Grandsire Minor at St Olave, York
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- A couple of courses of Grandsire Minor - not my suggestion, for once! - being rung by The Lilliputters Guild, recorded Wednesday, 31st July 2024 during our Summer Tour.
The church of St Olave (pronounced Olive) was founded in the late Saxon period by Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who was buried here in 1055. It was the first church in the world to be dedicated to St Olaf, warrior king and patron saint of Norway, who converted the country to Christianity, and who died in battle in 1030. The spelling, St Olave, is the Old English variant. Following the Norman Conquest, the church was granted to Alan of Brittany; he in turn gave it to Benedictine monks, who established what became St Mary’s Abbey (later abandoning St Olave’s in favour of the new church). The Abbey was a victim of the Reformation (under King Henry VIII); its ruined nave, now part of the Museum Gardens, forms the boundary to St Olave’s churchyard. Nothing of the original edifice remains in situ; St Olave’s was extensively rebuilt in the 15th century in the perpendicular style. Whilst primarily constructed in magnesium limestone, some original medieval stone can be found in the tower. The church was damaged in the siege of York in 1644, during the English Civil War, when the roof was used as a gun platform. A major restoration took place in 1721-2, and the chancel was added between 1887-9, incorporating the fifteenth century East window.
The tower originally contained three bells, believed to have been installed soon after its completion in 1478 - it appears the church was slow to pay for these, as a bequest was left in 1501 to clear the outstanding debt! These bells were recast into the present six in 1789, thanks to a bequest by Fabian Fairly. They are generally assumed to have been cast by Robert Dalton (or, potentially, by or with his father, George Dalton - although this is less likely), and that they are the last York ring to have been cast by a York bellfounder. However, there is doubt in some quarters over whether these bells were cast by a Dalton at all; their general shape, the position of the moulding wires, and general lack of decoration has led to suggestions that their casting might have been subcontracted out elsewhere. One theory, although unsubstantiated, is that the founder(s) may have been French, possibly a Huguenot refugee. This isn't entirely meritorious however; the canons look English, and the weight profiles are that of a change-ringing peal (whereas continental rings tend to have too-light trebles). The bells' real provenance then is a mystery that is yet to be resolved. [As for the Daltons; one further ring, cast in 1790 - also a 9cwt 6 in G# - survives, at Burnsall; almost certainly a "sister peal" to St Olave's. The latest known Dalton bells are the 1803 chime of three at Slingsby. The demise of the foundry marked the end of 600+ years of bellfounding in York.]
By the early 1900s, the bells had become unringable, with the frame decayed and the fittings derelict. In 1914, a parishioner (Mrs Burdshall) had left a sum of money to restore the tower and bells; however, upon completion of the tower work, the bells were only rehung dead by Taylors in 1916, having first been tuned (both by machine, but also externally - highly unusual for this time). The original tenor weight was 9-1-17. The bells were hung in a two-tier oak frame, with the three heaviest bells hung below. Whilst the general reason cited for this work is rising costs (with inflation and the First World War), the actual restoration would likely not have saved much money from a full-circle rehang. That said, had this happened in 1916, it's almost certain that the canons (which survive) would have been lopped off to accommodate Taylors' standard-pattern cast iron headstocks.
Despite many false dawns, the situation remained thus until 1988, when a project to restore the bells for full-circle ringing came to fruition, led by the York Minster ringers and Ron Dove (the compiler of Dove’s Guide, and a congregation member at St Olave’s in his latter years). The bells - which were not tuned in 1988 - were rehung in a new, locally-built steel frame, financed by the Minster ringers. The work was completed in time for the bells to ring out their bicentenary in 1989. Further remedial maintenance, and the fitting of an electronic chiming mechanism, was carried out in 2018. The Sanctus bell, cast by Taylors in 1986 and hung in the 1915 chiming frame, was the gift of Ron Dove.
Despite the long draught, the bells handle well enough, and form a respectable sounding old-style ring. You may also spot the memorial plaque to Ron Dove behind the treble’s rope, designed by Charles Gurrey.
Tenor 9-0-14 in G#
dove.cccbr.org...
Sources:
St Olave's website: www.stolavesch...
The Bells of York, by David J Bryant (2011), to which I am indebted to David Potter for lending me a copy of this rare book; it made for a fascinating read.
That treble is ghastly 😮
The clunkiest is one of the things I like about these - makes them very satisfying to strike well, and it’s not particularly difficult to do so!
I called a quarter here, I thought they were quite characterful.
Can you ring at Stafford st Mary's church please
These bells have been tuned too thin, which gives them their distinct tone (or lack thereof).
I don’t mind these - they’re a bit ghastly sound-wise but have some character 😀
They're not that ghastly - they're just not a prime Taylor ring, which sticks out in this City! Tenor is a touch flat, and the treble isn't a particularly good bell, but they work OK as a six. They have colour, granted!
@@simonbellringer I think it’s more so the fact that there are so many excellent rings in York that make them seem worse than they are!
treble sounds odd they are old bells
Robert Dalton bells cast 1789 according to doves guide
Well they certainly aren't Simpson tuned bells, they do have character and in ,anyway ways they make you appreciate even more the sound of harmonically tuned bells