Please contribute the history of YOUR bells!
History Posts on this website
Film & informative snapshot of Winchester Cathedral belfry at C&S district practice. - With grateful thanks to Steve Hough for posting this on our facebook page. Well worth a watch.
Ringing for Peace: Document/Poster - Please see the document/poster via the link below. As part of the ringing initiative, Ringing for Peace, please print copies of these out, to display/make accessible to congregation members. All you need to do is change the email address so it is relevant to your tower. If anyone needs assistance doing this, please let me … Continue reading Ringing for Peace: Document/Poster 
100 Years On… We Do Remember Them - Members of Brading, Shanklin and Ryde bands assembled at St Mary’s Church, Brading, on Sunday evening to remember the family member of one ringer. 100 year’s ago to the day at the age of 35, William Brett, the grandfather of Jill Taylor, was killed in action during World War I, leaving a widow and Jill’s mother at the … Continue reading 100 Years On… We Do Remember Them 
A Piece of Curdridge ringing history comes home - The May issue of the Curdridge parish magazine had a piece called ‘Curdridge Reminiscence’, with various extracts from church records, several referring to the bells and ringing. One said that Alfred Pook, first Captain of the bell ringers, was presented with a tea set on his marriage in 1896, with each piece carrying a picture … Continue reading A Piece of Curdridge ringing history comes home 
Ryde Steps Back in Time… - All Saints’ Church, Ryde, was the venue for a visit from the Vectis 1940s Vintage group. After a talk in the ringing room about bells and bell ringing locally and Island-wide, particularly about what occurred during the war years, the group were taken up to the parapet for some spectacular sites of the Island and mainland … Continue reading Ryde Steps Back in Time… 
1940s Event at Ryde Sunday 7th May - All Saint’s Ryde will shortly host a 1940s style afternoon in the Church Hall. Open to all who would like a bit of nostalgia and history. Oh and CAKE as well!
Historical Notes on Ringing for the Departed (by Derek Jackson) - Our Guild was started on 20th June 1878 by two clergymen. Revs. Rev. Arthur du Boulay Hill and Rev. F.T. Madge. Both were ringers at Winchester Cathedral and both were Masters at Winchester College. The former was much more active and was appointed as the Guild’s first Secretary. He travelled to most areas of Hampshire … Continue reading Historical Notes on Ringing for the Departed (by Derek Jackson) - Records on Show for First Time - As Island Peal Recorder I can today announce that for the first time ever, a complete list of 2 volumes of Peals and 5 volumes of Quarter Peals on Island ringing will be available to view at the Arreton Striking Competition tomorrow. The Volumes date back to 1772 and are the first time an as … Continue reading Records on Show for First Time
- RYDE EXHIBITION OF HISTORY - You don’t need to comment but I became an exhibitionist this weekend… and here are the photos to prove it! If you didn’t see it and the William Rayner book from 1770, very kindly shown by Simon Dear of the Island Archive at Newport, then you missed an interesting afternoon. The first time in a … Continue reading RYDE EXHIBITION OF HISTORY
EXHIBITION AT RYDE (IoW) – Celebrating 130 Years of Ringing - During the weekend of 28th/29th May Ryde are hosting an exhibition of ringing to coincide with the Central Council meeting at Portsmouth. Ryde has been ringing for 130 years this year so we thought it time to do a history lesson and we’re hoping to include the records of Island ringer William Rayner, who died … Continue reading EXHIBITION AT RYDE (IoW) – Celebrating 130 Years of Ringing - DELVING INTO ISLAND BELL RINGING HISTORY - I have spent this morning at the Island Archive building at Newport delving through 250 years of Island bell ringing history with the tomes of William Rayner, very odd to think I may be the first to have looked at some of these pages in 200 years! His records go back to 1771 so history just … Continue reading DELVING INTO ISLAND BELL RINGING HISTORY
- Stoke Charity – Outcome of Inspections of bells – 2005 - These bells are hung dead rather than chiming only. These were once a ringable three. Tim Jackson
- A brief History of the bells at Brighstone by Steve Noyes - In 1740 the Brighstone bells were recast, rehung and augmented to five. The work was done by Joshua Kipling of Portsmouth, known as a good producer of moulds but a poor designer of bells. A brass gun which was housed in a ‘gun house’, at one time next to the north side of the tower, … Continue reading A brief History of the bells at Brighstone by Steve Noyes
- Bells stolen from Quarley Church - An unusual feature of Quarley Church is the arrangement of the bells, which are hung outside the building in a frame at ground level. The oldest bell is 13th Century, and has the makers mark, a small letter S, on the shoulder, and the inscription “Sancta Maria ora pro nobis”. The second is by J.D., … Continue reading Bells stolen from Quarley Church
- The History of the Bells at Christchurch Priory - The Tower contains a ring of 12 bells, plus a flat 6th semi-tone bell, dating from the end of the 14th century to 1976. The two oldest, two of the oldest in England still in use, were cast in 1370 by a John Rufford of Bedfordshire, who was appointed the Royal Bellfounder by King Edward … Continue reading The History of the Bells at Christchurch Priory
