OS: SP153633
Wootton Wawen, St Peter
The Parish Church of St Peter in Wootton Wawen is the oldest Church in Warwickshire dating back to the first decades of the eighth century and is also known as The Saxon Sanctuary. It is easy to find on the North side of the A3400 and has a small car park. Access to the ringing room is from the outside of the tower on the North side of the Church. A short flight of rather worn wooden steps [photo] leads into a spacious, white painted, ringing room with 2 small windows.
I visited for the first time on Saturday 5th July 2008 as part of our 2008 tour. I rang most of the bells and they all went very nicely. The length of the pull is quite short which makes them easy to control.
The Bells
The tower has a ring of 6 bells with a tenor weighing 10-2-6 in F♯. Dove's Guide includes details of the bells at St Peter. For some reason Dove's Guide does not include information on bell inscriptions so they are shown in the following table. The peal was rehung in a new frame in 1955 by John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough, who recast at that time the treble and fifth that had long been cracked.
| Bell | Note | Diameter | Weight | Inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Dove's Guide to the bells at St Peter |
John Morris, Henry Green Churchwardens Henry Bagley of Witney, made me, 1742 |
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| 2 | 1591. ABCDE, FGHIJK, LMNO, PQRS Made by Watts of Leicester |
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| 3 | J. Rudhall, Gloucester, fecit 1803 | |||
| 4 | 1794. Made by T. Rudhall | |||
| 5 | Thos. Haynes and John Buffery, churchwardens 1761. Made by T. Rudhall |
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| Tenor | John Moore, rector. Job Fisher, Joh Attwood. C.W. 1710. Made by Richard Sanders |
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The Coventry Diocesan Guild of Church Bellringers also have information on the Wootton Wawen Parish Church of St Peter.
