INSPIRED by Reverend Hawker of Morwenstow’s poem ‘The Ringers of Launcells Tower’, a Frederick Smallfield oil painting of the same name owned by the Royal Institution of Cornwall is the latest prestigious exhibit on display in the Heritage Centre at the Castle Bude.

In Hawker’s poem, six men who had rung the bells at St Swithin’s Church, Launcells, to mark the coronation of King George III in 1760 were remarkable still alive and able to ring the bells on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee 50 years later. Whilst the men undoubtedly existed, the painting is regarded as a reconstruction since Smallfield completed it in 1887, some 77 years later.

The painting was donated in 1905 to Truro’s Royal Cornwall Museum, where it has since been restored and until recently was kept in storage, available to view on request.

Janine King, heritage development officer at the Castle, said: “The Ringers of Launcells Tower has some significance amongst campanologists worldwide, many of whom would visit St Swithin’s, hoping to see not only the subject location but the painting itself.

“Bude-Stratton Town Council were initially approached by the Parochial Church Council, who wished for the painting to be on display as close to their church as possible.

“We are delighted they did. Our thanks must also go to Michael Harris, the Royal Cornwall Museum’s exhibition officer and assistant collection manager, who has facilitated the long term loan of the painting to the Castle Heritage Centre.”

She added: “If you are aware of any other local historical artefacts that could be displayed at the Heritage Centre, whether they are to be loaned or donated, please do get in touch with me on 01288 357 313 or by email [email protected]/* */!function(t,e,r,n,c,a,p){try{t=document.currentScript||function(){for(t=document.getElementsByTagName('script'),e=t.length;e--;)if(t[e].getAttribute('data-cfhash'))return t[e]}();if(t&&(c=t.previousSibling)){p=t.parentNode;if(a=c.getAttribute('data-cfemail')){for(e=',r='0x'+a.substr(0,2)|0,n=2;a.length-n;n+=2)e+='%'+('0'+('0x'+a.substr(n,2)^r).toString(16)).slice(-2);p.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(decodeURIComponent(e)),c)}p.removeChild(t)}}catch(u){}}()/* */.”

The Heritage Centre is open daily from 10am until 4pm, and entry is free.