Outside the church

Bell Turret.

Although the bell ropes and ringing frame are to be found inside the
church, below the west window, the bells themselves are in an external
turret, and are inaccessible to all but steeplejacks. The chime of three
bells continue the Trinity theme, and all carry the same wording :

In honorem SS Trinitas

AD 1853

C et G Mears Londini fecerunt.

Porches are found mainly on the south side of
churches. Where they are found on the north
side, it is likely that the squire, or Lord of the
Manor, had his mansion on the same side of the
church. He was then provided with his own point
of entry into church. Porches were especially
important in mediaeval times, when penitents
received absolution here before being allowed
into the main body of the church.

Porch doors became items for decoration from
Norman times onwards. They were built strongly
to resist the attention of robbers, or invaders,
during the Dark Ages.

Gargoyles.

If, after leaving the church by the south porch, you turn left, a good view is
to be had of the gargoyles on the south aisle. These are the small carved
stone figures that link the gutters to the downspouts, and whose name
comes from the Old French word for 'throat'. The origin of gargoyles dates
back to very early days, when it was believed that demons and dragons
lurked around churches, attempting to do evil deeds. So, carved forms -
usually fairly grotesque - were used as part of the fabric of the church, so
that they were, in effect, forced to protect the very buildings that they
wished to harm.

Nave Cross.

The Nave Cross use to be up on the east end of
the nave roof, but came down with a lot of the nave
roof during the collapse of the boiler chimney in
2005. Following the repair to the roof at the east
end of the church, it is now been incorporated in
the church yard wall facing New Hythe Lane.

Pulpit Tower.

This can be seen only from outside, and will be found at the junction of the west wall of the vestry with the
north wall of the nave. It used to contain the flight of steps that led from a door inside the vestry up to the
pulpit, when this was in its original position against the chancel arch. A small window, that allowed what
must have been a minute amount of light to fall on the steps within the tower, has since been filled in.

The largest of the three is the tenor bell, and the diameters of the individuals are 22, 20, and 18 inches. Their
respective weights, in hundredweights, quarters, and pounds, are 2-2-2, 1-3-5, and 1-1-171/2. The metric
equivalents of these values are 559, 508, and 457mm for the diameters, and 128, 91, and 72kg for the
weights. The bells themselves cost Ł 40-0-8 (Ł40.03) when they were supplied new in 1854. The cost was
based on a unit price of Ł 7 per hundredweight of bronze, and the various fittings etc cost an extra Ł 21.

Although many of us feel that our great storm, in 1987, was quite bad enough, there was a spring gale in
1882 of such ferocity that part of the bell turret was actually blown down, causing extensive damage.