The Bells of St Mary's Church, Great Bircham, Norfolk

The bells are hung in an oak frame dating from 1878, strengthened with steel tie rods added in 1923. Below the frame are the original mediaeval beams.

The ring is unusual in that the bells are hung "anticlockwise" i.e. with the order reversed to that found in most other towers

Bell	Detail	Weight*	Diameter
Treble	no inscription and a rough casting, the design and style indicate that the bell was cast in a sandpit in the churchyard or local barn, probably by a travelling bell founder called Charles Newman - working out of Blakeney - some time in the 1690s	3 1/4 cwt.	25 1/2 ins.
2nd	no inscription - very rough casting, by the same founder as the Treble, and most likely at the same time	4 1/4 cwt.	28 ins.
3rd	Previously inscribed "John Draper made me, 1635" recast by John Warner, London 1878	5 1/2 cwt.	30 3/4 ins.
4th	Previously inscribed "Tho. Newman fecit, 1720" recast by Mears & Stainbank London 1923	7 1/4 cwt.	33 3/4 ins.
Tenor	Previous inscribed "Charles Newman made mee, 1700" recast by Mears & Stainbank London 1923	9 cwt. 17lbs.	37 1/2 ins.

* weights are measured in the original Imperial system. cwt. is short for 'hundredweight' (c = 100 in latin), 1cwt. = approx. 51 kg,

so our largest bell, the Tenor, weighs 465 kg static. When it is swinging at normal ringing speed it exerts a force of 4 times its weight on the frame and mechanism - nearly 2 tonnes.

Note: The bill from the Whitechapel Bell Founders (as Mears & Stainbank) for the recasting of the 4th and Tenor and all their fittings is for a very reasonable £79. 19s. 3d. - but it was 1923!