Bell Ringing
When do we ring?
On Sundays we ring for 30 minutes before each service, starting at 9:30am. We practise on Wednesday evenings, between 7:00pm and 8:30pm.
The Bells
| Date | Cast By | Weight | Diameter | Inscription | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treble | 1749 | Henry Bagley III | 4cwt 3qts 11lb | 29 ¾" | GULIEL: FREMAN AR: IN HAC PAROCHIA NATUS ME LEGAVIT MDCCXLIX |
| 2nd | 1612 | J Keane | 6cwt 2qts 26lb | 32 ¾" | God Save our King |
| 3rd | 1612 | Hugh Watts | 7cwt 2qts 9lb | 34 ½" | ABCDEFGHIKLMNO |
| 4th | 1612 | Hugh Watts | 11cwt 2qts 11lb | 35 ¾" | FeyRE GOD |
| 5th | 1622 | Hugh Watts | 11cwt 3qts 4lb | 40 ¾" | IHS NAZARENVS REX:IDVEORVM FILI:DEI MISERERE: MEI |
| Tenor | 1634 | Hugh Watts | 15cwt 2qts 20lb | 45" | IHS ANSARENUS REX IUDEO-RUM FILI: DEI MISERE MEI |
History of the Bells
The bells themselves date from 1612 to 1749. Until 1749 there had been only five but in that year George Freeman, a native of the village, gave a new treble and this gave the ringers of Ecton a chance to show their worth. A painted plaster panel in the ringing chamber records the names and heights of those who on 2nd April 1756 ‘rang the First Six Bell peal 720 upon 6 bells of the Parish’. They are all there, dressed in knee-breeches, stockings and buckled shoes, the tower master, presumably, distinguished by his frilled shirt, white stockings and the bunch of keys at his waist. Their bells are raised and their clay pipes and no doubt much needed liquid refreshment lie at hand on a bench. The feat was repeated when George III came to the throne in 1760 and then not again, it is believed, until 1926.