"REDISCOVERING GREAT BRITISH HISTORY." I visited Stoke Minster's Tower, Stoke-on-Trent on Heritage Open Day 9 September 2023. The Bell Ringing Tradition was strong as they could be seen on the close circuit TV in the West Door Porch. The door to the tower was open and we could hear bells! There is a hidden space for the bell ringers and supporters up the tower.
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Christian worship has taken place here since Saxon times and continues to draw pilgrims today on the Two Saints Way. Dedicated to St Peter ad Vincula (St Peter in Chains), Stoke Minster is the civic church for the City of Stoke-on-Trent and reflects the rich history of the Potteries.
The Minster has a long tradition of bell-ringing going back in the old church to a date prior to 1553. When the ‘New Church’ was built in 1830 William & John Taylor were commissioned to cast “a complete new peal of bells for the new Church at Stoke”, which typically of the period, were hung near the top of the tower and of the maximum weight possible.
The damage caused by this exuberance led by 1969 to the need to reduce the weight of the bells and lower them by some 30 feet in the tower, thus reducing the lateral forces which were causing the damage. The final result is an excellent harmonically tuned, easy going, ring of ten bells with the tenor (the heaviest bell) weighing in at 17 cwt.
The bells are rung “full circle” in the traditional English change ringing style; not easy to describe here but anyone interested will be made very welcome on Tuesday evenings from 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm at our usual practice or before the 10.30 am service on Sunday mornings to see how it’s done and perhaps have a go! Access is via a spiral staircase in the West Porch (the main church entrance).
Venue: Stoke Minster, Address: Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1LP.
New ringers are welcome with dedicated ringing school on Saturday mornings from 10.00 am.
Check website. www.achurchnearyou.com/church...
New ringers are welcome!
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