THE BELLS OF 
ST DEINIOL'S PARISH CHURCH HAWARDEN

1742 - 2003

Hawarden was known as 'Haworthine' or 'Haordine' in Mediaeval times and as Penarth Halagh in Welsh and this was when the church was established by Deiniol Wyn, better known as Saint Deiniol, in the sixth century near the site of the present church. It would have been constructed, of wattle and daub with a roof of turf or thatch and was little more than a shelter for the shrine.

The present parish church of St.Deiniol was originally built in the thirteenth century and the first peal of five bells and a 'little bell' was installed in the fourteenth Century. The earliest documented report on the bells is in 1563.

These original bells were taken down and re-cast a number of times over the ensuing years until in 1660 they were taken for re-casting at the Scott bell foundry in Wigan.
Normally the old bells are melted down and re-cast using the same metal before tuning and re-hanging. On this occasion it seems that only some of the bells were re-cast and new metal was used for the others.

Two of the original bells were later sold by Scotts to the church at Ledsham, a small Yorkshire village just off the Al a few miles North of Castleford. That small church has only three bells and two of them are still the original 14th Century bells from Hawarden.
Cast into them are the inscriptions

'SANCTA MARIA'
O SACER ET DANIEL PRO GENTE HAWARDEN ADORA

Translated this reads
HOLY MARY
O HOLY ONE AND DANIEL PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OP HAWARDEN'

The new bells seem to have been a constant source of trouble and there are numerous references to expenditure on them. For example the Fifth had to be re-cast in 1714 by Saunders of Congleton, the wooden frame had to be replaced in 1735 (at a cost of £48 Os Od) and the Treble was re-cast several times due to cracking. Perhaps the ringers were too exuberant.

In 1740 whilst ringing to celebrate the birth of an heir to Sir .John Glynne the ringers again cracked a bell and the vestry decided to have made a new peal of six bells.

These new bells were cast by the famous Gloucester bell founders of Abraham Rudhall founded in 1684 but by this time run by his son Abel Rudhall, and were installed in the tower of St.Deiniol's in 1742.
The church records show that the new bells cost £365-19s-6d but against this Rudhalls allowed £262-Os-Od for the old bell metal (at 1/- per lb about lip per Kilo). Rudhall's catalogue of 1830 records 520 peals of their bells but Hawarden's peal of six bells is now believed to be the only complete set of Rudhall bells in existence anywhere.

It was very fortunate that they and the tower survived the terrible fire of 1857 and in 1859, after the restoration of the church by Sir Gilbert Scott, the bells were re-hung in new fittings by Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel bell foundry who had taken over the business of the Rudhall foundry when the last of the Rudhall line retired.

Since then the bells have been taken down for re-tuning and quarter-turning a number of times, most recently in 1904 and in 1938.

Over the years the wooden frame installed in 1859 became less and less safe until in 1981 it was replaced by a steel frame. The work was carried out by John Taylor and Sons Limited, bell founders, of Loughborough

At the same time the bells were again re-tuned and 'quarter turned' so that the clappers would strike a different side f the bell, this work costing a total of £14,500. At a service held on Easter Day, 19th April 1981, the bells were re-dedicated by the Right Reverend H.J.Charles, Bishop of St.Asaph.

It is not known who cast the original bells in the fourteenth century but since then we have records of the allowing bell founders working on our bells:
Scott of Wigan 
Saunders of Congleton 
Rudhall of Gloucester
Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel
And in recent years they have been entrusted to Taylors of Loughborough.
The weights of church bells are traditionally measured in Imperial hundredweights (Cwt) and quarters and each bell is tuned to a certain key.
One hundredweight is about 50 Kilos and one Quarter about 12.5 Kilos
No matter how many bells there are in a particular tower the lightest bell of any set is always known as the Treble and the heaviest as the Tenor

At St.Deiniol's the weights and keys of the six bells are:

Treble: 5 cwts. and 1 qtr. key of D#
Second: 6 cwts. key of C#
Third: 7 cwts. key of B
Fourth: 8 cwts. key of A#
Fifth: 9 cwts and 3 qtrs. key of G#
Tenor: 13 cwts. key of F#

Over a period of years bells may go slightly out of tune and they then have to be taken down from the bell tower and Re-tuned before re-hanging them.

Each of the six bells has an inscription cast into it:

Treble: 
Peace And Good Neighbourhood A R 1742

Second: 
Prosperity To All Our Benefactors A R 1742

Third : 
Prosperity To This Parish A R 1742

Fourth: 
Abel Rudhall of Gloucester Cast Us All A R 1742

Fifth
George Hope Esq., Churchwarden And Thomas Fox, Sidesman A R 1742

Tenor
I To The Church The Living Call And To The Grave Do Summon All. A R 1742

DID YOU KNOW?

* That during the last war church bells were not allowed to be rung in case the sound attracted enemy aircraft. At Hawarden the bell clappers were tied up and the bells 'rung silently. No mere war was going to stop our bell-ringers.

* that in the Seventeenth Century one churchwarden found it necessary to replace the bell ropes at least once a year. That was until someone realised that he bought them from a friend.

* that for hundreds of years it was traditional to ring the bells for all feast days and that the wardens would provide ale to quench the thirst of the ringers afterwards. It has been suggested that this tradition be revived!

* that in the 16th Century one of the ringers had an argument with the churchwarden and took the 'little bell' home with him, refusing to give it up until the argument was resolved. Unfortunately for him he was brought to trial at the Consistorial Court at Hawarden and found guilty of disorderly behaviour; possibly due to the free ale provided by the wardens!

* that the Tenor bell was known variously as the 'Passing Bell', the 'Soul Bell' or the 'Forth Pare Bell' as it was rung when a parishioner was near to death to summon the priest and friends to pray for the soul of the dying person. During the more puritanical age of the Commonwealth this custom was changed to the bell being rung twelve hours after the death of the person and was known as the 'Death Knell

* that at Hawarden it was customary to hold a Belfry Service each year when the choir, clergy and ringers would go into the ringing chamber to re-dedicate the bells. The trap door would be opened for the congregation to take part in the service.


© From the leaflet published by Monad Press/Gwasg Monad November 2001