Architecture, Fabric & Bells

Architectural Details

A glossary of technical terms can be found here: Glossary

The church is generally constructed in random rubble stonework with dressed stone quoins, mouldings and tracery, with plinths to the north and south aisles. All the roofs are leaded.

The tower: The tower dates to the 14^th century. Its buttresses and external walls are in more or less regular courses of ashlar. There is a quatrefoil frieze on the upper level below the parapets with four large corner gargoyles depicting feline beasts. There is a figure of a boy holding up a buttress on the west face of the tower, dressed in early 16^th-century costume, although its date is unknown.The upper sections of the tower were repaired by Pugin. The four pinnacles above the parapets were replaced in 1907-8 after the earlier ones became unsafe. There was a spire, probably constructed in the later Middle Ages, but it was struck by lightning in 1783 and had to be taken down. Parapets were re-erected in 1907-8. The four pinnacles above the parapets were replaced at the same time, after the earlier ones became unsafe. There was a major restoration of the tower in 1950, when metal was used for pinning, and a lightning conductor was installed.

Porches: Constructed by Pugin in 1844-6. The north porch is the main entrance, with a vestry with a fireplace constructed above it.

Nave and aisles: Date to the 14^th century, although the aisles were rebuilt in the 15^th century. The fabric was heavily restored by Pugin 1844-6 and the roofs replaced. In the nave, the roof is supported by arch braces supported on corbels shaped like angels holding shields. All window tracery and glass were replaced. There was a transept chapel to the north, which no longer survives. It had a crocketed gable surmounted by a cross and a window with decorated tracery, as described by inhabitants Wymeswold in the 1840s.

Clerestory: Probably 15^th century in origin but heavily restored by Pugin. External figurative carvings of heads of kings and queens on the clerestory were replaced with exact replicas in 2002-3.

Chancel: An Early English chancel appears to have been rebuilt in the 15^th century. The chancel roof, along with other repairs to that part of the church were completed in the 1840s at the cost of the Lay Rectors, Trinity College, Cambridge. Pugin designed the ceiling, with gold stars on a blue background, and textual extracts from the Gloria in Excelsis.

For a detailed study of the building materials of St Mary’s, and their origins, see:

Richard Ellison, 'The Stones of St Mary's'.

Bells

The earliest record of bells in Wymeswold is in the ‘Agreement for the regulation of the common fields’ c. 1425, in which the inhabitants were forbidden to remove certain produce between bell and bell i.e. at night. The earliest record of ringing is an entry in Wymeswold Constables’ Accounts for paying the ringers for ringing the bells for the coronation of Charles II in 1662.

We only begin to get a fuller picture of ringing from the mid-19^th century onwards. At that time a daily bell rang at 5 a.m. in the summer months and 6 a.m. in the winter, for which the ringer was paid £1-10-0 per annum. In the ringing chamber there is a painted board entitled ‘The whole peal on Six bells being 720 changes on the principle of Plain Bob’ and dated 7^th December 1858 followed by the figures of what exactly was rung. This piece of ringing would have taken the ringers 25 minutes to ring, without stopping. The ringers of the 1850s were clearly proud of their achievement to have had this board painted to record the event.

The term ‘peal’ which previously had various meanings gradually became standardised to mean a set length of ringing (5040 changes) which usually takes between 2 hours 40 minutes and 3 hours and is rung by six ringers, one for each bell, without stopping. There have been 16 full peals (in the modern standard sense) rung on the bells (the first in 1901 and the most recent in 1996).

The bells continue to ring every week in Wymeswold, both for a weekly practice for the ringers and to call people to worship on Sundays.

There is currently a ring of six bells, all cast by Thomas Osborn of Downham Market in 1795. These replaced a former ring of four bells. An agreement between Thomas Hedderley, bellfounder of Nottingham and the churchwardens, dated 4^th August 1742, shows that the third bell of the original peal had been recast at that time.  The new bells were well-received in Wymeswold as a letter from Thomas Osbon, dated October 2nd, 1795, motes that ‘it gives me much pleasure to hear the bells give general Satisfaction.’

In 1937, the bells were rehung in a new frame and fittings and retuned by Taylors of Loughborough. In 2024, the bearings were all replaced to ensure they continue to be ringable for the future.

The details of the bells are as follows (weight given in CWT-QTR-LBS)

I. Treble. ‘INTACTUM SILEO PERCUTE DULCE CANO 1795 THOMAS OSBORN DOWNHAM MARKET, NORFOLK FOUNDER 1795’ [Untouched I am silent/ strike me I sing sweetly]. Note D#. Weight 5-1-27. Diameter 29.63 inches.

II. ‘CUM VOCO VENITE 1795 THOMAS OSBORN FECIT’ [Come when I call 1795 Made by Thomas Osborn] Note C#. Weight 4-3-4. Diameter 30.13 inches.

III. THOMAS OSBORN FOUNDER DOWNHAM MARKET, NORFOLK 1795. Note B. Weight 6-0-6. Diameter 32.38 inches.

IV. BEG YE OF GOD YOUR SOULS TO SAVE BEFORE I CALL YOU TO THE GRAVE T. OSBORN DOWNHAM NORFOLK FOUNDER 1795. Note A#. Weight 7-1-9. Diameter 34.26 inches.

V. OUR VOICES SHALL WITH JOCUND SOUND MAKE HILLS AND VALLIES ECHO ROUND 1795 T. OSBORN DOWNHAM NORFOLK FECIT 1795 [Made by T. Osborn Downham Norfolk]. Note G#. Weight 9-1-2. Diameter 37.5 inches.

VI. Tenor. 1795 T. OSBORN DOWNHAM NORFOLK FECIT 1795 [Made by T. Osborn Downham Norfolk]. Note F#. Weight 11-3-9. Diameter 41.88 inches.