Eight bell change set

Description

This instrument was made by Robert Ward (1816-1889), a carpenter from Henfield in West Sussex. It took him two years of working in the evenings to complete, and was finished in 1849. It was made to provide entertainment in his own home which was The Cat House at Church Street, Henfield. The object stands 2.17m high and is 0.54m wide. It is in three parts: a base section, a central section comprising the instrument, and a pyramid shape top cover. The central drum is turned by a worm gear connected to a shaft, on the end of which is a small handle. The wooden drum, which is 0.48m in diameter, has steel pins driven into it. As the drum turns in an anticlockwise direction the pins hit eight small levers on the right hand side of the instrument at different intervals. These levers, through a linkage, connect to small wooden hammers which strike the bells. The drum can be moved in or out and locked into other positions so that in all it can play four changes. The instrument is meant to represent the sound of church bells ringing.