Church Gallery

The Ringers of Launcells Tower, Frederick Smallfield (1829-1915)

Oil on canvas, English School, 1887. This painting was inspired by the poem The Ringers of Launcells Tower by Rev. R.S. Hawker of Morwenstow in his book Cornish Ballads and Other Poems'. In this poem, the bell ringers who rang at the accession of George III in 1760 were still alive to ring at his golden jubilee in 1810. The church of Launcells is midway between Stratton and Bude. The picture was painted 77 years after George III's golden jubilee and so is a total reconstruction. There is, therefore, no possibility that the figures are actual portraits of the 1810 ringers. Nevertheless, Smallfield had visited the church tower before he started the painting but made certain alterations to the layout for artistic reasons. He also studied the bell ringers at his local church in Willesden, north west London, to get the action and the angle of the ropes correct. A watercolour version of this painting was exhibited at the Watercolour Society in 1878. Frederick Smallfield studied at the Royal Academy and subsequently exhibited there several times. He lived for most of his life in London and at Lee-on-Solent in Hampshire

© RIC

The Pipe Organ of St Pauls Cathedral in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.The cathedral was built in stages and is one of the City of Melbourne's major landmarks. The cathedral's pipe organ was built by T. C. Lewis and Co of Brixton, England. It was played at the cathedral's inaugural service in 1891. The organ has four manuals and pedals with 53 stops, all with electro-pneumatic action, and is housed in the cathedral's south transept behind newly stencilled facade pipes

© :: Artie | Photography ::

St Brides Church, London 1941 BB69_02583

FLEET STREET, London. St Bride's Church was rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of London. A fire bomb fell on the night of 29th December 1940 which pierced the roof and gutted the interior. This shows the remains of the church in March 1941, photographed by Bedford Lemere. Rebuilding began in 1953 using Wren's surviving walls, it was rededicated in 1957 and it is still in use

© Historic England