A Visit to St Peters Church Tower
Kinver resident Boxfrenzy reveals the hidden and unseen side of St. Peter’s Church, high above the village of Kinver.
Come on, don’t forget to close the lychgate behind you.
We’re going up the ancient sandstone tower, up the tight, twisting staircase.
First stop, the ringing chamber, moved up here from the ground floor at the turn of this century. There was no room here before.
The bells are “down” at the moment, and the bellropes are tied up, out of the way. The fluffy, brightly coloured bit is called the sally.
Next floor up, the clock room.
Not much in here. Some tools, the clock mechanism and the bell ropes.
And a very old ladder.
The clock mechanism. The large notched wheel on the left is the hour hand, the small single hand is the minute hand. In the last ten years the clock is now automated; before it needed to be wound by hand once a week. Big picture so I don’t have to type out the history.
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Let’s wind our way up the stairs until we get to the belfry, shall we? Poor pictures as nowhere to put a tripod i’m afraid.
There are eight bells here, rehung in April 2000. The original six were cast in 1746 at Gloucester, with the two lightest ones being added in 1920 after being cast in London.
The 12cwt tenor, tuned to F# was the last to be recast in 1999 at Loughborough. The inscription reads “Joy, recast for the third millennim of our Lord 1999″
“We were rehung in 1920 when Peace and Goodwill joined our chime” That refers to the treble and the second bell, the two lightest bells.
You can see the bell ropes, tied onto the bell wheels here. At the moment, the bells are down. When they are up, they are balanced upside down. The wheels spin, and the bells with them.
Enough of that, next stop, the top of the tower. Don’t be expecting a fantastic cityscape, as we are in the country here.
Below, Kinver High Street winds its way parallel with the River Stour.
The clock strikes 10.30 and we leave for a well deserved beer.
Reproduced with kind permission of Kinver resident BoxFrenzy
Further information
The peal of St Peter’s is tuned to the key of F Sharp at a frequency of 750 hertz
The original tenor bell cast by John Rudhall in 1790 was recast due to clapper wear by John Taylor to commemerate the millenium. The eight bells were turned, re-equipped with all new ringing fittings and hung in a new lowside cast-iron bell frame on a steel grillage by A C Berry of Malvern. The tenor bell was the last one to be cast at the Bellfoundry, Loughborough before the Millennium.
If you are interested in joining the Bellringers, then contact the Tower Liason Officer at St. Peter’s Church via their website. Practice nights are on alternate Wednesdays at 8.00 pm at either St. Peter’s Kinver or St James’s, Wollaston. Sunday ringing times: 9.00 am for 9.30 am service