*Location:

   SS.James & Basil Parish Church
   Wingrove Road North
     at Fenham Hall Drive
   Fenham,
     Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear
       (Northumberland), England
   OS Ref. NZ 225 656
   LL: N 54.98430, W 1.64884

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Player:

   (unknown)

*Contact:

   The Revd James McGowan
   T: 07485 055178
   E: vicar@jamesbasilfenham.org DOTuk
   - or -
   Church Wardens
   T: 07365867816 
   E: jamesandbasil@gmail.com
   - or -
   Simon Davies-Fidler, Music Director
   E: jsandbs.music@gmail.com

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Dedicated 6 June 1931.
   Added semitones: minor 2d & its octave,
   sharp 4th & its octave, flat 7th;
   keyboard in the ringing room.  Octave
   on the bass bell (reported both as F
   and as F#) also hung for full-circle
   ringing.
   Practice clavier in the ringing room.

*Technical data:

   Traditional chime (baton keyboard) of 17 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is F  in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     C G   /    NONE  
   Transposition is up  5 semitone(s), i.e., from C to F 
   There are five added semitones
   There is an identical practice console
   The whole instrument was installed in 1930
     with bells made by Whitechapel (Mears and Stainbank)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: R8    
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2020

The ringers' page on the Church Website describes the bells, but former photos have been dropped.  There is an audio clip (0:13) of the octave in rounds, from the North East Website.  The Website claims to offer a contact form, but access to it is "unauthorised".
The Wayback Machine captured the ringers' page from the previous versions of the church Website.  There is a photo of the chiming bells and their roller-bar transmission, and one of the ringing room showing the clock case and the chime keyboard.

A Bellringer's Guide to the Bells of the North-East of England has a small photo of the building, centered on the massive but low corner bell tower.  There is an extensive architectural description, and a detailed early history of change ringing, but almost no mention of the chiming bells.  They are listed (and numbered from top to bottom) with weights and notes.

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Whitechapel bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all British Isles chimes by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all British Isles chimes by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all British Isles chimes by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in England.

   This page was built from the database on 14-Oct-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2020/12/31
   and on technical data last updated on 2020/12/31