Photo Gallery
History of the Steeple Aston handbellsThere is no record of when or why Steeple Aston Church first acquired handbells. The original set of 12 was undoubtedly cast as one set at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. In 1952 the then tower captain, Harry Adams, knowing of the existence of a set, determined to find them and get them back in use. They came to light in a shed in the back garden of an elderly resident, Miss Jordan. They looked and felt so disreputable that Harry soon declared they would have to be overhauled by the foundry. The P.C.C. loaned £17 for the purpose and that Christmas members of the Church bell team rang the handbells round the village and took a collection of£17-1-0.
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Christmas 1968 Maureen Smid, Richard Steel, Harry Adams (tower captain) and Peter Adams.
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| Every Christmas since then carols have been rung on the bells and money
collected. All running expenses of the Church Bells have been met from these
collections. In addition donations have been given to many local and national
charities inc.: Life Boats, Cancer relief, Children’s homes, local hospitals,
Church Restoration, Oxfam and various charities with which the ringers have been
associated. In 1965 three new bells were bought at a cost of £23-17-5 in order to allow more tunes to be played. Graham Clifton fitted new handles and clapper fixtures in 1978. In 1981 a jumble sale was organized which raised £180 to buy more bells. Unfortunately when we took our old bells to the foundry so that the new bells could be tuned to match in, it was found that the two larger bells were cracked. It cost £100 to have them recast.
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December 2000 The handbells being run at Dr Radcliffe's School by staff and pupils.
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| At a cost of £300 the bells were retuned to standard pitch in 1982. Four new
bells were added to the set at the same time these being sponsored by
parishioners. Since 1982 many people have donated bells, the last being in 2000 and we now have 29 bells in total, giving us almost two-and-a-half chromatic octaves. These were given to commemorate births, deaths, and anniversaries or as a gift to the Church. In 1994 two new purpose made cases were purchased to store the bells. The bells are the property of the Rector and Churchwardens of Steeple Aston Church. It has always been the prerogative of the Church Bell ringers to ring them, although occasionally ‘outsiders’ are brought into make up numbers. As well as ringing at Christmas we have rung at parties, weddings and concerts. Graham Clifton (March 2002) |
April 2002 Handbell band.
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