The Bells of All Saints Church Purleigh

The new treble bell was a farewell gift to the Parish in 1935 from Canon Macdonald (Rector 1924-34). At this time the treble bell, originally added in 1765, was recast to commemorate the tercentenary of the original peal of four Miles Graye bells. These were hung in the Tower in 1636 by the Rev. Lawrence Washington who was Purleigh’s royalist Rector from 1632 until Cromwellian commissioners dispossessed him of the living in 1643. He was the great-great grandfather of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America.

On 5th July 1936, the BBC relayed the sound of the Purleigh bells direct to America.