The Bells of St Marys

1722 .

The Church steeple was demolished, and replaced by a tower and clock. The stone above the clock still shows - John Baldwin, 1722. The stone below the clock probably gave the names of the Churchwardens, as the word ‘Churchwardens’ can distinctly be seen. “H.B.” over the tower door no doubt stands for Henry Burningham who died in 1735

1724

Five of the bells were hung. Four of them bear the inscription “R. Phelps 1724 Fecit”. The fifth on bears the inscription “Messrs. Henry Burningham, Richard Marshall, R. Phelps FECIT, Rev. Mr. John Greenway, Vic 1724”.

The rubbing above of part of the inscription was done by NADFAS in 1993

1757

The sixth bell was hung, and bears the inscription “Thomas Tower and Thomas Hall, Churchwardens. Thomas Swain made me, 1757”.

Notes on names in connection with the Tower and Bells from Tom Knight

Burningham
The first Burningham entry in the Registers is in 1670 when Henry, son of Henry Burningham was born. This Henry Burningham, born in 1670 is the one whose name is on the bell. He married Ann Baldwin in 1698, and he died in 1716. The original home of the Burninghams was Hussey’s Farm. (Froyle House was built about 1820 on the original site of Cattleys). There is a date on the garden wall at Froyle House - 1820 - with initials GNB and KLB. There was a George Burningham, a lad of 16, in 1820). This Henry Burningham (born 1670), had a son Henry who died in 1736, and a grandson who died in 1740. The 1740 stone is in the Nave of the Church and this is the earliest Burningham memorial. There are at least eight Henry Burninghams buried either in the Church or Churchyard, the last one in 1905. The name is spelt in the Register as Burmigan, Burnigham, and Burningham.

Baldwin
The first Baldwin entry is in 1656. Baldwin’s Farm, at Lower Froyle, is now part of Hussey’s Farm. Thomas Hall was at Baldwin’s Farm in 1750, and the Baldwins seem to have moved to Coldrey. Robert Baldwin died at Coldrey in 1729. Christopher Baldwin died in 1806, aged 82, probably at Bentley. He was buried at Froyle, and his tomb is on the North side of the Church.

Marshall
In 1707, John Marshall married Mary Wells. There was a Well’s Farm as late as 1806.

Towers
The first Towers entry is William Towers in 1653, and there is a Towers entry as late as 1803. There are several Towers stones in the Churchyard near those of the Messengers. In 1743, the Towers lived at Isnage Farm.

The Tithe Map of 1847 reveals a field on the road to Yarnhams which is named “Steeple hill in common field”. Could this name date back to when the steeple was dismantled, or is it merely a field that gave a good view of the steeple?
In the photograph from Google Earth (above), the un-planted area just below the caption is the location of the field in the Tithe record.