St Mary's Bellringers
Front Row: Andrew Whiffin, Dawn Gibbs, Oleg Medvedev, Catherine Fairbank, Amy MacDonald. Back Row: Isabel Hands, Blue Watson, Alan Griffin, Donald MacDonald.
Looking for a new hobby? Try bellrining!
Suitable for ages from 10 to 80 (and requiring some muscles), ringing is fun! We ring on Sunday mornings from 9.00-9.30am and practices are on Friday evenings 7.30-9.00pm.
Alan Griffin said: "In January 2023 I put a poster in the Bloxham Broadsheet inviting people to 'Ring for the King'. One of the ringers who rang for the Coronation answered my poster. It was Dawn Gibbs. She had her first lesson on February 10 and after seven one-hour lessons, she can now handle a bell competently and can ring 'Call Changes'".
If you would like to give bellringing a try, contact Alan Griffin (email: ajg@argonet.co.uk).
History of the bells of Bloxham
The
church tower has a ring of eight bells. The fifth bell was cast in about 1570,
possibly by John Appowell of Buckingham. James Keene of Woodstock cast the tenor bell in 1648. Abel Rudhall of Gloucester cast the sixth bell in 1750. James
Barwell & Co of Birmingham cast the treble, second, third and seventh
bells in 1903. They
are the heaviest ring of change-ringing bells in the World that are rung from
the ground floor, inside the church.
In 1903 the treble and second were added to the 6 but shortly after installing all eight bells ringing was prohibited because of the movement of the tower and spire. Limited ringing resumed in the latter part of the 1940s and then bells were rehung in 1956.
The bells on the tower floor. Before rehanging they were rung from upstairs.
The church has also a Sanctus bell that was cast in about 1599, and a service bell that John Warner & Sons of Cripplegate, London cast in about 1899.
In the same year John Taylor & Co were called in to look at the bells. They reported that the fittings were of a rough and clumsy and unscientific construction, the bells were badly and unevenly hung and the framework was too weak, light and rickety. They went on to say no wonder it took three men to ring the Tenor bell. They suggested that the framework needed to be of iron with steel supporting girders which would support both the heavy bells and tie the tower together. The estimate to do the work was £308 ! and it was decided not to act upon Taylors estimate which in the light of the costs involved may have been a mistake.
Some years later in 1921 there were concerns that there were problems with the tower and by 1924 £700 was raised to repair the tower. By Christmas Eve 1924 the bells rang out for the first time in two years.
