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The organ and bells of the Abbey Church
There has been an organ in the church since 1834, originally in the West End gallery, but the location was moved to its present position in 1870 when the organ chamber with the vestry behind were constructed and a new instrument installed. It was built by Gray and Davison of London and blessed at special services on Sunday 10th July 1870. The Stamford Mercury reported:
Two sermons were preached and collections made after each on behalf of the new organ. In the morning, the Rev G E Pattenden read prayers, the Vicar the lessons, and the Venerable Archdeacon Trollope preached an eloquent sermon. In the evening, prayers were intoned by the Rev F Roy Dowson, the Rev the Dean of Stamford read the lessons, and a very eloquent and appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev G E Pattenden, BD, Head Master of the Boston Grammar-school, and Incumbent of the Chapel of Ease, Boston, to an overflowing congregation. The church was so full that several persons sat on benches outside the church. The organ, which is a very sweet-toned one, was ably presided over by Mr. Shad. Frost, the organist. In the course of the evening sermon the preacher alluded to the improvements that have been lately made to the church, and hoped that the same good feeling would continue to allow of other improvements being made in the fine old Abbey church. The collections amounted to nearly £18.
The instrument was restored in 1976 at a cost of £6,000 by Messrs Bishop & Son of Ipswich and again in 2003, by Nicholas Pitts, of Pinchbeck, near Spalding, Lincolnshire, when the bill was also £6,000. The money this time was raised by parishioners who answered an appeal to sponsor individual pipes of the instrument and the names of those who contributed were recorded in a special book. A total of 265 pipes were paid for in this way with donations of £4,980 while a further £1,000 was given anonymously. The refurbishment was celebrated with a rededication of the organ, appropriately held on St Cecilia's Day, Saturday 22nd November, when the blessing was performed by Canon John Warwick who had retired as vicar in 2002, in recognition of his involvement with the appeal from its inception three years before.
The specification of the present organ is as follows:
THE BELLS OF BOURNE ABBEY CHURCH
There is a peal of six bells in the tower, cast in 1729 by Rudhalls of Gloucester. They were commissioned and installed during the incumbency of the Rev William Dodd, who was vicar from 1727-56, and whose name is inscribed on the treble or first bell. His three churchwardens at that time were John Hardwicke, Lyon Faulkner and James Ley, and their names can be found on the tenor or great bell in the key of G which is reckoned to weigh 15 cwt.
There was tremendous excitement in the parish when the bells were installed and ringers were easily recruited to use them, becoming extremely efficient in a short space of time and they soon won a reputation for their skill in the district and were frequently called upon to visit other churches and ring the bells. John Hurn Dove of Cawthorpe recorded in his journal:
The ringers of the church almost immediately became celebrated. On 19th November 1738, they rang the first double peals in the new steeple at Witham-on-the-Hill and on 21st February 1745, they rang the bells of Bourne Abbey to the peals of Crown Bob (being a composition of the Oxford Treble Bob), College Pleasure and College Treble Bob, a feat rarely accomplished. In November 1799, the Bourne ringers were present at the opening of the musical peal at Glinton steeple where they took a prize. On the 1st August 1831, they won first prize at the opening of the fine-toned new peal of bells (cast by Dobson of Downham Market, Norfolk) at Witham-on-the-Hill, and they have since taken part at many re-openings of peals in their immediate neighbourhood.
The bells were completely re-hung in 1805 by Mr Cabors of Strugg's Hill, Sutterton, Lincolnshire. His work was so well known that he was reputed to have restored the greater part of the peals in this country and whose work at Bourne lasted for half a century. They were partly re-hung in 1852 but the work was carried out on the wrong principle and the vibration of the bells had a damaging effect on the tower. A church vestry meeting was held on 27th October 1864 when a proposal from the churchwardens, Thomas Mawby and Henry Bott, to have them re-hung in a correct manner, was agreed. This time, the work was entrusted to the bell founders Mears and Stainbank of London at a cost of £495, money raised by public subscription, and was completed early in the New Year although there were difficulties in collecting all of the money promised. The Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 27th January 1865:
Although the subscription recently entered into for the purpose of re-hanging these bells has not quite reached the required amount, it is anticipated that the result will be affected by an application which it is intended to make to a few gentlemen who have not yet contributed to the fund.
Campanology became a passionate interest among those who participated during the 18th and 19th centuries when visiting ringers arrived from surrounding villages to ring the bells of the Abbey Church while the Bourne team reciprocated with return visits, as was illustrated by this report from the Stamford Mercury on Friday 14th January 1859:
The annual meeting for the promotion of this science was held on Monday last. There were present, deputations from the Maxey and other societies. Various peals were rung in first rate style. From books kept by the ringers, it appears that ringing has flourished here during the 130 years that have elapsed, as will be shown by extracts:
"The names of the five ringers who rung the first double peals on the five bells in the new steeple at Witham-on-the-Hill, November 19th, 1738: 1 Thomas Smith, 2 Robert Smith, 3 Richard Woulds, 4 Luke Hand and 5 Thomas Maxey." The old steeple had fallen on a ringing day a year or two previous. By a singular coincidence, nearly a century afterwards, the Bourn ringers again took a leading part in the opening of the new peal of six bells at Witham-on-the-Hill on the first of August, 1831.
Further: "A composition of three peals called Crown Bob, taken out of Oxford Treble Bob, College Pleasure and College Treble Bob, without either bob or single, rung in Bourne steeple the 21st day of February 1745-6 by these six ringers: 1 James Spence, 2 Robert Smith, 3 Thomas Maxey, 4 Thomas Smith, 5 Edward Barnes and 6 Henry Smith."
The late Mr Charles Christopher, the elder, who died in 1836, aged 93, learned the art with these and was for many years the father of the present society. At this time, when so much is being done in church restoration, and re-placing peals of bells, public attention has been called to the state of this ancient art and it is pleasing to record that in this district there are still many eminent practitioners - fully equal to those of former years.
The society and their guests partook of an excellent dinner provided by Mr William Pearce, of the Horse and Groom Inn, and in the evening, various peals and tunes were performed on the handbells. A meeting is arranged to take place at Market Deeping very shortly.
The ringers at Bourne Abbey remained popular with other churches in the neighbourhood and by this time, campanology societies had been formed at Bourne, Maxey, Witham-on-the-Hill, Glinton and Stamford, arranging exchange visits to ring each others bells. On Monday 20th January 1873, the associated societies held their annual meeting at Witham when 27 members attended and during the day several peals were rung on the fine-toned bells of the parish church, including Plain Bob, London Single, Oxford Treble Bob and Mr James Dixson's celebrated peal of Bob Minor variations, accomplished in excellent style by five ringers from the Maxey society with Mr William Pearce from the Bourne society. At 4 pm, they all sat down to an excellent repast provided by Mrs King of the Black Dog Inn at Witham and the evening was agreeably passed with peals on the handbells, singing and recitations.
The bells at the Abbey Church were last removed in 1926 when the tower fell silent for six months after they were taken by lorry to Croydon for re-tuning and maintenance at Messrs Gillett and Johnson's foundry and a fund was opened to pay for the restoration. The clappers were re-modelled and the bells eventually re-hung on ball bearings in a dust proof housing to make the task of ringers less arduous in the future. It was reported at the time of their removal: "Over the years, the bells have been put to various uses, some of their number having done duty as the passing bell, the pancake bell, the labour bell and the curfew bell. From time immemorial, the labour bell was rung at 6 a m in the morning, except during December, and the curfew bell was rung every evening at 8 p m" - both practices which have long fallen into disuse.
The present Ringers' Gallery, pictured above, was erected at the Abbey Church within the south west tower in 1979. Previously, the bells had been rung from the floor. The system was changed to facilitate easier ringing and also to provide an exhibition and book area for the church which now exists underneath. The work was carried out by Messrs Bowman of Stamford to designs by Mr L H Bond.
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