But there were other expenses, belonging to the general charge, which, being irregular but frequently recurrent, were troublesome to the wardens and Eighteen, whose business it was to lay such a rate annually on the inhabitants of the parish as should cover the outlay. Such was the repair of the church roof, which was often needed; even the moss (which it was the custom to stuff within the rigging to arrest and absorb the wet which ran down from the ill-fitting slates) required frequent replenishing. Accordingly, after sundry payments made for "mossing church" or "mending slates," the Eighteen entered into a contract, in 1686, with two Grasmere wallers for the upkeep of the whole of the church roof, except the choir, for nine years, for the sum of 7s. 6d. a year. In 1704 one William Grigg obtained the contract for three years at the same rate, and undertook to keep the roof in a sound state "as to Slatt and Moss (excepting upon extraordinary Storms whereby the roof shall suffer much Damage which shall be referred to the Eighteen the Easter following)." Grigg, however, made no bad-weather demands, and it was only in 1714, a year after the contract had been transferred to Edward Hird, that "a violent storme" caused the spending of 18s. beyond the stipulated 7s. 6d. The parson and Eighteen then (1715) transferred the contract to Stephen Haukrigge. The sum was perhaps too small, for in 1718 John Warriner secured 8s. 6d. on the contract. "An extraordinary Storme" in 1719 cost only an extra 3s. The contract, which afterwards rose to 11s. 6d., had ceased by 1732, and odd sums for repair occur from time to time, such as 13s. in 1733 and the same in 1734, with 3s. 3d. for slates and carriage. But little was apparently done, and by 1809 the roof seems to have been in a bad condition, for the ominous item occurs "To cleaning Snow out of Church 2s. 0d." It was radically repaired in 1814, when £37 1s. 11d. was spent on the slates, £11 on timber, which was paid to Lady Fleming, the wood being doubtless felled in Bainriggs, and the extraordinary sum of £1 13s. 6d. on ale to the workmen and "letting" the contract. THE BELLS. Grasmere's pleasant chime of three bells is undoubtedly an old one. The metal of the existing bells that sends its resonance through the vale may be that of the first bells, though robbed of antique inscription or mark by recasting. It is quite possible that at the Restoration there still hung in the tower the Pre-Reformation triad, stamped with an invocation to some saint in Longobardic characters or with a quaint inscription in Black Letter; for the Rev. H. Whitehead discovered in Cumberland many an ancient bell that had escaped confiscation and the melting-pot in the dark days of Henry VIII.'s ruthless robberies and his successor's drastic commission.[144] [144] 7 Ed. VI., 1553. See _Transactions_, Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian Society, vols. 6 and 14.