Bell Ringing Menu

Bell Ringing

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Prayer

Prayer for Lent

Lord as we enter a time of ‘journey’, travelling through the 40 days of Lent toward the cross on Good Friday, and the joy that Easter Day brings, help us to remember as we pray week in and week out, in the  words that Jesus taught his disciples;

That your kingdom come, and your will be done.

It’s  easy to say the words, far harder to mean them, for they are concerned finally not just with you but with us.

We ask that you help us to understand that your kingdom is not just in the future, but something that begins with us, here and now, so help us to recognise our role in bringing it nearer, through the love we show, the care for others that we display,

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen




 

Bell Ringing

 

Welcome to the Bells section of the website. If you are a bell ringer or just interested in bells, then this is the section for you.

My name is Glenys Fear and I’m the Tower Captain at Campsea Ashe. We have a friendly group of ringers of all abilities here and if you’d like to pay us a visit you’ll always receive a warm welcome. We normally practise ringing every saturday from 9.00 to 10.30 am and we are always delighted to receive visitors, but you may want to check we are ringing by phoning me on 01728 747177. Or send me an email from the Contacts and Links page.

I hope you will enjoy browsing through the bells and ringing section of the web site and we look forward to seeing you one day.

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Glenys Fear 

Tower Captain

 

History of bell ringing at Campsea Ashe

 We think that there have been four bells rung in Campsea Ashe Church from the mid sixteenth century. Little is known about the bells in the early days, but the inscriptions on the bells indicate they were cast in 1601, 1615, 1714 and 1729. Very sadly, the 1729 bell, cast by Thomas Gardiner of sudbury, was stolen in 2010, along with eight other bells, from the Bell Hangers works whilst it was being restored.

However, for most of the twentieth century the four bells were silent and neglected. We know that they were rung by a band from Blaxhall in 1907, again in the 1970s and possibly on a few other occasions. The tenor bell was chimed, however, for many years. The Churchwarden had responsibility for this and he did his duty most Sundays.

With the Millennium in mind, and with the help of private donations and some grants, a group of local ringers decided to undertake some essential restoration, just to enable the bells to be rung again. This was successful, although the bells had a reputation for being somewhat “out of tune.” The local band, mostly beginners at that time, held a weekly practice and rang for Services and Weddings.

Some ten years later we decided to undertake a full restoration of our bells and to augment them to make a peal of six bells. You can read about the Restoration Project on the Bells Restoration page.