A bell cast in Exeter

The bell was cast at the foundry of Thomas Pennington III in Paul Street, and bears his founder's mark - a bell flanked by the letters T and P. The inscription reads 'THE . COUNTY. OF. DEVON. 1718'.

The bell is an exceptionally rough and irregular casting, and the Rev. John Scott, a leading authority on bells, has suggested that it was made for the County Prison and its distinctive tuneless sound may have sounded distress - for example at executions or if prisoners escaped.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum