History and Description of
COVINGTON PARISH CHURCH

The Tower

The Tower, before restoration, taken from directly below the South-West corner. A close-up of the carved horse's head part of the way up the south face of the tower.

The tower dates from around 1330 but the tower arch is about two hundred years younger- although some of the stones are from an earlier construction. There's a small carved horse's head embedded in the wall half way up the south side. There are three stages. The west window is 14th century and the windows in the belfry 16th century. The tower is buttressed and has a tiled roof. There are three bells. One is by Henry Penn and dated 1710. Another is 16th century and by Edward Newcombe. The third is inscribed "Thomas Mears founder London. Thomas Fairy churchwarden, 1841."

The tower has recently been restored by local builder David Hackney who has single-handedly been bringing the church back to life again over the last few months. The tower has been re-pointed and all the rotten stone has been replaced with new. A stainless-steel tie rod (fabricated by local engineer Simon Williams) has been fitted to prevent further expansion of a vertical crack. The windows, frames and bars have also been restored.

The ropes chafe badly passing through rough holes in two wooden ceilings before reaching the bells, so they are very not easy to ring. They are not regularly rung except on Service days when they are usually chimed. The bells are rung from the ground floor under the tower, although there is a small room above through which the ropes pass that may have been the original ringing place although the ropes wouldn't have been long enough to hang properly. The arch to the tower bears the evidence of the fitting of a wooden screen, although this is now long gone. The columns on each side of the tower arch don't match - not even slightly!

For more information, contact the Ely Diocesian Association of Church Bellringers or click on the link in the menu to the left to see more specific information on the bells in the church at Covington.