All Saints’ Church

Oving with Pitchcott

The Bells of All Saints' Church

The bells have not been rung for many years, mainly due to the cost of replacing the bell frame. It is estimated that well over £30,000 is needed to repair the frame and turn the bells. One of the long-term projects for the church is to raise the funds to ensure that the bells of Oving are heard once again.

The western tower contains a ring of three bells in the approximate key of G natural, detail as follows:-

Bell	Diameter	Date	Founder
Tenor	2' 11"	1617	Robert Atton
2nd	2' 9 1/2"	1627	James Keene
Treble	2' 6 5/8"	1627	James Keene
Sanctus	1' 2 3/4"	1854	Charles & George Mears

The three large bells are listed in the Council for Care of Churches "Schedule of Bells for Preservation" in the Diocese of Oxford.

All bells retain their canons or supporting loops and also their cast-in wrought iron crown staples or the remnants thereof, although one side of the treble staple has corroded and broken through the "staple clump" in the centre of its canons.

All bells hang in the "quarter-turned" position and are indented to the point where they need to be turned again.

The Ring as a whole is poor for tonal quality and are not well in tune with each other. The tenor bell has been skirted, i.e. had its lip cut back to raise the pitch of its strike-note.

Their respective chief partial tones are as follows:-

Bell	Hum	Fundamental	Tierce	Quint	Nominal
	Cycles per second (Hz)	Cycles per second (Hz)	Cycles per second (Hz)	Cycles per second (Hz)	Cycles per second (Hz)
Tenor	221.5	444	529.5	639.5	872
2nd	251.5	485	602.5	723	983
Treble	277	493	635	722.5	1045.5

Bell Frame

The bell frame is of oak, was constructed and installed in 1897 and is in fair condition for its age. The frame is well tie-bolted, having a total of 8 vertical tie-bolts fitted. It is supported on three oak beams which span the tower east-west. Two of the three beams are much older than the frame and are not in sufficiently good condition for the bells to be swung "full circle".

The three bells swing side by side north-south and the bellropes fall in a clockwise circle.

The bell frame

Supporting Ironwork

All bells are supported by traditional forged straps, copses and brackets.

Clappers & Staple Units

All clappers are of wrought-iron with "baldrick" tops. All leather liners are well-worn.

The clapper staples are in the form of a flat-bottomed U-bolt which hang below the cast-in staples and pass up through the crown of the bells either side of the single canons and then on up through the headstocks.

Wheels

These are made of oak with elm and ash rims. The wheel centres are in fair condition with rims in poor condition.

Pulley Units

All are of hardwood with timber sheaves revolving on fixed metal spindles which revolve in the pulley housing. All are in poor condition.

Stays, Sliders and Runner Boards

The curved stays are of ash as are the sliders. The sliders of all bells have worn pivots. All sliders run in oak runner-boards.

Bellropes

These are all in poor condition and are pulled up out of reach of any erstwhile bellringer.

Clock Hammers

There is a clock hammer fitted to the tenor bell which is resting on the bell.

The tenor bell with its ringing fittings

Tower

The western tower is constructed of stone and is divided into three levels i.e.

ground floor ringing chamber, about 19' 6" high
first floor clock chamber, about 7' 6" high
second floor bell chamber, about 12' 10" high to the top of the east-west timber roof beam

Access to the intermediate chamber is by means of a stone spiral staircase in the south-east corner and from here to the bell chamber by way of a timber ladder.

There is no electric lighting both in either upper chamber or in the spiral staircase and there is no bell trap in the centre of the clock chamber floor.