Henry Thomas Ellacombe or Ellicombe (1790-1885), was an English

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

and antiquary. He was the inventor of an apparatus to allow a single ringer to ring multiple bells.

Life

Ellacombe was born in 1790, the son of the Rev. William Ellicombe, rector of

Alphington, Devon Alphington is a former manor and village, now a suburb of the City of Exeter in Devon. The ward of Alphington has a population of 8,250 according to the 2001 census, making it the third largest in Exeter, with the village itself accounting f ...

. Having graduated B.A. from

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

in 1812, he applied himself until 1816 to the study of engineering in

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

under the direction of

Marc Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-British engineer who is most famous for the work he did in Britain. He constructed the Thames Tunnel and was the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Born in Franc ...

. In 1816 he proceeded to the degree of M.A. and was ordained for the curacy of

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

, Wiltshire in the

diocese of Gloucester The Diocese of Gloucester is a Church of England diocese based in Gloucester, covering the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire. The cathedral is Gloucester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Gloucester. It is part of the Province ...

. The next year, having been ordained as a priest, he moved to

Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in England, to the east of the Greater Bristol area on the River Boyd. It is in South Gloucestershire. The parish of Bitton has a population of 9,307, and apart from the village ...

, Gloucestershire, in the same diocese. He held the curacy there until 1835, when he became the vicar of the parish. In 1850 he was presented to the rectory of

Clyst St George Clyst St George (anciently Clyst Champernowne) is a village and civil parish in East Devon, England, adjoining the River Clyst some southeast of Exeter and north of Exmouth. Overview and history The village is the most southerly of six parish ...

, Devon, being succeeded in his former benefice by his son, Henry Nicholson Ellacombe (1822–1916), who became a distinguished gardening writer and mentor to the great plantsman E.A. Bowles. Ellacombe died at Clyst St. George on 30 July 1885, and was buried in the churchyard of Bitton.

Personal papers

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

holds 17 volumes of manuscripts, newspaper extracts, transcripts, antiquarian memoranda, drawings and correspondence mainly relating to the ancient parish of

, to the east of Bristol, brought together by Reverend Ellacombe, (Ref. 44786)
online catalogue
. Records relating to Henry Thomas Ellacombe can also be found at the British Library Manuscript Collections, Bristol Reference Library,

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

and Newcastle University Library.

Works

In spite of many difficulties, Ellacombe restored the church of Bitton in 1822, and built three other churches in the wide district under his care, including Christ Church,

Hanham Hanham is a suburb of Bristol. It is located in the south east of the city. Hanham is in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. It became a civil parish on 1 April 2003. The post code area of Hanham is BS15. The population of this c ...

, which was constructed under his immediate supervision. In 1843 his parishioners presented him with a testimonial, in which the churchwardens stated that he had been the means of providing church accommodation in the district for 2,285 worshippers, and schoolrooms for 820 children. After his removal to Clyst St. George he rebuilt the nave of the church there, and in 1860 erected a school-house and master's residence. He was a learned antiquary, and a skilful florist and botanist.

Bells

Ellacombe was a great authority on bells, and wrote many books and papers, including ''Practical Remarks on Belfries and Ringers'', ''The Church Bells of Devon'' and ''The Church Bells of Somerset''. Together with C. A. W. Troyte and William Banister, he was a leading figure in the formation of the Guild of Devonshire Ringers in 1874. He invented a device, now known as an

Ellacombe apparatus The Ellacombe apparatus is a mechanism devised for performing change ringing on church bells by striking stationary bells with hammers. It does not produce the same sound as full circle ringing due to the absence of Doppler effect as the bells do ...

, with chiming hammers, to enable one person to chime all the bells in a tower. In practice, it required considerable and rare expertise for one person to ring changes on several bells, and the apparatus fell out of fashion. Consequently, the Ellacombe apparatus has been removed from many towers in the UK, but there are still often holes in the ceiling which the ropes would come through into the ringing chamber, and often the frames are still in the ringing chamber, without ropes. In towers where the apparatus remains intact, it is generally used like a

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...

, to play simple tunes.

Writings

His chief writings are: *''Practical Remarks on Belfries and Ringers'' Bristol, 1850, 4th edit. 1876. *''The Bells of the Church'' London, 1862 *''History and Antiquities of the Parish of Clyst St. George'', Exeter, 1865. *''Memoir of the Manor of Bitton'', 1867. *''Church Bells of Devon, with a List of those in Cornwall and a Supplement'', Exeter, 1872. *''Church Bells of Somerset'', Exeter. 1875. *''The Voice of the Church Bells'', Exeter, 1875 *''Church Bells of Gloucestershire'', Exeter, 1881. *''History and Antiquities of the Parish of Bitton'', 2 parts, Exeter, 1881–3. These works were privately printed.

References

External links

Scans of several of Ellacombe's bell-ringing books
are hosted at The Whiting Society of Ringers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellacombe, Henry Thomas 1790 births 1885 deaths 19th-century antiquarians 19th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English writers 19th-century English male writers Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Bellringers English antiquarians English male non-fiction writers English non-fiction writers People from Bitton Clergy from Exeter Writers from Exeter