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Great Urswick Bells Rededication Service on Saturday 24th October

Posted on by Sue Thomas
07
Oct

Andy Pollock writes:

The church of St Mary and St Michael at Great Urswick in South Cumbria is the most recent tower to become dual affiliated to both the CDGCBR and LACR.

A bell restoration project has just completed that benefits members of both organisations, and you are very welcome to join us for our rededication service which is planned for 11am on Sat 24th October.

The service will be preceded by a quarter peal on the bells, and there will be general ringing for an hour or so after the service which is open to bellringers of all abilities, along with refreshments and an exhibition of photographs from the project.

Please come along and celebrate the improved bells of Great Urswick as the late Tom Metcalfe MBE, tower captain at this church for many years, wanted.

A New Era for the Bells of Great Urswick

Perhaps you read about the casting of the new 5th bell for Great Urswick at Taylors Bell Foundry in December 2025 (see https://cumbriabellringing.org.uk/great-urswick-bells-project/).

The bell cast at the end of 2025 in the previous article is known as “Tom’s Bell” and the inscription on the bell reads “Given by the Lancashire Association of Change Ringers in Memory of Thomas F. Metcalfe MBE”. This bell was cast to take the place of the ancient (mid-15th century)  5th bell in the ring of six – the Harrington bell (dedicated to Sir William Harrington, knight if the realm and kings standard bearer at the battle of Agincourt in 1415). The Harrington bell could then be retired from full circle ringing to help to protect and preserve it for future generations, and introduce a new bell that would be easier to strike well and blend with the other Taylors bells.

Tom’s bell is just one of two bells that were being cast, the other bell replaces the 4th that was originally cast in 1711 by Abraham I Rudhall. This bell has a slightly different tonal quality and was too thin in places to tune further without risking damaging it beyond repair. The original plan was for it to be broken up and recast, but at the eleventh hour Clarissa Caroe helped to find a new home for this bell through the Keltek Trust with the support of everyone involved from tower, church, diocese, and foundry. The last minute change in fortune meant that the original casting slot was missed, but the new 4th bell was cast sometime later in spring. It is very satisfying to know that the 1711 Rudhall bell has found a new home at Chaddesden in Derbyshire as the 3rd of the restoration and augmentation from 3 bells to a ring of six (two treble bells had previously been sourced by the Keltek Trust for the potential project).

More than £33,000 was needed (plus VAT) for Taylors Bell Foundry to cast and install two bells and repurpose the Harrington bell. This was quite a daunting sum of money to raise, and it was not possible to complete the work in time to be eligible to use the discontinued Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (to recover any VAT). This project was Tom Metcalfe’s vision for the bells while he was alive, and he had already managed to accumulate some bell metal (including some crowns from old bells) to contribute towards the cost of the project. Poignantly the LACR wanted to remember Tom for all he had done for ringing in the association by generously offering to cover the cost of casting Tom’s bell to the tune of over £13,000 from the LACR Bell Restoration Fund.

As the project progressed, we were aware we still had a shortfall in funding of nearly £4,500, so a Crowdfunder page was launched to raise some additional funds online and cash donations were also invited at the Branch Quiz. Alison Bolt created a fantastic quiz sheet which were sold at £1 each.

We would like to thank everyone who made donations in person or online, and everyone who distributed and/or bought quiz sheets.

 

Just a few weeks before the new bells were to be installed, a very important saving of over £4,000 was made by organising local volunteer labour to reduce the labour costs (and associated VAT).

Steve Westerman of Taylors bell foundry drove the two new bells from the foundry in Loughborough on 8th June 2026, and work commenced in earnest on Tuesday 9th June with Steve leading and supervising the volunteers.

We are truly indebted to David Galston, David Robinson, and Owen Osmotherley, each of whom devoted several days of their time and physical graft, supplemented by visits from Andrew Smith, Ray Browne, Clarissa Caroe, Alan Dewar, Andy Pollock, Alison Bolt, and Rev. Graham Tate (curate).

Dave Galston wrote that ”to work with the fitter from Taylors in taking out the two bells and refitting the new ones was a great  experience. Learnt a great deal about setting up wheels stays and sliders which will help with maintenance, and a great sense of achievement when we heard them ringing”

The photographs show various stages of work across the rest of the week.

The bells were all operational for the first practice on Thursday evening on 11th June (although ropes 3 to 6 needed replacing with old ropes borrowed from Barrow until they can be replaced with new ropes). We were very pleased to welcome Helen Rigby from LACR BRF who managed to visit and enjoy a ring at short notice.

 

Paul Mason completed the fitting of the electric chiming mechanism inside the Harrington bell, and this allows it to be heard and chimed safely by the clergy or other member of the church from the control panel at the foot of the tower. This completes the main installation works of the project, and the following quarter peal was rung on the bells to celebrate the success of the project.

On the 1st of August 2026 a quarter peal was rung on the newly cast bells 4 (Volunteers bell) and 5 (Tom’s Bell), with several of the volunteers (esp. 1, 3, 6) who helped install the bells (Bellboard: 1994089). Congratulations to David Robinson for his first quarter peal! and well done to David Galston for trebling so well. Practices have now resumed on most Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8.30 (one practice monthly – typically 3rd Thursday is held at Kirkby-in-Furness)

To cap things off, it just remains to get a quote to buy new ropes and install some more effective sound insulation (than the scraps of carpet) on the belfry floor to make the most of the new bells and enjoy the best ringing experience.

A full peal on the bells in memory of Tom will be organised later in the year or once we have new bell ropes.

 

Sadly for Tom he was not to see his vision for Urswick bells come to fruition himself, but we can all enjoy the completed project thanks to so many generous people and organisations.

This is now added to Tom’s enduring legacy, along with so many of his other projects in Furness towers, ringers he taught, fond memories of ringing outings around the UK, and many other contributions to bellringing that were deservedly recognised by the award of his MBE.

 

A full service to celebrate and bless the bells at Great Urswick is being organised to take place in the morning of Saturday 24th October (11am TBC) at the church of St Mary & St Michael in Great Urswick.

A quarter peal will be rung before the service. General ringing will take place for an hour or so after the service which all ringers will be welcome to participate, and we intend that there will be refreshments and an exhibition of photos at the same time.

We intend to try to engage with the local community and promote ringing in the village starting with the local primary school this autumn, with the intention of getting some more people to learn to ring now or in the future.

 

Further Reading about Sir William Harrington and the Harrington Bell:

Sue Thomas