This bell is from St Helen's parish church in Ipswich and is dated to 1621. It was cast by Miles Graye I of Colchester, whose name is inscribed in the band around the top. Graye was part of a line of bell-founders based in the Essex town. They made bells for both the local area (principally Essex, Sussex, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire) and for churches as far away as Newcastle. Bells were a significant part of the early modern soundscape and middling individuals would have important moments in their lives marked by their ringing at burials, marriages, and at festivals like Easter and Christmas. The sound would also mark the passing of time in a period when very few people owned clocks.
Bell of St Helen, Ipswich (Church Bell), 1621

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Bell of St Helen, Ipswich

Bell of St Helen, Ipswich (Church Bell), 1621

This bell is from St Helen's parish church in Ipswich and is dated to 1621. It was cast by Miles Graye I of Colchester, whose name is inscribed in the band around the top. Graye was part of a line of bell-founders based in the Essex town. They made bells for both the local area (principally Essex, Sussex, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire) and for churches as far away as Newcastle. Bells were a significant part of the early modern soundscape and middling individuals would have important moments in their lives marked by their ringing at burials, marriages, and at festivals like Easter and Christmas. The sound would also mark the passing of time in a period when very few people owned clocks.

Object Type Church Bell
Year 1621
Material Cast iron
Owned By Weald and Downland Country Living Museum
Keywords hearing; worshipping; belief; community; church; birth; marriage; death; celebration; time; metal; instrument
Image Credit Bell of St Helen, Ipswich (1621) © Weald and Downland Living Museum.

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