The 1702 work was almost certainly linked to the installation of a new ring of six bells in 1704, some of which were cast in 1703 so the order would have been placed in 1703 or perhaps 1702. This is the second snippet from my work looking at graffiti in the church. Definitions of graffiti vary from being furtive and illicit marks on a wall to being any historic mark drawn or written on the fabric. I’ve erred on the side of including any deliberate marks that seem to signify something, as opposed to marks made by the building process such as scratches to help key in plaster. Some of the marks in the tower are definitely not furtive; they were clearly intended to be seen, and were almost certainly officially sanctioned, probably to record the date when significant work was done.
On the bell chamber roof the main north-south beam is carved: ‘IB 1702’ and the east-west beam ‘1613 TM TB’. No doubt this would be to record when work was done on the roof.
The 1702 work was almost certainly linked to the installation of a new ring of six bells in 1704, some of which were cast in 1703 so the order would have been placed in 1703 or perhaps 1702.
‘IB’ might have been a church warden who commissioned the work but we don’t know who the wardens were in 1702. In 1703 they were John Hawes and Robart Hunt, neither of whom is ‘IB’, but someone else might have been a warden in the previous year.
The 1613 inscription suggests work was also done then, around a century and a half after the tower was built, and some ninety years before more work was needed in 1702.
Again, ‘TM’ and ‘TB’ might well have been the wardens who commissioned the work, but we don’t know who the wardens were at the time. It would not be unusual for the names of two wardens to appear, as they do on the 1703/4 bells. And in any case, All Saints already had three wardens by 1613.
On the tower parapet wall ‘RC 1788’ is carved next to the central crenellation. It’s easy to miss, thanks to 250 years of lichen on the stone surface. The block on which the inscription is carved is different from the other stone in the wall, suggesting it was chosen for ease of carving, and being built into the wall suggests the work included some rebuilding.
It might be tempting to speculate that the crenellation was added then but there is no evidence to support that. Crenellation on church towers was already popular when the tower was built around 1450 so it could well have been crenellated from the start, in which case the 1788 work would just have been a rather substantial repair.
‘RC’ might have been Robert Cruttwell. He was one of the church wardens in 1789-80 so he might also have been in 1788 – but we don’t know. John Clemetson’s book lists three wardens in 1786, two in 1787, none in 1788 and then three different names in 1789, including Robert. So it’s quite possible that Robert was warden when the tower masonry was repaired, and even if he wasn’t, perhaps because no one had been elected, in which case he could have been acting as warden.
If you are interested in this work this work on graffiti, or you know of any graffiti that I might have missed, then please get in touch with me: 0118 978 5520 or john@jaharrison.me.uk
John Harrison (October 2025)
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