The Church that Moved
The Parish and Church of Saint Giles, Lincoln

This little book was the first with which I was involved and is, in fact, an expansion and revision of A Brief Outline of the History of St Gile’s Parish, Lincoln which was published in 1947. It was published I believe in 1985 and is now sold out.

The Lincolnshire Hotchpotch Series

The following three books have been published in the Hotchpotch series.

A Lincolnshire Hotchpotch appeared in 1989 and was reprinted in 1998. It is now out of print. A Second Lincolnshire Hotchpotch was published in 1990 and is also out of print.

A Third Lincolnshire Hotchpotch was published in 1999 and is available in bookshops or by post from me at £4.50 per copy. A contribution towards the cost of postage and packing would be appreciated.

Although the first two books in the series are out of print some copies may still be available from retailers. I may be able to suggest sources for anyone wishing to obtain a copy. I do have a few slightly damaged copies of A Second Lincolnshire Hotchpotch which could be made available at half price!

All three books contain items of Yellow Belly Humour, Ghost Stories, Witches, Remedies, Epitaphs, People and Places. David Robinson OBE in the final paragraph of the Foreword to the first volume said ‘Hotchpotch’ means I find, a medley of ingredients. ‘Hutch’ as a dialect word on its own means to jog along or trot slowly. So here is an entertaining collection to enjoy at your leisure. Steve Race in his foreword to the second volume commented "that’s the nice thing about this book; you never know what to believe. Was it really her dislike of our local M.P., which prevented Queen Victoria from dismounting from her train at our station in 1851? Or was she just feeling 'mardy' that day? Another question is there really a prison cell in the very heart of Lincoln Cathedral?"

The cover design of all three books is by David Vale and constitutes a montage of places and objects in the county. David has also provided several other illustrations including in volume two a strip cartoon history of Lincoln. In the third volume Harold Addison illustrated several items of Yellow belly Humour.

The following pages are taken from A Third Lincolnshire Hotchpotch to give a flavour of the contents of all three volumes.

Some extracts from the 'Lincolnshire Hotchpotch' series can be found here.

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL
A HISTORY OF THE BELLS, BELL RINGERS AND BELL RINGING

There have been bells at Lincoln Cathedral since its consecration in 1092 and the rules for ringing them survive from circa 1260. The names of those who rang the bells for the daily services are recorded from l283 and the earliest surviving Company of Bell Ringers in the country is that of Lincoln Cathedral which can trace its foundation to 1595 although not formally constituted until 1612. All this is recorded in this book, which, although technically a second edition of the book first published in 1987, has been considerably expanded to include a comprehensive study of bell ringing in a diocese, which, before the Reformation, stretched from the Humber to the Thames.

The book contains a total of 128 pages with 53 illustrations including 19 in colour. The book is printed on good quality art paper so that the illustrations reproduce well. The card cover is also printed in colour. It is perfect bound and sewn.

As the reviewer said in the Ringing World of 11 August 2000: 'there is a wealth of material...[and this is a book] that is well worth having on the shelves of anyone interested in church bells and the wider background.

The first edition of this book was published in 1987 to mark the 375 anniversary of the Cathedral Company of Bell Ringers. This second edition, which was published in 2000, has been considerably revised and expanded.

CONTENTS

1. Bells in the early Christian Church
2. Bells and the building of the towers at Lincoln Cathedral
3. The maintenance of the bells
4. Religious change and bells

PART ONE. The Use of Church Bells in the Diocese of Lincoln.

Chapter One - The Use of Bells in the pre-Reformation Church

1. Bell ringing at the first cathedral in Lincoln
2. The Cathedral timetable
3. The bell ringers
4. The appointment of bell ringers at Lincoln cathedral
5. Payment of the bell ringers
6. The night watch and curfew
7. Customs, legends and superstitions
8. Bell related income and expenditure
9. Secular bell ringing
10. Bell ringing on the eve of the reformation

Chapter Two -Protestant ascendancy and the secularisation of bell ringing

1. Dissolution of the monasteries and the use of bells
2. Bells and the later Tudors
3. Secular bell ringing and the introduction of change ringing
4. The patent ringers at Lincoln Cathedral
5. The cathedral company of ringers
6. Bells and turmoil
7. 'Political' and 'Pleasure' bell ringing
8. The effects of the English civil war and bell founding

Chapter Three - Decline and Reform

1. Bell ringing in the eighteenth century
2. Competitive bell ringing
3. The introduction of peal ringing
4. Ringers rules
5. Church and bells in the eighteenth century
6. Nineteenth century reform
7. Bell ringing during the twentieth century

PART TWO- The bells of Lincoln Cathedral

Chapter Four -'Great Tom'
Chapter Five - Quarter Bells.
Chapter Six - Saint Hugh's Tower.
Chapter Seven - Saint Mary's Tower.
Chapter Eight - The Lady Bells.
Chapter Nine - The 'Closing' Bell.
APPENDIX A : The Ordinances, Schedule and Letters Patent
APPENDIX B : The Lincoln Bellfounders
APPENDIX C : The Ringer’s Chapel
APPENDIX D : The Ringers' Jack
APPENDIX E : Masters of the Cathedral Company of Bell Ringers
APPENDIX F : The 'Patent' Ringers

This book costs £8.50 and is only available from Lincoln Minster Shop*

To order please go to the Cathedral website then go to 'Cathedral Sales/Minster Shop/Books'

*This link should go there direct, but may display slightly garbled as it isn't working properly yet.

THE LINCOLNSHIRE PEOPLE SERIES

Two books have been published in the series about Lincolnshire People and a third is in preparation. Each book contains short biographies if people who have made their mark on the history of the county. Some where born here, others have made their home here and others have unexpected connections with Lincolnshire.

In these books is recorded the story of the famous and not so famous of Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland.  From the heroes of the uncharted days of Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans, to the religious figures who raised up the heritage of Lincolnshire’s churches to the glory of God and broke the common skyline of wold, field, wood and dyke with their dazzling spires; the men with keen eyes and skilful hands that sketched pump and sluice and windmill-sail, planning their strategy in the endless battle between Lincolnshire, the wind and the sea; those who set out from Lincolnshire to explore and found and colonise literally every corner of the globe; those – also explorers in their own way – who trod new paths in religion and science, and beckoned others to follow; and those who ruled, cured, entertained, educated and even in some cases murdered, their fellow inhabitants of the county. Whether your interest is historical or genealogical, these informative guides are sure to become invaluable works of reference.

Lincolnshire People contains biographies of 108 people with 31 illustrations and 128 pages. It is a hardback and was first published in 1995. ISBN-10: 1 872438 12 1. This book is now out of print.

Lincolnshire Women contains biographies of 56 ladies with 25 illustrations and 102 pages. It has a card cover and was first published in 1998. ISBN-10: 1 872375 12 X