The Bells of St Peters

St Peters has a ring of five bells, and as is usual for village churches not
all the bells are the same age. The details of the individual bells are
shown below.
Bell
|
Date
|
Foundry
|
Weight
|
Note
|
Tenor
|
c.1480
|
Salisbury
|
6 ¼ cwt
318 Kg
|
A
|
Fourth
|
1631
|
John Danton, Salisbury
|
5 ½ cwt
280 Kg
|
B
|
Third
|
1636
|
John Danton, Salisbury
|
4 ¾ cwt
242 Kg
|
C#
|
Second
|
1776
|
Robert Wells, Aldbourne
|
5 cwt
252 Kg
|
D
|
Treble
|
1875
|
Mears & Stainbank, Whitechapel
|
4 – 2 – 14
225 Kg
|
E
|
The three oldest bells are listed by the Council for the Care of Churches as
being worthy of preservation.
The frame the bells are mounted in is interesting for although the current
church is Victorian the part of the frame housing the three oldest bells appears
to be of medieval date and presumably must have been moved from the previous
tower and reused. The part housing the treble and second bell is later,
probably dating from 1776 when the number two bell was added. A recent
engineer’s report states "There are relatively few medieval bell frames
surviving in the country and thus that at Over Wallop is of some antiquarian
interest".
In 2003 the bells had some remedial work carried out on them which involved
the bells being dismantled from the frame, the bearings overhauled, the cast-in
crown staple stumps were removed and the ringing circle was improved by turning
the fourth bell round on it mounting and changing the rope runs of the other
bells.
The bells were not rung regularly for the last twenty years of the 20th
century, but at the millennium interest was revived and a band was formed to
ring them again. Although there have been several changes of ringing
members the band continues to ring the bells for services and weddings.
Practices are held on Wednesday evenings at 7.30.
|