All Saints' Church Hertford

The Bells

You can hear the bells and see the ringers in action in these videos on Social Media.

The earliest record of bells in All Saints was in 1552 when there were five bells. In 1674, the largest of these was recast into four smaller bells and creating the first octave in Hertfordshire. These bells were all recast in 1771 by Pack and Chapman of London into a ring with a tenor of 21 cwt 3 qtrs 9 lbs in E flat. In 1791, the number of bells was increased to ten when two trebles were cast by John Brian of Hertford. These bells were lost when the church was destroyed by fire.

The present ring of ten bells was cast by Mears and Stainbank (later becoming the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) in London in 1907. The first six bells were given by Mr T J Sworder and the back three given by Mrs Du Pre Thornton (FDPT). The inscriptions are dedications as follows: Treble = Thomas SWORDER, 2 = Frances Jane SWORDER, 3 = Frances Mary BUTLER (nee SWORDER), 4 = Edward Robert SWORDER and 5 = Frederick William SWORDER.

Details of the bells

All the bells bear the inscription "MEARS AND STAINBANK, FOUNDERS, LONDON, 1907"

The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London was believed to be the oldest manufacturing business in England when it finally closed in 2017

Bell weights are denoted in hundredweights (cwts) quarters (qtrs) and pounds (lbs). The metric equivalent of the weight of the tenor is 1721 kg, or approximately 16 average sized men.

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