THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

THE OLD CHURCHES OF WIRRAL
placed outside." And a third speaks of
having negotiated '* a vertical ladder of
appalhng height."
But fortunately
there is much that is
interesting about church bells that can be
appreciated without emulating either the
Alpine climber or the steeple-jack, and
the aim of the present chapter is to present
some of these details to the general
reader so that he may be spared the un-
healthy excitement of steeple climbing,
and the mortification of finding that he
has ruined a suit of clothes. For, after
all, bells, unlike children, are intended to
be heard rather than seen, and, though
bell founders are at some pains to decorate
their bells, this would appear to be
dictated more by traditional usage than
by the desire to please archaeologists, for
the old bells were probably all cast under
monastic supervision and these, being
often dedicated to saints, were inscribed
with some intercessory prayer. After
the Reformation such custom was for-
bidden, but the practice of adorning bells
with some pious phrase continued, and is
still in vogue.
Many of the these inscriptions
are of
great interest. At West Kirby there is
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