Dictionary

bellhouse en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English belhous, bellehous, from Old English belhūs, bellhūs, equivalent to bell + house.

Meanings

1. A structure housing a bell or bells; bell tower; belfry
   • Such houses were called Schallenwerke, or bellhouses, because while at work the prisoners, always in chains, had bells attached to the iron neck bands they wore. 2016, J. Thorsten Sellin, Slavery and the Penal System:
   • To constitute a Thane, it was necessary that he should possess a distinct office in the King's Court; or, being a churle or countryman, that he should have “fully five hides of his own land, a church, a kitchen, a bellhouse, and a boroughgate with a seat.” 1890, The Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage & Companionage of the British Empire:

Forms

Deriveds

Ramsden Bellhouse