Bell Sunday

Well, today I learned that there is such a thing as Bell Sunday, which, according to the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers falls on the Sunday closest to St Dunstan’s Day, the latter, this year being 19th May. St Dunstan was a 10th century Archbishop of Canterbury, is the patron saint of bellringers, and as a skilled metalworker, was an early experimenter with bell casting. The celebration on Bell Sunday serves to recognise that bellringers add to the national soundscape, and contribute to the life of the church – summoning people to church for regular services, or for christenings, weddings, and funerals, or simply reminding people by their regular bellringing practice, of what day it is! Oh, and taking part in ringing contests!

A bellringer's essential

The ringing chamber at All Saints

At one time more or less in the centre of Loughborough, there were four Anglican churches, the Church of All Saints; Emmanuel; Holy Trinity, and St Peter’s. The bells of All Saints are well-documented, and there can be few who don’t know that the very reason we have the country’s last remaining dedicated bellfoundry is because the Taylor family came to Loughborough specifically to refurbish the bells of All Saints, in 1839. Indeed, it was actually part of the contract between the bellfounder and the church that the bells be cast in Loughborough, hence the Taylors setting up their bellfoundry initially on Pack Horse Lane, on land leased for 20 years. Things must have worked well for the bellfounders, because when that lease was up they set up a permanent factory on Chapman Street/Freehold Street, and have remained there ever since, making new bells, and repairing old ones.

I haven’t done too much digging around looking for information about our churches, so I have only found scant details about the bells in some of our town’s other Anglican churches. The statutory listing for Emmanuel church simply says: “[The] Tower has 3 light bell openings …”

A report of the consecration of the Holy Trinity church mentions everything from the Minton floor tiles to the ceilings of pitch pine; from the varnished pitch pine seating, to the Devonshire marble altar, but says nothing of the bells other than “A pretty turret contains three bells.” Ironically, the first incumbent at Holy Trinity was the former curate of All Saints, the Rev. E. Bell!

The bellcote at St Mary's Nanpantan

The description in the statutory listing for the church of St Peter’s, on Storer Road and Fearon Street is extensive! However, no mention of the actual bells, other than the sentence “Organ chamber to south has 2-light window and ashlar gabled bell-cote to side over vestry which has flat arched windows and curving parapet.”

Slightly further afield, is the church of All Saints at Thorpe Acre with Dishley, a church which was built in 1849 to replace the mediaeval church at Dishley. Sadly, on my brief search I’ve only found scant information, again in the statutory listing, which simply mentions the “Western bellcote.”

 

I’ve mentioned the mediaeval church at Dishley, but the summary one would expect to find in the statutory listing for this as an ancient monument says, “Not currently available for this entry.” Which is a little odd … It would appear, however, that while Dishley church might once have been a scheduled ancient monument, it appears it is now a Grade II listed building, which was listed on Monday 15th March 1965. The description associated with the entry makes for interesting reading, particularly the final sentence:

“East, north and south walls of ruined aisle less church, C12/C13; rubble stone with ashlar dressings. Triple lancet east window. North wall: round headed doorway with semi circular hoodmould, plank door. South wall (from east to west) lancet, blocked round headed doorway, ogee-headed lancet, base of porch. Interior has remains of piscina, sedilia, aumbry. Slate grave slabs including those to the Bakewell family C20 slate slab commemorating Robert Bakewell on north wall. Scheduled ancient monument.”

Today as I was walking through Queen’s Park, I was lucky enough to hear a different kind of bellringing – the sonorous sounds of our spectacular carillon played so beautifully by our wonderful carilloneure!! 

I also walked close to another bell that will hopefully soon be ringing (or will it be chiming?) – where there’s a bell, there’s hope!!

Hope Bell in Queen's Park

In the meantime, I mentioned Robert Bakewell above, which has prompted me to commemorate his life and work – but that’s a blogpost for another day!!   

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Cartwright and Warner

Oh dear, here I go again, promising you a further post on holiday connections, but finding myself eager to tell you about something else first!! This one's timely, as it follows immediately from my attending a book launch - a book about the Warner family, as associated with Cartwright and Warner (Hosiers), Nanpantan Hall, the churches of All Saints, Holy Trinity, St Peter's and St Mary in Charnwood at Nanpantan, and many other places!

Now, I don't want to spoil your reading of the book (by Derrick Hewitt) so what follows are a few snippets of information, not all of them gathered from the detailed talk that Derrick gave at the launch at the church of All Saints with Holy Trinity.

The Warner family is probably best known for its partnership with the Cartwrights in a hosiery business that seems to have been rather successful! There was enough money in the business for Edward Warner to buy Quorn Hall from the Farndon family, to build The Elms and Nanpantan Hall. 

According to Mr Hewitt, Aingarth (now retirement and sheltered housing) a Victorian building, was originally associated with The Elms, and the gatehouse to the Elms, now called the Lodge to Aingarth, fronts onto Leicester Road. This was recently for sale, and there are some pictures available. Both The Elms and The Lodge to Aingarth are listed buildings.

The Lodge to Aingarth

The Lodge to Aingarth

The Lodge to Aingarth

The Elms

The Elms

The Elms

Aingarth

Nanpantan Hall, was sold by the Warners to the Pagets (William Byerley Paget to be precise), and has latterly been part of the School of Economic Science. Not sure if this is still the case, as the Echo reported in July 2016 that Nanpantan Hall has recently become a wedding venue, ironic, since W B Paget's former house, Southfields House, is now the Loughborough Register Office!

The Warner family had connections with the Church of All Saints (now the Church of All Saints with Holy Trinity), and were instrumental in the building of Holy Trinity Church and St Peters Church, as well as a memorial to Archdeacon Fearon, in the form of Fearon Hall. 

Church of All Saints (today with Holy Trinity)

Fearon Hall

The company had various factories around Loughborough, including the one on Clarence Street (now a locally listed building) and those taken over by Towles.   

The Warner family were also benefactors of the Grammar School. 

In 1851 at the Great Exhibition, Cartwright and Warner* won a medal for their women's "union dresses" - a Victorian euphemism for women's combinations  

Apparently, one member of the Cartwright family, James, lived at 151 Ashby Road, in 1911.

There were a couple of Cartwright and Warner employees, Ernest Grimbley and Charles J Hunt, who died during the first world war and are listed on the Roll of Honour website.

In 1900 a row of almshouses were created on Mill Lane, as part of the Warner legacy. Sadly, the cartouche on the side of the building is beginning to wear away, but the properties are still, I believe, inhabited by former hosiery workers. These are administered by the Warner's Almshouse Charity in Melbourne, South Derbyshire. 

Mill Lane

One wonders if George Warner of Quorn, who went off to the United States, was part of the Warner hosiery family: Derrick may have said this, but I am a little hard of hearing and missed some of the talk.

An extract from White's Gazeteer of 1877 appears on the Genuki website, giving a brief description of Loughborough and naming various people associated with the hosiery trade. The complete White's Gazeteer is also available on the internet.

The Victoria County History of Leicestershire also includes some information on Cartwright and Warner, and is complemented by information on the British History Online website.

The Barrow Upon Soar Heritage Group include a report of evidence given by inhabitants of the village in regard to increasing mechanisation of framework knitting, some of whom worked for Cartwright and Warner in Loughborough.

If you're a member of the FaceBook Group Remember Loughborough, you've probably already seen this video of Cartwright and Warner employees leaving the factory in 1900 but here it is again!

Here are two of my favourite things - coincidences: whilst looking for mention of Cartwright and Warner on Grace's Guide, I happened upon a bell foundry called called J Warner who made the initial Big Ben, which was later recast by the Whitechapel foundry! And, would you believe it, John Henry Boyer Warner, one of Edward Warner's sons, moved to Kepwick Hall in Yorkshire, and on the top of one of the hills he built - you guessed it - an obelisk (see my previous post about obelisks)! The description I've found of this on various listed building websites seems to be incorrect, listing him as a Weaver not a Warner, but interestingly, the obelisk is constructed of Portland stone - just like the ground floor of our Carillon!

Portland stone bridge and Carillon base

We were lucky enough also to see some examples of original catalogues of products from Cartwright and Warner:

Finally, that institution, beloved of many Loughborough inhabitants, the Warner School, on what was the corner of Pinfold Gate and School Street, was funded by Edward Warner in 1870, as he provided both the land and the money for it. At the time it was most unusual as it had teacher's accommodation attached: ironically, today the teacher's accommodation is all that remains of the school which was demolished in 2015 to make way for the inner relief road. It is the only remaining stone building in Loughborough apart from the Old Rectory, and the former school on Nanpantan Road (which is classed as being in Nanpantan).

Warner School prior to partial demolition

The Warner School teacher's accommodation

The Warner School teacher's accommodation with a former framework knitters building adjacent

*Stanley, Chapman and Middleton-Smith, Jane (2015) John Smedley: the establishment of a tradition in fine knitwear, c. 1750-1874 In: Textile History, Vol. 46, No.1, pp.70-98 

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2017). Cartwright and Warner. [Online] Available from: http://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2017/02/cartwright-and-warner.html [Accessed 26 February 2017]