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Bellringing at St Mary's
Church Chiddingfold

WE HAVE A FINE PEAL OF BELLS AT CHIDDINGFOLD,
EIGHT OF THE BEST!

‘About the Belfry’

Chiddingfold can be very proud of having a very fine ring of eight bells at St,Marys.


Having been installed in their present frame in 1937, the bells have largely remained as they are today. Cast in the mid 19th century by Mears and Steinbank of Whitechapel, they are in the tone of F#, and the Tenors’ weight is 12¾ cwt. Being in good repair and carefully maintained, they are not only good to listen to; to hear ringing out over the village, but are also good bells to ring! You will most likely hear the bells as the familiar ‘clock-chimes’. Bells 4 and 6 are struck mechanically for the ‘quarter-hours’, and the tenor is struck to sound the hours. The automatic electrical striking and winding mechanism also allows for the bells to be silent during the night!
When the bells ring out for their other purposes, to announce a church service, or to celebrate a special event, you will perhaps hear all the eight bells being rung. This ringing is not automated; this ringing requires the efforts of bellringers!


Bells are described as ‘The Voice of The Church’. They are an internationally recognisable sound of religious gathering. Bells have been, and still are, used for a variety of other purposes. In England, before time-keeping was easily available, the sound of the bells was a method by which people were not only summoned to Church for service, but were informed of the time of day. The sound of the bells ringing over the fields to signal the end of a working day, would have been very welcomed!

The Church Bells of England are however unique. Only in Britain and places where the British have touched, (in days of Empire), do Church Bells ring in the peculiarly English method. An English Church Bell is mounted on a large wheel within a frame, and by means of a rope can be swung through 360’ so that the ‘clapper’ can be struck against both sides of the bell at a speed dictated by the ringer who handles the rope. The Italians swing their bells to make them speak, others merely chime them, but no-one else can ring them like the English! Bells have been rung ‘full-circle’ in this way since the 17th century. Many improvements in engineering have allowed for the physical effort; of turning such large and heavy objects around in some sort of harmonious synchronisation, possible. Ringers in the past had to perform the feat without the, as yet undiscovered, ball-bearings and make do with wood-on-wood, or plain axles. The effort required therefore meant that bell-ringing was the preserve of the menfolk and hefty ones at that! It is true that in those days the men were paid quite handsomely to ring the bells and quite often they were not a very sober bunch! Nowadays happily, anyone of reasonable fitness and ability can manage to ring, male and female, old and young, musical or not.

Churchbell ringing is NOT Campanology! Churchbell ringers get quite animated when people say, “Oh, you’re a campanologist then”, when their hobby is revealed. Campanology, I am sure, encompasses far more than the bare skill of bellringing; it implies a knowledge of harmonics, of music and it’s creation. A Church bellringer just rings bells! Although we don’t all claim to be musicians, there are a good number who are. There are also housewives, accountants, civil engineers, driving instructors, police officers, students, University professors, retired fork-lift truck drivers and pensioners, (O.A.P.’s). As a ringer you become part of an informal fraternity and you are made welcome wherever you go.

Ringing Churchbells is a fascinating activity. Of course if you have moved house to within the sound of the bells, and you do not like them, you will be less than sympathetic to being roused at 9.15am on a Sunday, and less tolerant of the necessary practices that take place. If however you have ever heard, and listened to the beautiful sound of Churchbells, the music carrying on the wind, you may appreciate them! It is unfortunate that there are more bells to ring than there are ringers, many towers are struggling to keep their bells heard.


The total weight of bell-metal in the eight bells of the peal at Chiddingfold is about 3 tons. The bells are fitted with ‘headstocks’ which retain the bell in it’s position on the wheel on which it is mounted. Each bell has a ‘clapper’ that swings independently inside, and slower than , the bell. The bells are all mounted on a large frame which is itself supported by a massive concrete structure. Just as well that the tower is strong!

A plea! If you are a ringer who has perhaps lost a previous enthusiasm for attending practices and such, but is still able to ring for Sunday service, please do come along, you’re efforts would be much appreciated.
Towers are always ready to welcome brand-new recruits and as a newcomer you will be very valued and made very welcome. All you have to do is make contact, or even just turn up on a Wednesday practice night.

How do you learn churchbell ringing?
If you have an interest then make contact with us and you can then proceed at your own pace. You will be shown the bells and how they strike to produce the notes, how they are swung by the ropes and how you should pull the rope. It all sounds very easy. The skill however is much more tricky than it sounds and it really has to be seen and experienced to be appreciated.
Above all, safety is the first aspect you have to absorb, it can be dangerous!


After practice we usually gather at the pub …… it’s no coincidence that Churches, Bells and Pubs are usually in close proximity!

John Cowburn
Tower Captain. 01428 685940


12.12.2006 - - HAPPILY HISTORIC !

Not at all unusual for an incumbent Rector to become a parent -
but surely a ‘first’ for a Rector to give birth?

Rev’d Sarah Brough of St Mary’s Church, Chiddingfold became a mother to a fine baby boy on 13th December.
To wish her good health prior to the birth and in celebration of the happy event, much ringing of the Church bells took place at Chiddingfold!     More


CHIDDINGFOLD St Mary's Bell Ringers

Guildford Diocesan Guild of Churchbell Ringers founded 1928

Winchester and Portsmouth Guild
founded 1879
Guildford District of W&P
formed 1904

A Church has stood on the site of St, Mary's, Chiddingfold, since the 13th century.
At that time it would have had a wooden tower.
The first stone-built church was built in the mid-16th century.
In 1869, the tower was raised by 13feet.
The bells, the oldest of which was cast in 1470, were removed in 1936; the The remaining seven were recast into the present eight, by Mears and Steinbank, Whitechapel Bellfounders.
and rehung in the tower on a cast iron frame, itself mounted on a concrete ring frame.
Shown as a 6-bell tower 1891. Tenor weighing 18½ cwt.
First shown as an 8 bell tower 1896, 11cwt.
Weight shown in 1927 as 11¾ cwt.
and from the 1937 rehanging, 12¾ cwt.

There is no record of Chiddingfold in Annual Reports prior to 1891.
No records available for 1903 and 1913.
No reports for 1915 - 1919 during WW 1.
Only the Tower Captains are recorded for 1920 - 1923
There was a ban on ringing during part of WW 2. and no reports were published between 1940 and 1946.
No recorded members 1951 - 1952.

The following entries are the first and last dates that records show the ringer as a subscribing member to the Guilds.
There are no records of ringers who were not accredited to the Guilds.

 


Ringers

G.Arrowsmith 1936 - 39
A. Ashdown 1894 - 1908
T.Atwell 1891 - 1939
Miss N.Attwell 1924 - 27
W. Ayling 1896
I. Baker 1989 - 92
Mstr S. Baker 2004 - 07
G. Balchin 1893
R.Balchin 1931 - 39
A.E. Bartlett 1899 - 1902
A.J. Bartlett 1891 - 1950
G. Bartlett 1891 - 95
W.Bartlett 1929 - 37
B. Belchamber 1989 - 97
Mrs R. Blackburn 1989 - 91
F. Blake 1891 - 95
T. Blake 1891
A.Bookham 1977 - 81
Mrs B. Bookham 1975 - 89
J. Bookham 1975 - 89.
K. Bookham 1974
M. Bookham 1987 – 89
A. Boxall 1893
Mrs J. Bradford 2006-
V. Bradford 2005-
W.G. Brockhurst 1898 - 1937
F. Broomham 1898
A.Brown 1938 - 39
J. Bura 1968 - 70
M. Bura 1963 - 70
E. Burdock 1891- 94
I. Burdock 1895
W.T. Burdock 1891- 1919
G. Cannon 1974 - 76
E.Carpenter 1929 - 39
R. Carpenter 1929 - 38
T. Champion 1931 - 32
J. Charlton 1974 - 97
Mstr. G. Clark 1963 - 66
L. Connor 1964 - 66
R. Cooper 1935 - 93
G. Coleman 1968 - 72
J. Cowburn 1995 - 2000 -
Mrs J. Cowburn 1996 -
Miss L. A. Davis 1992 - 96
A. Dixon 2008 -
Miss S. Doling 1986
Miss A. Draper 2000
Mrs B. Draper 1989 - 2007
H. Draper 1989 - 2007
A. Edwards 1961 - 63
Alan Edwards 1989 -
Mrs S. Edwards 1989 - 91
D. Elliott 1895 - 98
A. Ellis 1901
B. Ellis 1904 - 08
H.J. Ellis 1909 - 14
H.Fitchett 1929 - 30
Mrs S. Frossard 2002 -
H. Fryer 1909 - 10
A.D. Fuller 1968 - 72
D.Fuller 1976
M. Fuller 1962 - 74
Mrs. S. Fuller 1972
H. Gale 1895 - 96
T. Garbett 1967
J.T. Gardner 1890 - 1914
Ringers

J. Gearing 1899
D. Griffiths 2008 -
F.Hagley 1933
R.Hagley 1933 - 36
P.Hall 1976 - 1980
Rev K.H. Hampshire 1910
Harrison 1935
I.P. Hastilow 1988 - 2003
C. Hetherington 1967 - 70
H. Holden 1901 - 12
G.Joy 1931 - 35
G.Johnson 1924 - 39
H. Karn 1890
P. Kerry 2004 -
Mrs A. Knight 1976
Mrs D. Knight 1975
J. Lamboll 1898
J. Larcombe 1971 - 72
Miss R. Larcombe 1971 - 75
Miss S. Larcombe 1972 - 74
W.T. Lightfoot 1904 - 05
K. Lindup 2008 -
Ms B. Llewellyn 1992
R.Locke 1977 - 80
G.Luff 1899 - 1937
T. Luff 1900 - 27
J. Marshall 1972
Miss S. Marshall 1972
W. Mitchell 1893 - 96
H.Mullard 1904 - 39
A. Nash 1973 - 74
Mrs K. Nash 1973 - 74
J.F. Payne 1962 - 74
P.Payne 1967 - 74
J.H. Payton 1961 - 72
G.Pearce 1931 - 34
J.G. Pelloe 1924 - 36
Ms G. Puttick 2008 -
G. Pyner 1991 - 98
Mrs M. Pyner 1991 - 98
Mrs B. Ransome 1991
R. Ransome 1991 - 95
C. Renment 1896 - 98
H. Renment 1900 - 09
W. Richardson 1985 - 88
A. Rothwell 1893 - 1901
J. Russell 1894
P. Russell 1974 - 75
T. Russell 1974
B. Saunders 1975 - 78
S. Sharp 1973 - 81
M.Smither 1924 - 39
W. Smithers 1893
Mstr C. Talliss 1992 - 95
T. Talliss 1992 -
Mrs W. Talliss 1992 - 96
H.B. Tindall 1911
C.W. Trussler 1929 - 36
J. Tattersall 1968
Miss I. Vere-Hodge 1995 - 96
C. Warsdell 1938
R. Weal 1965
T. Wellen 1963 - 74
G.E. Wheatley 1914
J. Wingham 1974 - 85
S. Wingham 1974 - 81
Mrs J. Willett 1997-
B. Woolf 2000 - 01
Captains



T.Atwell
1891 - 1910

W.T. Burdock
1911 - 12

T Luff
1912 - 27

C.W. Trussler
1928 - 32

R.Hagley
1933 - 34

R.Carpenter
1935 - 39

A.J. Bartlett
1947 -1950

R. Cooper
1953 - 70

J.H. Payton
(Ringing Master)
1962 -70

T. Wellen
1970 - 73

J. Charlton
1974 - 94

Miss L. A. Davis
1995

I.P. Hastilow
1996 - 99

J. Cowburn
2000

 

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