Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers- Historical Information

Established January 17 1881

St. Blaise, Milton

Architecture:
St. Blaise is the patron saint of woolcombers. This church was built in the 14th century when the chief industry of the village was associated with sheep and wool. The wool was washed in the nearby Ginge brook.

Only the base of the tower, the W wall and the S porch were not rebuilt in the mid 19th century. There is a good collection of Victorian stained glass.

The Bells

A ring of 8 bells, tenor 6-3-36, tuned to B

bell	weight cwt-qr-lb	strike note	date cast	founder	foundry location	inscription on front
treble	2-3-2	B	2001	Whitechapel	London	ST. BLAISE
2	2-3-15	A^#	2001	Whitechapel	London	THE GIFT OF COLIN AND NICOLA TURNER
3	2-3-24	G^#	2001	Whitechapel	London	THE GIFT OF THE OLD NORTH BERKS BRANCH
4	3-1-9	F^#	2001	Whitechapel	London	THE GIFT OF MILTON BELL RINGERS
5	3-2-17	E	2001	Whitechapel	London	MARTIN WOODGETT HOC DEDIT
6	4-0-17	D^#	2001	Whitechapel	London	THE GIFT OF RICHARD AND MARY NORMAN OF MILTON MILL 1963 - 2000
7	5-0-16	C^#	2001	Whitechapel	London	THE CHURCHWARDENS BELL DONATED BY THE CHAVASSE AND BUDD FAMILIES
tenor	6-3-26	B	2001	Whitechapel	London	THE GIFT OF COLIN AND NICOLA TURNER

In addition each bell has the same inscription on the back, [M] is the Whitechapel Founder’s mark.

bells	weight	inscription	image
total	31-3-14	WHITES OF APPLETON CHURCH BELLHANGERS 20 [M] 01 WHITECHAPEL	©KMC 9 Jun 2002

Notes
Details of the weights and inscriptions of earlier bells may be found in:

The Church Bells of Berkshire
Notes on the new bells are taken from the framed list in the ringing chamber and the booklet distributed on the occasion of the Service of Dedication of the new bells on 20th October 2002.

Bell restorations in St Blaise.

The 1552 inventory shows that there were 4 bells in the tower.
In 1682 Richard Keene of Woodstock recast these into 5.
These 5 bells were hung in a wooden frame dating from ~1640 with one of each of the four largest bells at each corner and the treble in a slightly raised part of the frame hanging diagonally across it.
In 1787 Robert Wells of Aldbourne recast the third.

Following a public subscription in 1906 a sixth bell was cast, rather larger than the previous treble which was hung in a new upper frame constructed by a local builder.

In 1913 F.White of Appleton replaced the fittings and plain bearings on the 5 largest bells. The Bells had a long draught, lacked rope guides and were difficult for novices to handle.

In the summer of 1999 an inspection showed that the treble frame moved alarmingly when rung, so that major restoration work was necessary. It was decided to have a new ring of 8 lighter bells all hung at the same level in the tower.

Taking out the old bells

The workers who took out the old bells and beams found the supporting beams were rotten and would soon have collapsed.
©KMC 4 Mar 2002

The old bells were originally a ring of 5 cast by Richard Keene of Woodstock in 1682. The fourth was recast in 1787 and a treble added in 1906. The old second has been retained on display in the church, the other 5 were sold via the Keltek Trust to Hackthorn in Lincolnshire, where they were installed as the back 5 of a new ring of 6 in a tower that had never held a ring of bells before. Their dedication service was on 23 April 2006. See Odd Bob no. 74, May 2006, page 22.

7 of the 8 bells in their frame at Whites workshop in March 2002; the treble and its wheel were still being balanced.
©KMC 4 Mar 2002

These eight new bells form the first complete ring cast to Gillett and Johnston profiles since the closure of the Croydon foundry in the 1950s. They were all cast without canons in 2001 by the Whitechapel Foundry, London and installed in the tower by Whites of Appleton in 2002.

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