a wooden shelter on the west side of the main house facing the in the courtyard. Hung for swing chiming. The date figures on the bell resemble those used by the Whitechapel founders (rather than those of the nearby foundries at Downham Market and St.Neots). The numerals are illustrated (reduced size) in the accompanying rubbing. The frame consists of two parallel beams, one close to the wall. In the angle between the walls these beams are bedded into the end wall. At the other end the beams are joined at right-angles to a piece of timber bedded in the wall at one end and supported along the underside on an ornamental cast-iron bracket. The whole assembly is covered with a shallow lean-to roof. The fittings (all very heavily painted grey) include a wooden headstock fitted with strap gudgeons, stock hoops, iron chiming lever and counterbalance. The gudgeons rotate in sockets of some sort in the frame timbers - possibly plain brass bearing blocks. These have fixed wooden covers and cannot be seen without partial dismantling. The bell has a cast-in crown staple from which is suspended a wrought-iron clapper with a hook-over top. The securing ironwork consists of a pair of V-straps through the single canons, secured on top of the headstock with spacer plates. There is no information on the provenance of the bell, although it is assumed that it was a fixture belonging to the house when it was in the ownership of the Peckover family. Its date does not seem to tie up with any known phase of development at the property.
Provenance
Possibly cast by Thomas Mears I of Whitechapel, London in 1812. The house with its fixtures and fittings was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1948 by Alexandrina Peckover (1860-1948)
Makers and roles
Thomas Mears I, bell founder