Sharpe Bells in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
Fred Sharpe wrote many books about bells. When he died, his
will set up the Sharpe Trusts.
His notebooks and bells are stored as 'the Sharpe Collection' in the
Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, under the stewardship of the Sharpe Trust.
These bells are not usually on display in the public part of the museum,
but are stored in controlled conditions where they can be seen by request
to the Sharpe Trustees.
© KMC 22 Feb 2005
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The first bell you see is a 'portable invasion bell'
stored near the door to the gallery where most of the bells are stored.
It consists of a frame, just under 18 inches high, holding
a bell (with stay and slider) which the curator says was one of those
positioned along the South Coast of England in 1942 in places out of
earshot of church bells. They were intended to be used with beacons
and church bells to warn of an enemy invasion during the Second World War.
The small bells hung on the top of the frame are part of the
'Sharpe Collection'
they were not used to warn of an invasion. His main set of handbells are on
loan to the Launton handbell ringers in the parish where Fred Sharpe rang.
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There are seven bells stored in the Balfour building. Each stands on a
yellow box; six are small enough to be moved by one person, the seventh is
much larger. A few are illustrated below.
Cast by Whitechapel Foundry, London
© KMC 22 Feb 2005
Museum No. 1986.40.222
This bell was cast without canons in 1947 by Mears & Stainbank at the
Whitechapel foundry.
The inscription on the waist is F.SHARPE
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The inscription on the lower waist at the back reads:
INTACTUM SILEO PERCUTE DULCE CANO
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Within the inscription band is the text:
MEARS & STAINBANK [border]
where
[border] is diagram G11
page 568 F.Sharpe 'The Church bells of Oxfordshire'
labelled 'Whitechapel Foundry Border'
on the waist of the bell is: [Mark] [FM] 1947
where
[Mark] is diagram B1 page 21 F.Sharpe
'The Church bells of Oxfordshire' labelled 'Whitechapel Foundry mark'
and
[FM]
is the Whitechapel foundry mark of 3 bells with letters,
with a crown above the highest one
A A H between them, possibly Albert A. Hughes
Cast by Edward Hemins, Bicester
© KMC 22 Feb 2005
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This bell has a broken canon and two moulding wires on the crown.
The inscription reads:
UOX [border] MEA [border] SONAT.
EDWARD HEMINS FECIT MAY THE 28 1743. [border]
[border]
represents the border type P5 in
F.Sharpe 'The Church bells of Oxfordshire' page 327 labelled 'Bicester
Foundry Mark'.
Another view of the inscription is:
Edward Hemins is known to have been founding in Bicester between 1728
and 1745 so this bell is one of his later ones.
There are two 'dents' on opposite sides of the bell, starting at the top
of these 3 moulding wires and stretching almost down to the next 2.
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Unknown Founders
© KMC 22 Feb 2005
Museum no. 1986.40.218
inscription 1827 (above)
inscription 1766 (right above)
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© KMC 22 Feb 2005
Museum no. 1986.40.220
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Unknown Earlier Founders
© KMC 22 Feb 2005
Museum no. 1986.40.223 inscription 1622
The photograph of the bell on the right was taken through
the glass of the museum case.
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© KMC 22 Feb 2005
Museum no. 1986.40.221
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Notes:
- I regret that I had only time on this visit to photograph the bells,
I would have liked to measure their diameters,
and look through the notebooks for any details
F.Sharpe may have recorded about these bells.
- I wish to record my thanks to Tim Pett of the Sharpe Trustees who kindly
allowed me to see these bells and to the Curator of the Bate Collection
of Musical Instruments, Dr H La Rue, who generously took time from her other
duties to show me the bells.
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