Drayton St Leonard bells have rung out across the village and fields for over 500 years; Sunday by Sunday for services, and also for weddings and special occasions.

The earliest mention of bells was in 1552 when there were “3 belles yn the steple” . The oldest bell still bears the date 1470, and was cast by William Chaimberlain of the London foundry, and was probably hung in the church at that date. It was the heaviest of the three, weighing just over 7cwt. It is not known when the other two in existence in 1552 were cast. It is likely that the church continued with three bells up to 1884, although two of these early bells must have been either replaced or re-cast in the seventeenth century, as they bear the dates 1625 and 1603, and were cast by Ellis Knight I and Henry Knight I respectively.

By 1884 all three were reportedly cracked, and were sent away to the Mears and Stainbank Church Bell Foundry in Whitechapel where they were recast to provide three new bells. At the same time, three new, lighter bells were cast.  An oak frame to hold this new ring of six was made – it was slightly larger than the internal size of the tower and therefore had to rest on the west wall of the church.

The tower is unusual being a largely independent timber structure within the west end of the church. All towers move when bells are rung – however the movement here was not ideal because the total weight of the six bells was rather more than the structure was comfortably able to withstand.

Over the next 130 years, the consequent movement of the tower made the bells challenging to ring, a problem which was exacerbated in the summer months due to shrinkage of the timber, and various attempts were made to stiffen the structure. Latterly we were only able to ring 5 of our 6 bells in the summer. In addition to this, the bell fittings were reaching the end of their life and needed replacing.

In 2013 a Structural Engineer’s Report came up with some recommendations to stiffen the tower.  Whitechapel Bell Foundry drew up a specification to remove the existing bells from the tower and re-cast them to a lighter, more tuneful ring of 6, and re-hang them on new fittings with a new rope guide.  Amazingly, they had in their store the original stamps that were used for the inscriptions all those years ago, and were able to use them on the new bells!

The old bells were rung for the last time on Easter Sunday 2016; the new bells were cast on 22nd April 2016; and were hung in the tower at the beginning of July, ringing out for the first time on 12th July.

Bell	Details	Weight
Treble	Domine labia nostra aperias/Ex Dono Joannis C Willoughby Barronetti./M et S/ MDCCCLXXXIV (God, you open our lips)The gift of the Emmett family. Recast 2016 Whitechapel	2-3-1
2	Os nostrum annuntiabit laudem tuam / Ex Dono Abraham Deane. / M et S/ MDCCCLXXXIV (Our mouths will sing your praises)The gift of the Hayter family. Recast 2016 Whitechapel	2-3-27
3	Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine / In memoriam Henrici Betteridge /Vidua et liberi moerentes / M et S/ MDCCCLXXXIV (God, make your people safe / In memory of Henry Betteridge/ From his grieving widow and children)The gift of Christopher and Hilarie Rogers. Recast 2016 Whitechapel	3-1-14
4	Our hope is in the Lorde 1625/ Recast M and S.  MDCCCLXXXIVOur village gave me voice. Recast 2016 Whitechapel	3-2-25
5	Benedic hereditati tuae / Henri Knight made me 1603 / Recast M and S.  MDCCCLXXXIV (Bless your inheritance)The gift of the Richards family. Recast 2016 Whitechapel	4-1-19
Tenor	Sancta Katerina Ora Pro Nobis / Recast Mears and Stainbank. A.D.  MDCCCLXXXIV/ Arthur J. Williams Rector. / Henry D. Betteridge, / Richard D. Buswell. (Saint Catherine, pray for us)The gift of David and Catherine Lane. Recast 2016 Whitechapel	6-0-19