THE USES OF STEEPLES.

Thames Star, Volume XVI, Issue 5107, 30 May 1885, Page 4

THE USES OF STEEPLES.

Looking at the principal purpose for which steeples were erected, it seems strange that open belfries are now more common. The modern louvre boards which are usually fixed in the sound-holes of church steeples must to some extent prevent the bells from being heard as clearly-as they would otherwise be. If any of our readers should doubt the necessity of fixing bells at an elevation, ia order to render them 6f the greatest ser* vice, we would advise them to visit Southbridge, a small place in the centre of Norfolk, where the two bells hang in a shed in the churchyard, and can be heard out a very short distance. In speaking of the usefulness of church steeples, we would not have it understood that their only use has been in connection with the bells.. Along the coast there can be no doubt that they were often used as beacons before the introduction of lighthouses. At Happisburgh, in Norfolk, a lofty steeple —alas ! too near the evergrasping waveshas had its steps well»nigh worn away by the continual traffic to its summit. We all know, too, hew "broad and fierce the star came forth on Ely's stately fane," when the country became alarmed at the approach of the Spanish Armada. Now days our steeples are made to serve more utilitarian purposes, in carrying vanes, weathercocks, and flagstaffs. Although very rarely indeed met with in churches themselves, ancient fireplaces are by no means uncommon in steeples. They are usually on the first floor, and have flues going to the top in the thickness of the wall. It has never been satisfactorily proved for whose use these could have been intended. Some have supposed that such towers as have them must at some time of other have been watchtowers ; but iv remote inland districts it seems more reasonable to suppese that recluses dwelt in such places. With bare walls and narrow loopholes, they must have been at all times wretched habitations; but picture, if you can, such an abode on a windy night. The gloomy surroundings, the howl of the blast, the perpetual whistling in the turret staircase, the creaking of tree-tops, a sense of loneliness in the midst of ail this uproar. Can any situation be more conductive to madness ? But nowadays we mount our steeples only to repair the belKgear or to hoist the flag.—The Quiver, for Feb.