On 15 Aug 2004, at 17:29, Mrs. Forrest wrote:

Peter's analysis of the bells' slogans and history lists them by age but their
farewell appearance lists them by note from highest to lowest.

To respond just to this one bit, I think it is normal to list bells from highest to lowest -- they are numbered 1 up to n. What is at least slightly unusual, I think, is to give all the bells names. It is perhaps less uncommon for the tenor bell to have a name -- witness Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament, or Great Paul(?) at St Paul's Cathedral. or Great Tom at Christ Church in Oxford, although at least some o these are not hung for ringing, but only chimed.

Churches, or at least the towers, not infrequently have a plaque recording the inscriptions (sic, not 'slogans' please!) which can be found on the bells. In St Ives the plaque records the inscriptions on the old bells that were destroyed when an aeroplane crashed into the tower in 1918.

I also have a reproduction of a small booklet of circa 1910 bearing the title:

Bluntisham-cum-Earith
A Short Account of the Bells
of St Mary's Church
by
The Rev. H. Sayers, MA
Rector

which I wonder might be the original of Woolcott's _History of the Bells of Fenchurch St Paul_? It lists the eight bells and the inscriptions on them.

Treble (note F). TO . THE . GLORY . OF . GOD . AND . IN . LOVING .
MEMORY . OF . THOMAS . EDWARDS
MCMX
25 ins. 3 cwt 1 qtr 18 lb.

No. 2. (note E). QUINQUE . NATU . MAJORIBUS . SUM . ADDITA . MCMX .
JOHN . R . WORMSLEY . & . ALFRED . KING . CHURCHWARDENS
26 ins. 3 cwt 3 qtr 21 lb.

No. 3. (note D). WILLm . DOBSON . FOUNDER . DOWNHAM . NORFOLK . 1832
28 ins. 4 cwt 1 qtr 19 lb.

No. 4. (note C) MILES + GRAYE + MADE ME + 1632
29 ins. 4 cwt 2 qtr 14 lb.

No. 5. (note B flat). THOMAS NEWMAN MADE ME 1717 RECAST MCMX
31 ins. 6 cwt 0 qtr 9 lb.

No. 6. (note A). THOMAS SKEELES, THO. HOVSON, CHURCHWARDENS 1716
34 ins. 7 cwt 0 qtr 24 lb.

No. 7 (note G). GEO. KEY & ARON BROWN, JUNER [i.e. junior].
CHURCHWARDENS 1801. ROBT. TAYLOR, ST NEOTS, FOUNDER
38 1/2 ins. 9 cwt 2 qtr 14 lb.

Tenor (note F). GLORIA . IN . EXCELSIS . DEO.
HENRY . SAYERS . RECTOR . & . ARTHUR . DAVID . GODFREY . SOMETIME
. WARDEN . GAVE . ME . MCMX
42 ins. 13 cwt 2 qtr 10 lb.

simon