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OS: SO960277
Bishop's Cleeve, St Michael & All Angels
The Parish Church of St Michael & All Angels [listing] is in old heart of Bishop's Cleeve, a large Cotswold village a couple of miles north of Cheltenham. It is set in a large, well maintained churchyard. I chose to park in a nearby car park behind the Royal Oak.
The church is cruciform in shape and the entrance to the central tower is from inside the church. Two stairways along two faces of the tower lead up to the ringing room. The upper of these stairways has rough hewn steps from solid timber. The ringing room is light and spacious. The pale coloured stone walls and four high windows contribute to the light, airy space. There is plenty of seating for those not ringing the 8 bells.
2012-07-25 [ expand ]
I visited for the first time on Wednesday 25th July 2012 to join their weekly practice.
When I arrived I found that several learners had been practicing raising and lowers bells for the past half hour. A new band being formed at Woolstone is receiving help at Bishop's Cleeve. I was asked if I would raise bell #7 and the Tenor. Bell #7 was no problem but the Tenor was towards the upper end of my experience raising bells and sometimes goes up wrong. As it turned out it went up quite straightforwardly. During the evening I rang every bell, mostly for Rounds and Call Changes and Plain Hunt. I also rang bell #3 for Plain Bob Doubles and bell #5 for a touch of Grandsire Triples. To finish of I lowered the Tenor. A most enjoyable evening.
2019-09-07 [ expand ]
The Bells
The tower has a ring of 8 bells with a tenor weighing 19-2-21 in Eb. Dove's Guide includes details of the bells at St Michael & All Angels. There is some additional information provided by The Gloucester & Bristol Diocesan Association of Church Bell Ringers.
| Bell | Note | Diameter | Weight | Inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Dove's Guide to the bells at St Michael & All Angels |
Mabel August Hemming Last Lay Patron 1951 |
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| 2 | Thomas Jesson Rector 1951 | |||
| 3 | Peter Cocks Gent and Thomas Beall Gent Churchwardens. |
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| 4 | Peace and Good Neighbourhood A.R. 1758 |
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| 5 | Thomas Barnard and John Tayler Churchwardens Thomas Paine James Cocks A.R. 1740 |
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| 6 | William Taylor Churchwardens. William Taylor Founder 1854 |
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| 7 | Prosperity to this parish. 1700 A.R. | |||
| Tenor | The liveing I to church do call and to the grave do summon all. J.H. | |||
| Sanctus | Abraham Rudhall Anno Dom. 1695 | |||
