Bell-cot

Bell-cot at Stanford Road School, Prestonville, Brighton, England.

In Christian church architecture a bell-cot, bell-cote or bellcote is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells, supported on brackets projecting from a wall or built on the roof of chapels or churches which have no towers. It often holds the Sanctus bell rung at the consecration of the eucharist.

Etymology

Bellcote is a compound noun of the words bell and cot or cote.^[1] Bell is self-explanatory. The word cot or cote is Old English, from the Germanic. It means a shelter of some kind, especially for birds or animals (see dovecote), a shed, or stall.^[2]

References

1. "bell (IV.11.a)". Oxford English Dictionary. Vol 2 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989. p. 88.
2. "cote". Oxford English Dictionary. Vol 3 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989. p. 994.