ALL SAINTS’ OLD BELL – PONTEFRACT

ALL SAINTS OLD BELL

Around the year 1865 the bell was removed from the tower of All Saints. The bell was the last of a peal of twelve, the others, it is thought, having been removed during the Civil War.

In 1707 the Rev. F. Drake, who was the vicar at that time, blocked an attempt to remove the bell to St. Giles. he called a Vestry meeting of all the inhabitants of the parish, people of Knottingley amongst them, and a large majority voted against the removal. The bell was retained until it became necessary to remove it because it was damaged. The bell was broken up and the metal incorporated into a new peal which was cast at the Loughborough Bell Foundry. This foundry still belongs to the Taylor Family.

Because of the interesting inscriptions on the bell, Indian-ink  drawings were made of them which were sold at the time for six shillings each. Unfortunately, a good copy of the inscriptions was not made so it is most probable that the facsimiles are incorrect to some extent.

It is thought that the first line of the inscription would have read:

H.I.C. Est Tuba Dei. (Here is the trumpet of God).

The second line reading:

I.H.C. Nomen ei. (The man Christ Jesus is His name).

Amongst the inscriptions were Tudor badges and various diverse initials, also the date, 1598. A study of these led to the supposition that the bell had been given to the church by one of the Talbot family. George Talbot is thought to have built New Hall after he was granted the land of the Cluniac Priory of St. John by Edward VI. The letters H and C on the bell-founders shield occur frequently on bells in south Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. They are often found close to the inscription of a rose.

The bell may have been cast at the bell-foundry of Henry Oldfield of Nottingham.

Researched from the Pontefract Advertiser dated 7.10.1871.