Bell repairs

A 17th Century bell at Gloucester Cathedral is to be taken down for repairs to a six-inch crack.

The bell, the 11th of 12 in the belfry, will be transported to specialists in Newmarket for welding.

Records show that the 18 hundredweight bell is tuned to E, is 122cm in diameter and was made by John Pennington of Exeter in 1626.

It bears an inscription in Latin - Celis Nomen Gabrielis - but reads in reverse as it was cast back to front.

Cathedral press officer, the Reverend Geoff Crago, said: "It is a very long time since I did Latin at school. I can manage Nomen Gabrielis - the name of Gabriel - but I'm not sure about Celis. Even an online Latin dictionary on the web couldn't help me with that word."

From the online search I did , the closest translation seems to be "Heavenly" being as Mediaeval bells had many inscriptions on them, which record the name of the donor, the bell-founder, together with heraldic and other devices. The inscriptions are often written in the first person, the bell being supposed to utter the sentiment, as it sends forth its sound. A study of the inscriptions on bells is full of interest. The earliest are simple dedications of the bell to our Lord, or to some saint (in this case Gabriel.)