The Bells of St John the Baptist Loughton
The church of St John the Baptist was built in 1846 by Sydney Smirke RA FGS FSA (1797 – 1877).
According Pevsner it was something of a surprise that Smirke built his yellow-brick church in the Neo-Norman style that was fashionable at the time.
We think you will agree it very pretty. The church was enlarged in 1877 the year that Smirke died.
The bell tower of St John the Baptist is home to 8 bells cast by John Warner and Sons in 1874 (Deedes Walters). According to Dove bells 1 & 2 were cast in 1874 whilst 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, were cast in 1867.
The business was established by a Quaker family in 1739 and continued for two centuries in the same family till 1949 when it closed. However it wasn’t until 1788 that John Warner and Sons started making bells (citation) possibly their most famous bell is Big Ben the ‘Great Bell’ of the ‘Great Clock of Westminster’.
Click here to view a larger version of the photo above.
Inscriptions.
| Bell 1 | GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST |
| Bell 2 | ON EARTH PEACE |
| Bell 3 | GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN |
| Bell 4 | ST. FELIX |
| Bell 5 | ST. NICHOLAS |
| Bell 6 | ST. ANNE |
| Bell 7 | ARBUTHNOT EMMA |
| Bell 8 | ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST |
A pdf copy of The Church Bells of Essex Bell of Essex can be found on the webpage of the Whiting Society of Ringers.
Bells in the tower of St John the Baptist, Loughton
by Adrian Wallis
Bells in the tower of St John the Baptist, Loughton
by Adrian Wallis
Bells in the tower of St John the Baptist, Loughton
by Adrian Wallis
Bell tower door – through which you ascend to the ringing chamber.
Tolling the tenor bell 9th September 2022 mourning the death of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
If you look closely you can see that one side of the clapper – the part that strikes the bell – is wearing a little leather jacket, or ‘muffle’.
Fully muffled bells (on both sides, except for the tenor which you can hear here) are usually reserved for the death of the Monarch, the Bishop of the diocese, or the incumbent Vicar.