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A HISTORY OF BELLS AND RINGING AT ST MARY'S
There have been 3 bells in Bishopstoke since the end of the 16th
century although nothing is known about any ringing before the 20th century.
These bells rang from three different churches on the former site of St
Mary's.
In 1910 the bells, dated dated 1589, 1598 and 1600, were transferred from the
1825 church which was being closed to the newly built tower of the present
church. At the same time 2 more bells were added to make a ring of 5. In
their previous home the bells were probably just swing-chimed. Now they were
hung for full-circle ringing. There has been an active team of ringers at St
Mary's since this time.
In 1920 a sixth bell was added. Finally, in 1921, two more bells were
installed as war memorials. This completed the octave which rang from the
tower until 1995.
By the early 1990s the bells were becoming hard to ring and needed a good
overhaul. At that time the team of ringers was probably about as strong as it
had ever been. The ringers decided to continue the augmentation process but
completely replace the tonally poor bells with a brand new, modern tuned ring
of ten.
Consequently, most of the old bells were sold off individually to various
churches around the world, the frame was strengthened and the Whitechapel
bell-foundry supplied the current superb ring of ten bells.
As an interesting aside, by 1995, the Whitechapel foundry had only cast three
complete rings of ten bells since the Second World War. The one prior to
Bishopstoke's was for Westminster Abbey!
Although the current team of ringers at St Mary's consists of about 20 people
with an age range from pre-teens to retirees, quite a few no longer live
locally and are not seen regularly. Therefore some new recruits would be a
good thing.
The ringers do form quite a skilled team and have this year won three
different trophies in ringing competitions in Hampshire.
As well as ringing at St Mary's, the ringers also have regular trips to ring
at other churches. They also arrange other non-ringing social events like
their annual dinner.
If anybody would like to have a go at bell-ringing and join in with an
enthusiastic and sociable group then there is little to stop them beyond the
26 steps up to the ringing room. The ringers welcome visitors on Sunday
mornings from 10:15 till 11:00 and on Thursday evenings from 19:30 till
21:00.
Any more information may be obtained from Tower Captain Roy LeMarechal who
can be phoned on 023 8061 5559 or emailed at roylemarechal@gmail.com
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