OS: SP000451
Cropthorne, St Michael and All Angels
Cropthorne Parish Church is situated in the village on Main Street. There is a large attractive church yard that is between the road and the River Avon. The ringing room, which is reached by climbing a fairly steep ladder, has plenty of room to ring with several seats and a sizable clock mechanism in one corner and has only one small window on the west side of the tower. There is one very large roof beam that span the room on its east/west axis and there are three smaller trusses that span north/south. A hole in the roof means the bells are quite loud.
I visited as a ringer for the first time on Monday 16th July 2007. Ringing is scheduled to start at 7:45pm though I arrived early and observed a new learner that was practicing. Eventually there 8 others ringers.
I started by ringing up bell #2, and during the evening I also rang on bells #3, #4 and #5. We rang call changes, in this tower they call to the back, and Plain Hunt on 5. I rang bell #3 for a couple of plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles. The bells were quite easy to ring. The ringers alternate their ringing with Fladbury and I will go visit them there one day.
The Bells
The tower has a ring of 6 bells with a tenor weighing ~10-0-0 in G. The history of the bells seems both vague and complicated. There isn't any accurate weights for the bells, an estimate appears to have been done by Mears when they did some work in the tower in 1893. Bells #2 and #5 were cast H. BOND & SONS of Burford in 1898. Bells #1, #4 and #6 were cast by Abel Rudhall in 1746, 1750 and 1746 respectively.
| Bell | Note | Diameter | Weight | Inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Dove's Guide to the bells at St Michael and All Angels |
WHEN YOU RING I SWEETLY RING 1746 | ||
| 2 | H. BOND & SONS FOUNDERS BURFORD OXON. 1898 | |||
| 3 | THOMAS HODGE MINISTER 1703 | |||
| 4 | WM. LOXLEY FRANS DINGLEY CH. WARDENS A R 1750 | |||
| 5 | H. BOND & SONS FOUNDERS BURFORD OXON. 1898 | |||
| Tenor | CHARLES TOVEY THOMAS GRAVES CHURCHWARDENS A R 1746 | |||
The Worcestershire & Districts Change Ringing Association have additional information on the Cropthorne Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels.
