Memorial details

Memorial type
Bells or bell tower
District
Wealden
Town
Westham
County
East Sussex
Country
England
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918)
Ceremony
  • Dedicated
    Date: 14 May 1921
    Attended by: Venerable A W Upcott (Archdeacon of Hastings) performed the dedication
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
77825

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Current location

Bell Tower
St Mary the Virgin Church
High Street
Westham
Wealden
East Sussex
BN24 5LL
England

OS Grid Ref: TQ 64146 04583
Denomination: Church of England

View location on Google Maps
Description
Tenor bell unique in Sussex as it bears the names of 5 young men from the parish who were bell ringers and killed. No other bell in Sussex commemorates just bell ringers.
Inscription
GILLETT & JOHNSON / CAST 1789 / (Names) / 6
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Burgess, George
Burgess, Harry
Hazelden, Albert
Hobden, William
Marchant, Robert
See details for all 5 names
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 5
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 5
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: Firstname, surname
    Order of information: Alphabetical by surname
Components
  • Bells
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
Listing information
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Sponsorship
Other
Details: In 1921 the six bells of St Mary Westham were re-cast by Gillett and Johnston. It was decided that as 5 of the Westham bell ringers had been lost in the WW1 that the tenor bell would be a memorial to them and their names would be cast on it. It is unique in that it is the only bell in Sussex to have only the names of bell ringers upon it. The ring of 6 bells was originally cast in 1789 and it is confusing that this old casting date was put on the bells when re-cast in 1921.
Responsibility
Church of England
Reference
  • Sussex Agricultural Express 20/5/1921 (page 7) reported the dedication of the 6 recast bells at St Mary's Church
  • www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/240226/
  • www.eastsussexww1.org.uk/westham-memorial-bell/index.html (re the inclusion on the tenor bell of the names of 5 former bell-ringers who died in WW1, as a memorial to them. The webpage, based on the research of Rosalind Hodge, Willingdon Parish Church Archivist, explains that the "Albert Hazelden" named on the bell was aka "Albert Burgess", as which he was listed on other parish memorials, and that the "Robert Marchant" named on the bell was "Thomas Robert Marchant", who was listed on other parish memorials as "Thomas Marchant")

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.

This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:

© WMR-77825

For queries, please contact [email protected].