Henry Thomas Ellacombe

from Oriel College, Oxford in 1812, he applied himself until 1816 to the study of engineering in Chatham Dockyard under the direction of Marc Brunel.

In 1850 he was presented to the rectory of Clyst St George, 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.

[5] 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.

In practice, it required considerable and rare expertise for one person to ring changes on several bells, and the apparatus fell out of fashion.

In towers where the apparatus remains intact, it is generally used like a carillon, to play simple tunes.