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History |
Originally the church had three bells which were said to date from pre-Reformation times. The oldest bell was the Old Treble Bell which was inscribed:- |
| sce | petre | o | p | n |
| sancte | Petre | ora | pro | nobis |
| Saint | Peter | pray | for | us |
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and has the founders mark T.B. and was probably cast by Thomas Bell of Leicester in 1533 when the tower was built. The lettering was early fifteenth century. The second oldest bell, the Old Tenor Bell, had the date 1632 and the inscription "Jesus be our spede" and the founder's mark P.H. who was probably Paul Hutton of Congleton. The third bell, Old Second Bell, bears the initials CW., W.W., I.C., the date 1681, the inscription "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" and the founders mark W.S. and was probably cast by William Seller of York. The curate at that time was William Woods so the initials W.W. would be his initials. Queen Mary directed, in 1554, that an enquiry should be made as to certain bells which, under the commission of Edward VI, ought to have been given up but still remained in their respective chapels. Broughton was reported to have two bells and two little bells which had not been handed over. Hewitson in his book "Country Chapels" in 1870 remarks."The tower contains three bells, somewhat unmelodious in tone, but pretty strong in noise. They do a great stroke of business and when the ringers get enthusiastic, the old pile fairly shakes again. The ringers had a fit of enthusiasm when John Rawcliffe of Prospect House, Broughton, was made Mayor of Preston in 1869. In celebrating the event, they nearly tore the bells out of the steeple, broke one of the clappers and drove on for a while most gleefully, 'two in hand'. To one of the ringers, whom we met the other day, he said 'You were doing it stiff when the bell broke'. and he rejoined fervidly, 'Aye, we did rive it on that occasion'" The three old bells were re-cast and three new bells added in 1884 by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel, London. They replaced the three old bells, which between them had survived eight hundred years of ringing. Public subscription paid for the new bells together with a gift of £350 from Daniel Arkwight, J.P. of Preston. A subscription notebook was kept by the Churchwardens and contained amounts varying from 2s 6d (12.5p) to £25. There were forty four names and the total amount collected was £179. 9s. 0d. (£179.45). The new ring of bells were re-hung and the school given a holiday for the "opening of the bells". The bells were again re-cast in 1905 when the chancel was added and the gallery demolished. Prior to 1905 the bells were rung from the gallery floor. At one time six blacksmiths made up the bell ringing team with Bill Smith as captain. The bells again were re-tuned and re-hung in 1983.
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| The old bells and fittings were removed in December 1982 and were returned with new fittings in May 1983. They were re-hung and re-dedicated in June of that year. The bell ringers and parishoners did much of the labouring work in order to keep the cost down and money was raised by the bellringers themselves in various ways, a bell appeal having been opened in October 1982. There were open days in the tower and hand bell ringing, coffee mornings and sherry evenings. The total cost was £8000 |
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A quarter peal was rung on 26th December 1982 before re-hanging and a quarter peal in January 1984 to celebrate the return of the bells. Both events were recorded in the bell ringers magazine "The Ringing World". When St. Mark's Church in Preston closed down in 1978 their bell ropes were only five years old and were purchased by Broughton for £50. In 1987 new red, white, and blue ropes were purchased for £290. They were supplied by a Loughborough firm, one of only five firms in the country which still make bell ropes. |
| During November 1993 the clock face parted company with the tower and was in danger of crashing to the ground. Emergency repairs were carried out to stabilise the clock face but sufficient damage was done to the clock to warrant a major refurbishment. Within a few weeks of launching an appeal to raise the £1200 required to restore the clock to its former glory the money was raised. In fact some of the events scheduled later made sufficient funds to maintain the clock for the next few years. In June 1995 the work was completed and the clock was ticking once again. |
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Page last updated 3rd July 2003 |