arch. and dial. Also 1 bell-hús, 4 belhows, 5 belhowse, bellehowse, 5–7 belhouse. [f. BELL sb.1 + HOUSE.] A tower or other erection for containing a bell or set of bells; a belfry; properly used of a detached structure, but also applied to the belfry of a church, etc.
a. 1000. Thorpe’s Laws, I. 190 (Bosw.). Gif ceorl hæfde fif hida aʓenes landes, cirican and cycenan, bell-hus.
a. 1100. Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, Voc., 327. Cloccarium, uel lucar, Belhus. Ibid. (c. 1425), 648. Hoc campanare, Ae belhowse.
1483. Cath. Angl., 27/1. Belhouse, campanile.
1598. Hakluyt, Voy., I. 126. A Church and a Kitchin, a Belhouse, and a gate.
1766. Entick, London, IV. 223. The bell-house stood on the said ground.
1855. Whitby Gloss., Bell-house, the tower of a church, the belfry.
