| ALVESTON St James 6; 7½cwt in A |
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Grid Reference:- Postcode Bell Audio:- Guild Affiliation:- Peals Rung Here:- Sunday Ringing:- Practice Night:- |
History Of The BellsThis church is set in a lovely rural location just outside Stratford upon Avon. There has been a sympathetic restoration project in the recent past that has made the bells no longer a trip up a vertical ladder to ring! The three largest bells originally hung in the tower of the old church at Alveston and they were transferred to the present building in 1839. The frame is based on a cast iron H-frame by Barwell, installed when the bells were augmented to four by them in 1912. It was was extended by Taylors at the 1965 augmentation. They used lowside frames on the same level as the Barwell frame. The 5th cracked in 1977 and was welded by Soundweld in 1980. The 20th century bells were cast flat headed and the canons have been removed from the older bells. The back four retain their Barwell fittings, the two trebles having contemporary Taylor fittings. They are a pleasant ring of 6 that the local ringers have stated in the past that they would like to augment to a heavier 8, though tower considerations might make this difficult. Nothing has been heard about this proposal in recent times. The tower currently needs about £250k to be spent to repair it - though initial thoughts were that ringing might be stopped until this was done, it has now been decided that ringing can continue. Parking is to be made carefully on the road in front of the church Details Of The Bells1 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1965 3-0-20 24.375" 1476.0Hz (F#-5c) 2 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1965 3-2-22 26.00" 1317.0Hz (E-2c) 3 James Barwell, Birmingham 1912 4cwt 28.25" 1163.0Hz (D-17c) 4 Henry Bagley I, Chacombe 1658 5¼cwt 30.50" 1103.0Hz (C#-9c) 5 Henry Farmer, Gloucester 1616 6-2-20 32.75" 980.0Hz (B-14c) 6 Richard Sanders, Bromsgrove 1729 7½cwt 36.50" 882.0Hz (A+4c) Photo GalleryNone available |