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BELL RINGING AT ALL SAINTS' CHURCH
STRETTON ON DUNSMORE
THE BELLS
A four year restoration project which involved many people from the village was completed in April 1994. Prior to the restoration, the tower contained an unringable set of three bells hung in a wooden frame.
The earliest written record of bells in the old church is in an inventory compiled by the Commissioners of Edward VI in 1552 in which Stretton is listed in having:-
iij belles, a saunce bell, iij small belles and two handbells
Apart from that nothing is known except that there were three bells in the old church hung on an old oak frame. These bells and the frame were transferred to the new church tower in 1837.
After a hundred years or so of ringing, the frame became unsafe and the bells were simply chimed. In 1989 a group of ringers led by Paul Burton decided to do a full renovation and extension of the bells. Fund raising brought in sufficient funds to commence the work, led by a local engineer Mr Jimmy Wallace. He utilised the enthusiasm of a band of volunteers to enable the construction of a new bell frame, whilst the Whitechapel Foundry in London retuned existing bells and cast new ones. In 1994 the project was completed and was dedicated at a service on 16th April. Since then the bells have been regularly rung by a small but dedicated group of bellringers.
 The tower now contains a ring of six bells in the key of B with the original tenor fitted with a canon-retaining headstock and the original treble becoming bell number four. The original clock striking mechanism has been refurbished and, as before, strikes the hour on the tenor bell.
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BELL |
DIAMETER |
WEIGHT |
DATE |
|
Tenor |
2’ 9Ό² |
7 0 14 |
1620 |
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5th |
2’ 5½² |
5 0 17 |
1993 |
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4th |
2’ 25/8 ² |
3 3 12 |
1705 |
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3rd |
2’ 13/8 ² |
3 1 14 |
1992 |
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2nd |
1’ 115/8 ² |
2 2 25 |
1993 |
|
Treble |
1’ 10½² |
2 2 19 |
1993 |
RINGING TIMES:
1st and 3rd Sundays 6.00 to 6.30 pm
2nd Sunday 10.30 to 11.00 am
4th Sunday 8.45 to 9.15 am
PRACTICE NIGHT:
Tuesday 7.30 to 9.00 pm
TOWER CAPTAIN:
Paul Burton
Tel. 024 76544808
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