Evesham Bell Tower

Evesham Bell Tower was built between 1524 and 1532 and includes an arched gateway through its base that led into Evesham Abbey. The Bell Tower is all that remains of what was Evesham Abbey which was destroyed in the 16^th century as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

I first visited Evesham Bell Tower in the late 1990's with my children for a look around. However, I rang them for the first time on Sunday 3^rd September 2006 after being invited to ring for "The Collation and Induction of the Rev'd Andrew Spurr as Vicar".

As might be expected the ringing room is large with plenty of room even when all bells are being rung. On the day the tenor was out of commision with a broken clapper. This didn't matter since we didn't have enough ringers to ring the 12 bells. My first ring was as the second on one of the rings of 8. Everything about the ringing was very nice, the bells were very easy to ring with a medium length pull and sounded delightful. I then rang the fourth bell in the lightest set of 6 and third in another set of 6. I ended by ringing down on the seventh in the other set of 8 bells. This was a very interesting experience.

On 14^th March 2007 I visited again and joined their practice. This was the first time that I rang on 10 bells! I rang number 7 using the lighter of the two rings of 10 (bells 1-10). Nothing complicated, just rounds and call changes but nonetheless a first for me. I also rang in one of the rings of 8 and managed a couple of plain courses of Plain Bob Doubles on bell #3.

The Bells

The tower has a peal of 14 bells! This enables a ring of 12, two rings of 10, 2 rings of 8 and 4 rings of 6. The original 12 bells (#1 - #12) were cast by John Taylor & Co. Bellfounders of Loughborough in 1951. The 13^th (#6^b) was cast in 1976 by Taylors. The final bell (#0) was also cast by Taylors in 1992.

The tenor weighs in at 35-3-20 in C♯. Additional information on the Bell Tower and bells can be found at Dove's Guide and WDCRA.