Bredon's Norton, Chapel of Ease

The Chapel of Ease in Bredon's Norton is in the middle of the Village that itself is about a quarter of a mile East of the B4080. There is nowhere particularly convenient to park but there is space on the road just North of the Church. The Church is surrounded by properties and so, unusually in my experience, it does not border a road. There are pathways from both the South and the North that lead to the pleasant, quiet, but unremarkable Churchyard.

I visited for the first time on Saturday 14^th June 2008 with the WDCRA Southern Branch. This was the venue for the Quarterly meeting that also includes ringing, a service, and on this occasion, a picnic. Unfortunately, I had another commitment and could only be there for the first hour's ringing.

I arrived a little early and took the opportunity to take a look at the Church. It was nice to find that the Church was not locked so went inside to find a rather attractive interior. It is quite simple is style with an attractive stained glass window in the North West corner and a stained glass window in the Chancel that must be stunning as the sun rises and shines though it [photo]. While I could have sat in the Church and waited I decided to have a sit in the sun. I could not find a bench so sat on the grass. I imagine that some visitors would prefer a bench, as would I if it had not been a dry sunny day.

The ringing room is reached by climbing a short spiral staircase whose entrance is a small wooden door in the North east corner of the outside of the tower. The room is not as large as the outside dimensions of the tower suggest, the walls are very thick and there is also a very large clock mechanism. That said there is plenty of room to ring the six bells and some space for a few additional people to sit. There were only six of us at the beginning so I joined in ringing up and then had yet another go at a touch of Plain Bob Doubles. With a little prompting I made it through twice, once as observation on bell #3 and again affected on bell #3. More people arrived and they rang Cambridge Minor. I had one more attempt at Plain Bob Doubles and once again almost made it as both observation and an affected bell. I could not figure out if I was more annoyed at just missing it than pleased at almost succeeding! My expert colleagues then rang a Touch before the Service. At this point I had to leave. The bells seemed pretty straightforward to ring, there was certainly nothing odd about the couple that I rang.

The Bells

The tower has a ring of 6 bells with a tenor weighing ~6-2-0 in C♯. Abel Rudhall of Gloucester cast what are now the back 5 bells and all except bell #4 are dated 1738, bell #4 is dated 1739. A sixth, the treble, was cast by Mears & Stainbank of London and added in 1885.

Bell	Note	Diameter	Weight	Inscription
1	Dove's Guide to the bells at Chapel of Ease			In memory of Anne and Penelope Martin. Mears & Stainbank 1885.
2				Peace and Good Neighbourhood AR 1738
3				The Reverend Dr. Sutton Minister AR 1738
4				Prosperity to the Church of England AR 1738
5				A B Rudhall cast us all AR 1738
Tenor				To the Church the living call and to the grave do summon all AR 1738

The Worcestershire & Districts Change Ringing Association have additional information on the Chapel of Ease.