THE OLD - Old Wirral.com

THE OLD CHURCHES OF WIRRAL
during Harvest, either in the morning
only, or both morning and evening. The
but
usual hours were 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. ;
it was sometimes rung at 6 or 7 a.m., or
at 5 or 7 p.m. Its object was to serve as
a signal for the time when gleaning might
begin, and when it must terminate ; this
was to give all—weak and old or young and
active— a fair start and an equal chance.
Under modern agricultural conditions
gleaning has in many parts of England
become a thing of the past, and it is now
only in the corn-growing districts of the
south and east of England that a '
ing '
bell is ever heard."
Glean-
In feudal days tenants had both to grind
their corn in the manorial mill and to bake
their bread in the manorial oven. In
some parishes an " Oven " bell used to be
rung, to give warning that the manorial
oven was heated and ready for use.
In Neston Church registers
there is
each year an item of 8/-, with an allowance
of 5d. for 1-lb. of candles, " for
ringing the 8 o'clock bell." This Curfew
Bell is still rung at Neston from October
to March each year, but with this excep-
tion, the church bells of Wirral are only
regularly tolled for services and funerals.
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