OS: SO735471
Cradley, St James the Great
The Cradley Parish Church of St James the Great is at the end of Rectory Lane in the east of this large village. The church has Norman origins with a massive tower and is set in a large, attractive, churchyard. Inside the tower there is a timber and plaster wall that looks like an an original wall enclosed by the stone tower though this isn't believed to be the case. The real explanation was not evident. There is limited parking space on Rectory Lane.
Ringing is from the ground floor where there is plenty of space to ring the 8 bells in this huge tower. The ringing area open on to the nave but there is also a door to the outside on the south side of the tower.
2011-04-14 [ expand ]
I visited for the first time on Thursday 14th April 2011 as the fourth and last tower
[1st,
2nd,
3rd ]
of the 258th Mid-week Outing
of the
Four Shires Guild.
As the organiser of this trip I can finally relax and actually ring the bells. I started by ringing up bell #5 an rang the Tenor for some Rounds and Call Changes. I ended with a touch of Stedman Triples! A first for me though admittedly I was unaffected. A really good end to the first tour I have organised.
2017-07-01 [ expand ]
My second visit was on Saturday 1st July 2017 as the first tower of the Four Shires Guild annual tour. I was a little late arriving and only managed the one ring, a touch of Plain Bob Major on bell #3.
The Bells
The tower has a ring of 8 bells with a tenor weighing 13-2-20 in F♯. Dove's Guide includes details of the bells at St James with more information provided by the Hereford Diocesan Guild of bellringers. No information on the bells history or inscriptions was to be found.
