The Tubular Bells of St George's Church, Ramsgate, Kent

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St George's Church in Ramsgate is a rather impressive building that dominates the local skyline with its raised position on a hill overlooking the English Channel. Built between 1824 and 1827 to designs by Henry Hemsley, it is one of the last Georgian Gothic churches to have been built. It is a Commissioner's Church and is part of the Greater Churches Network. The large tower has a conspicuous lantern which is clearly inspired by the lantern on the tower of St Botolph's Church in Boston, Lincolnshire (colloquially known as 'The Boston Stump'). This lantern was paid for by Trinity House, the organisation responsible for the lighthouses of the country, to be used as a daymark - a daymark is something that ships can use as a reference point to take bearings. Other examples of daymarks are at Gribben Head in Cornwall and at Kingswear near Dartmouth in Devon. In 1884, the church's interior was restored by an H. E. Kendall.
The large tower of St George's was originally designed to accommodate a ring of eight bells. However, only one bell was installed in 1827 after having been cast by Thomas II Mears of London. It weights approximately 10.5cwt and was hung for full circle ringing. It is long unringable. Instead of a conventional ring, the tower has 11 tubular bells - a chime of ten bells cast in 1888 by Harrington, Latham and Co. of Coventry, West Midlands, with a flat 6th was added in 1929 by Harrington, Holland and Co. also of Coventry. The original chime of ten was given by a Mr G. J. Palmer and dedicated on November 1st of that year (1888). In 1929 the tubular bells were overhauled alongside the addition of the flat 6th. In 1947, the bell hanging firm Gillett and Johnston of Croydon carried out another restoration of the tubular bells (whose fittings are still there now, but are severely corroded from the sea air) - they also removed the stay and wheel of the Thomas Mears and installed a lever clapper within the bell. The tubular bells are very much unringable as well and the recordings you hear are simulated reconstructions of what chiming on them would sound like. However there are plans afoot to get them restored in the near future for the church's 200th anniversary.