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Wotton-under-Edge Branch
Dursley (St James the Great)

St James the Great, Dursley - click for a larger version

Name or Dedication: St James the Great

Location: Dursley, Gloucestershire

Grid Reference: ST756981

These bells were recast from an earlier ring of six originally cast by Roger Purdue I in 1639. Purdue's treble was destroyed when the tower fell in 1699, and a new one was purchased from the Rudhall foundry in 1711.

They were recast into the heavier present ring of eight in E by John Taylor & Co. in 1904.

Bells previously hung for full-circle ringing

The bells of St James the Great, Dursley
BellWeightDiameterNoteFounder Date
14-3-12 27¼ inG Thomas Mears II 1824
25-0-04 29¾ inF# Thomas Mears II 1824
35-3-16 30¼ inE Thomas Mears II 1824
46-1-00 31¼ inD Thomas Mears II 1824
57-0-00 33¼ inC Thomas Mears II 1824
67-3-14 34¾ inB Thomas Mears II 1824
79-2-00 37¾ inA Thomas Mears II 1824
812-3-14 42¼ inG Thomas Mears II 1824

Source: Bell data from a document in Dursley Ringing Room including weights as recorded by John Taylor & Co. prior to recasting in 1904. Further information from "Church Bells of Gloucestershire" (Mary Bliss & Frederick Sharpe, 1986) and "Dursley and its Neighbourhood" (Revd John Henry Blunt, 1877).


Where the exact weight of a bell is known, it is given in the traditional way using the British imperial units of Hundredweight, Quarters and Pounds (cwt-qtr-lb) in which there are 28 pounds in a quarter, four quarters in a hundredweight, and 20 hundredweight in a ton (one hundredweight is equal to approximately 50.8 kilograms). However, if only an approximate or calculated weight is known, it is given to the nearest quarter of a hundredweight.

A bell's diameter is measured across its mouth (open end) at the widest point and is given in inches (to the nearest quarter of an inch), one inch being equal to approximately 2.54 centimetres.