But there were other expenses, belonging to the general charge, which, being irregular but frequently recurrent, were troublesome to the wardens and Eighteen, whose business it was to lay such a rate annually on the inhabitants of the parish as should cover the outlay. Such was the repair of the church roof, which was often needed; even the moss (which it was the custom to stuff within the rigging to arrest and absorb the wet which ran down from the ill-fitting slates) required frequent replenishing. Accordingly, after sundry payments made for "mossing church" or "mending slates," the Eighteen entered into a contract, in 1686, with two Grasmere wallers for the upkeep of the whole of the church roof, except the choir, for nine years, for the sum of 7s. 6d. a year. In 1704 one William Grigg obtained the contract for three years at the same rate, and undertook to keep the roof in a sound state "as to Slatt and Moss (excepting upon extraordinary Storms whereby the roof shall suffer much Damage which shall be referred to the Eighteen the Easter following)." Grigg, however, made no bad-weather demands, and it was only in 1714, a year after the contract had been transferred to Edward Hird, that "a violent storme" caused the spending of 18s. beyond the stipulated 7s. 6d. The parson and Eighteen then (1715) transferred the contract to Stephen Haukrigge. The sum was perhaps too small, for in 1718 John Warriner secured 8s. 6d. on the contract. "An extraordinary Storme" in 1719 cost only an extra 3s. The contract, which afterwards rose to 11s. 6d., had ceased by 1732, and odd sums for repair occur from time to time, such as 13s. in 1733 and the same in 1734, with 3s. 3d. for slates and carriage. But little was apparently done, and by 1809 the roof seems to have been in a bad condition, for the ominous item occurs "To cleaning Snow out of Church 2s. 0d." It was radically repaired in 1814, when £37 1s. 11d. was spent on the slates, £11 on timber, which was paid to Lady Fleming, the wood being doubtless felled in Bainriggs, and the extraordinary sum of £1 13s. 6d. on ale to the workmen and "letting" the contract.
The Bells.
Grasmere's pleasant chime of three bells is undoubtedly an old one. The metal of the existing bells that sends its resonance through the vale may be that of the first bells, though robbed of antique inscription or mark by recasting. It is quite possible that at the Restoration there still hung in the tower the Pre-Reformation triad, stamped with an invocation to some saint in Longobardic characters or with a quaint inscription in Black Letter; for the Rev. H. Whitehead discovered in Cumberland many an ancient bell that had escaped confiscation and the melting-pot in the dark days of Henry VIII.'s ruthless robberies and his successor's drastic commission.[144]
They were then, however, in a bad state, and the churchwardens immediately proceeded to have them set in order, as the accounts show.
It is clear from the items that one of the wardens, Michael Knott, rode to Cockermouth in search of a bell-founder, and that one was procured whose name was John Langsha; also that he came over to Grasmere and did the work there.
Now Mr. Whitehead considered that there was no bell-foundry in Cockermouth at this date. When its three bells were recast in 1673-4 the expenses of the bell-founders' journey were paid, and they apparently dug a pit in the churchyard and cast the great bell there.[145] Such a method was resorted to when the remoteness of the church or the badness of the roads made the carriage of the bells a difficulty.[146]
Who, then, was John Langsha? Until more evidence is forthcoming we must suppose him to have been an itinerant founder. He or the firm he worked for may have had head-quarters in some town of Cumberland, and travelled thence to wherever they were called. According to Mr. Whitehead, there was a bell-foundry of some repute at Penrith in the seventeenth century. The account books do not show how this renovation of the Grasmere bells was paid for. The wardens paid John his "earnest," and a small item that remained after he left; otherwise the only sum of consequence that appears is 9s. for two new bell-ropes.
Only casual expenses in connection with the bells are given after this for some time. For instance, in 1669 the item occurs, "in drinke when we did turne midlmost bell," 2s. 6d. But the presentment of 1707 certainly discloses the serious condition of one bell, which was then cracked; and the reliance of the wardens on the "discretion" of their rector was misplaced, as nothing was done. There would seem to have been no good founder at this time in the adjacent counties; for when the bells of Brigham were renewed in 1711, under the incumbency of Roger Fleming (another son of Sir Daniel), a Gloucester firm of founders was actually called to the rescue. The bells, however, went no further than Kendal, where there was, adjacent to the church, a bell-house which could be hired, and there the Gloucester man superintended the casting of them.[147]
At Grasmere, procrastination prevailed. The wardens, in 1723, admitted "The Bells are not firme & in good order, but they are agreed to make them good as soon as possible." In 1727 they again admitted the bells to be out of order, but the ropes (it was declared) were "good & firm." In 1729 the bells still waited to be repaired "upon a convenient opportunity." In 1731 the great plunge into expense was at last taken. "One of our bells is in good order, The Other two are recasting at York & the ropes are making, & everything hastning forwards to have them in good order." Accordingly, the accounts for 1732 show the enormous outlay incurred of £40 3s. 91⁄2 d., and next year of £49 3s. "Towards Casting the Bells and other Charges;" besides £3 14s. 5d. for "Charges for a Ringing loft."
It is of interest to note that the Grasmere folk, in their bell troubles, returned to their old ecclesiastical centre at York, whence their first bells would come, and where there were good founders. The inscriptions on the two largest bells, in an ornamental border running round the crown, are as follows:—