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Bristol Rural Branch
Warmley (St Barnabas)

St Barnabas, Warmley - click for a larger version

Name or Dedication: St Barnabas

Location: Warmley, Gloucestershire

Grid Reference: ST674732

These bells were originally hung in the church of St George the Martyr, St George in Bristol, which was demolished as a dangerous structure in 1976. The seventh bell was recast at Whitechapel, the other bells had their canons removed, and all were rehung in a new welded steel frame by Arthur Fidler of Bow, London, replacing the smaller previous ring of six. The trapdoor in the floor of the Ringing Room had to be enlarged to allow the new bells through by cutting a circle into the beams of the original square opening.

The last peal was rung at St George on Wednesday, 10th Septmeber 1975 and work to remove the bells started the following day. They were rededicated at Warmley on St George's Day, Friday, 23rd April 1976, also the 125th anniversary of the dedication of St Barnabas.

Bells hung for full-circle ringing

The bells of St Barnabas, Warmley
BellWeightDiameterNoteFounder Date
13-2-21 24¾ inG Llewellins & James 1919
24-1-02 26 inF# Llewellins & James 1919
34-2-26 28 inE Llewellins & James 1879
46-0-03 31 inD Llewellins & James 1879
55-2-01 31½ inC Llewellins & James 1879
67-2-23 34½ inB Llewellins & James 1879
710-3-12  A Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd 1985
815-0-20 43½ inG Llewellins & James 1879

Source: Bell data from a document in Warmley Ringing Room, with details of the present seventh from Nick Bowden. Information from The Ringing World 3396 (pages 453–4), Bill and Rita Lampard, and Derek and Clare Wilkins-Smith.


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.