SHELDON* St Giles 8, 8-1-8 in Ab
Grid Reference | 139/148843 | ![]() |
Postcode | B26 3TU | |
Recording (as a 6) | ||
Affiliation | St Martin's Guild | |
Peals | Felstead Database | |
Sunday | 0930-1000 | |
Practice | Friday 2000-2100 | |
Other Information | Church Website |
History
The most ancient part of St Giles' Church is the 12th-century chancel arch. The nave of 1330 is noted for its fine carved roof. The north aisle was added a little later. In 1461 the nave was extended westwards and the embattled west tower was built, probably using stone from the derelict (Sheldon) West Hall at Kents Moat. In 1867 a major restoration removed all 18th-century internal arrangements such as high pews and parts of the church were rebuilt to their medieval appearance
Until the early 1990s there used to be a ringable four here (tenor 9-3-13), hung in an old wooden frame, with "new" fittings by Barwell in 1911. Tilley and Walters in their book, "The Church Bells of Warwickshire", give the inscriptions at this point in time
The church was the "Front Page Tower" in The Ringing World of July 10th 1981, in which the hope to add two trebles is mentioned.
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(Click to enlarge) |
After a lengthy process, when the restoration plans changed from one scheme to another, the bells were eventually remodelled as a ring of six. The old tenor (John Martin 1650) was sold for use as a single chiming bell at Hawes (North Yorkshire). Two new bells were cast in 1992 to make five, and later a redundant bell from St. Gregory the Great, Small Heath, was added to make six. This bell was one of the last bells cast by Carr's of Smethwick. The were further augmented, this time to 8, in 2010.
The back three bells retain their canons and have been quarter turned, the others being cast with flat tops. The new trebles were cast and tuned some time before the hanging of them was completed in November 2010.
The bells were first peals as a ring of 4. The details are:
The ring of 5 was not pealed, the next peal being on the ring of 6:
To date, the ring of 8 has not been pealed.
Details of the Bells
1 Taylor, Eayre & Smith Ltd, Loughborough 2008 3-0-24 23.50" 1700.0Hz (Ab+40c)
2 Taylor, Eayre & Smith Ltd, Loughborough 2007 3-1-14 24.00" 1604.0Hz (G+39c)
3 Charles Carr, Smethwick 1926 3-1-05 25.125" 1428.0Hz (F+38c)
4 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1992 3-2-12 25.875" 1268.0Hz (Eb+32c)
5 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1992 4-0-08 27.50" 1133.0hz (Db+37c)
6 Joseph Smith, Edgbaston 1732 4-2-10 29.375" 1070.0Hz (C+38c)
7 Unknown (uninscribed), c1350 5-1-22 32.125" 953.0Hz (Bb+38c)
8 Thomas Newcombe II, Leicester c1580 8-1-08 36.50" 848.0Hz (Ab+36c)
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The Church - Looking East | The Church - Looking West |
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Plan of the Church |