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Contents: Ringing Contacts Directions Bells Points of interest Quarter-Peals Photos Recording Links
The ringers are raising funds to raise the floor of the ringing chamber
Soon after the augmentation from 3 to 8 bells it became clear that continuing
as a ground floor ring and sharing the space with people preparing for services
was no longer practicable. Churchwardens and sidesmen crossing this space
to get to the safe and cupboards was acceptable when the three bell ropes
were in a line along one side of the ringing room, but dangerous with eight
ropes falling in a circle which encompassed the whole area. Accordingly
plans were drawn up to move the ringers up to a new west end gallery and
to provide a self-contained meeting room in the area vacated by them.
Vigorous fundraising is taking place but, as an act of faith, work will
start in September 2009 and is expected to be completed by Christmas!
Any donations would be very well received by the West End Project Treasurer, Mr David Hall, 1 Settle Road, Airton, SKIPTON, North Yorkshire. BD23 4BD. Cheques should be made payable to "Kirkby Malham PCC", and GiftAid may be claimed if appropriate.
The target for fund-raising is £53,000 (as at end of Aug 2009 approximately £35,000 has already been raised). Many Yorkshire towers have recently been very generous and supportive in response to the quiz sheets.
St Michael the Archangel has a ring of eight bells (having been rehung and augmented from the previous set of three bells in 2002).
Kirkby Malham Bells; click on image for larger view
The bells are rung on Sundays (9.15am-10am) for morning service at 10am.
Practice night is on a Tuesday evening 7-8.30 (summer), 7.30-9 (winter). The tower has a simulator using Abel which is used at practices. On the second Sunday of the month, there is often a quarter peal attempt in the evening.
The bells are also rung for weddings and funerals, by arrangement.
Visitors and new ringers are always welcome. Please make contact to check times if visiting.
One of the tower's ringers featured in an article about ringing at Kirkby Malham in 'Connection' which is the magazine for Barclays Bank pensioners. An extract from the magazine with the article (cover page and one-page article) is available here as a PDF provided thanks to and with permission of Barclays."
The Tower Captain is George Parker who can be contacted on:
Kirkby Malham is in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales: see http://www.streetmap.co.uk/ for a map. The Grid Ref for the Church is SD 8939 6096. The nearest train stations are Settle (7 miles away) and Skipton (10 miles away): see http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/. Skipton station may be better for bus connections. For enquiries regarding local transport, see:
On entering the village from most directions, the Church is easily visible. The road to the Church is up the lane at the corner of the Victoria pub. Parking for the church is available along this same lane. The bells (as at 2004) are a ground-floor ring inside the church and access is via the main church door. There are plans (in 2009) to put in a raised floor for the ringing room. The church has disabled access.
The bells were originally a set of three. The three bells were rehung and augmented to eight during 2002 by Eayre and Smith, now part of Taylors Eayre & Smith (http://www.taylorbells.co.uk/) following a successful appeal and fund-raising by bell-ringers, congregation and community raising £60,000 to finance the work. The new set of eight bells was first rung on 19 July 2002. They were dedicated on 6 October 2002 by the Archbishop of York. The original three bells are included in the new ring of eight as bells 6, 7 & 8. The tower dates from 1495.
The three original bells retain their canons and are fitted with specially designed canon-retaining headstocks of spheroidal graphite cast iron. The other five bells are fitted with web section headstocks of the same material. All eight bells rotate on self-aligning ball bearings. The strike note of the tenor is 33 cents (33 hundredths of a semitone) sharp of E natural.
The bell-frame is of fabricated steel, hot-dip galvanized against corrosion. Previous to the work in 2002, the frame was of wooden construction by Mallerby of Masham and was 150 years old. The new frame was made by Bentleys of Silsden.
| Bell | Weight | Pitch | Diameter | Origin | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 cwt. 1 qrs. 3 lbs. | 591 lbs | 267 kgs | 1344Hz | E+33 cents | 28.125" | 71.5 cms | Cast by Royal Eijsbouts, Holland 2002 |
| 2 | 5 cwt. 2 qrs. 5 lbs. | 621 lbs | 281 kgs | 1269Hz | D#+33 cents | 29.000" | 73.5 cms | Cast by Royal Eijsbouts, Holland 2002 |
| 3 | 6 cwt. 0 qrs. 21 lbs. | 693 lbs | 313 kgs | 1130Hz | C#+33 cents | 30.625" | 77.8 cms | Cast by Royal Eijsbouts, Holland 2002 |
| 4 | 5 cwt. 3 qrs. 23 lbs. | 667 lbs | 302 kgs | 1002.5Hz | B+26 cents | 32.250" | 82.0 cms | ex Gamlingay, Cambs; cast by Warners 1897 |
| 5 | 8 cwt. 1 qrs. 21 lbs. | 945 lbs | 427 kgs | 897Hz | A+33 cents | 35.125" | 89.2 cms | Cast by Royal Eijsbouts, Holland 2002 |
| 6 | 10 cwt. 3 qrs. 16 lbs. | 1220 lbs | 553 kgs | 842.5Hz | G#+25 cents | 38.750" | 98.5 cms | Cast by William Oldfield, Doncaster 1617 |
| 7 | 13 cwt. 0 qrs. 7 lbs. | 1463 lbs | 662 kgs | 748Hz | F#+19 cents | 41.250" | 104.7 cms | Cast by Robert Dalton, York 1785 |
| 8 | 17 cwt. 2 qrs. 16 lbs. | 1976 lbs | 894 kgs | 672Hz | E+33 cents | 46.000" | 117.0 cms | Cast by William Oldfield (elder) 1602 |
Information kindly provided by Eayre & Smith, now part of Taylors Eayre & Smith (http://www.taylorbells.co.uk/). 100 cents = 1 semitone so 33 cents is 33% of a semitone
| Bell | Inscription |
|---|---|
| 1 |
Eijsbouts Astensis me fecit Anno MMII (Note: given by Trinity Ecumenical Parish, Moneta, in Companion Diocese of Southwestern Virginia) |
| 2 | Eijsbouts Astensis me fecit Anno MMII The Scosthrop Millennium Bell Given by Ann Marie J Harris, Deo Gratias |
| 3 |
Eijsbouts Astensis me fecit Anno MMII Donated by Airton Parish 2002 |
| 4 | Cast by John Warner & Sons Ltd. London 1897 Hung by Day & Son - Eye James Syme Physician RIP The Sharp Family of Skellands |
| 5 |
Eijsbouts Astensis me fecit Anno MMII To the Glory of the Great Architect Donated by Local Freemasons 2002 |
| 6 | X God be ovr Speed both now and ever 1617 |
| 7 |
Soli Deo Gloria Dalton Fecit York 1785 |
| 8 |
God Save Ovr Church ovr Queen and realme Iosias Lambert Esqvier 1602 |
The tower clock is by Potts of Leeds and dated 1881. It is a flatbed design with a gravity escapement.
There are several points of interest relating to the bells beyond the bells themselves:
Details of Peals and Quarter Peals may be found at http://www.campanophile.co.uk/.
Bellringers' Flower Arrangement from 2009 Flower Festival
More photos to follow.
A professional recording was made on 21 February 2006 of the bells being rung.
A CD of the recording is being sold in aid of the project to create an upstairs ringing room. With over 56 minutes of ringing, the CD contains performances by a guest YACR Western Branch team who perform a 23 minute touch of Grandsire Triples and a course of Yorkshire, and it also includes ringing by the local band.
A 90 second sample of one of the tracks (Grandsire Triples) from the recording is available here (1.3Mb WMA file). If you would like to buy a copy of the full CD, it is available by post:
The CD was recorded and produced by Charlie S Brown: web: http://www.soundman.org.uk/ e-mail: mail@soundman.org.uk.
Recordings are © Kirkby Malham Bell Fund 2006.
The following small selection of links may be useful (links to external websites will open in a new browser window):
© Kirkby Malham Bells 2004; last updated 2009