Bristol Rural Branch
Compton Greenfield (All Saints)

Name or Dedication: All Saints

Location: Compton Greenfield, Gloucestershire

Grid Reference: ST570822

The large bell is hung for full-circle ringing with an elm headstock on plain bearings in an 18th Century oak one-bell frame. It has been quarter-turned and its had canons removed, both tasks probably being undertaken at the same time. This work may have followed a period when the bell was unringable as there is evidence that it has been clapper-chimed in the past. Although now ringable, it is currently only chimed.

Also in the belfry is a small bell hung for swing-chiming with a counter-weighted iron chiming lever. It is hung on plain bearings between two parallel beams attached to one side of the main frame. Nothing is known about when it was cast or by whom as it bears no inscription. Both bells are used regularly, and are rung from the ground floor of the tower.

Bells hung for full-circle ringing

Additional bells

Source: Inspected personally 20th September 2006.

Where the exact weight of a bell is known, it is given in the traditional way using the British imperial units of Hundredweight, Quarters and Pounds (cwt-qtr-lb) in which there are 28 pounds in a quarter, four quarters in a hundredweight, and 20 hundredweight in a ton (one hundredweight is equal to approximately 50.8 kilograms). However, if only an approximate or calculated weight is known, it is given to the nearest quarter of a hundredweight.

A bell's diameter is measured across its mouth (open end) at the widest point and is given in inches (to the nearest quarter of an inch), one inch being equal to approximately 2.54 centimetres.

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