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...At
the present time the tower of St Peter & St Paul has six
bells. In 1546 the tower was known to have four bells which
were rehung about this time. By 1552 there were five bells
and a Sanctus. Miles Gray III of Colchester recast at least
four of the bells in 1663, three of them - the third, fourth
and tenor - survive today. Richard Phelps recast the second
bell in 1721 and in 1781 William Chapman of Whitechapel added
a new treble bell. As the last major works to be done was
in 1889 by Bowell of Ipswich, by the Millenium, the bells
and the frame were desperately in need of renovation, an extremely
expensive project. In addition, the old tenor bell was found
to be in such a state of disrepair that it had to be replaced
with a new 10cwt bell. The old tenor bell can be seen in the
right foreground of the second photograph below.

Above
- the bell chamber prior to the rehanging of the bells in
2004

Above
- the removed bells in 2004 prior to being collected for renovation
In
2002 fundraising to do the necessary work began. After 2 years
hard work, with the help of grants and local fund raising events,
the monies were raised and the refurbished bells together with
the new tenor bell were rehung by Whites of Appleton on the
existing frame which was repaired and strengthened . The old
tenor bell was sound welded and was also hung in the sound chamber
which is below the bell chamber. The old tenor bell is occasionally
used as a tolling bell at funerals. In recognition of the work
to raise funds by the people of the parish and church, the new
Tenor is inscribed:
Parishioners
and visitors are able to view the bells ringing via close circuit
TV in the welcome area near the main north entrance.

If
you would like to try bell ringing please contact Steven Clarke
(see below) for more details. If you are fit and healthy you
are never too old to try something new! Anyone can ring from
age 12. We have a wide age range in our own team.
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Shrove Tuesday 2016 ~ pancakes in the ringing
chamber
Our
happy team of ringers practice on most Tuesday evenings from
7.30pm. We aim to ring one quarter
peal each month and peals from time to time which often mark
special local or national occasions or events.
If
you are just visiting the parish or you are already an experienced
ringer or team of ringers, you are most welcome to come along
and ring our bells by arrangement. Please do get in touch with
either Steven Clarke or Ruby Hills below.
Contact Tower Captain, Steven
Clarke 07774 037 316
Email address stevenclarke292@btinternet.com
Deputy Tower Captain, Ruby
Hills 01255 821526
Our tower is part of the North East Essex Association
of change ringers. Fot more inforamtion go to:
www.eacr.org.uk/ne-eacr/
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Pictured
left is the stained glass window in the Bell Ringers Chamber
which was installed in March 2010 in memory of
CHRIS
PAGE, 1947-2007
Verger
of this church for many years.
The
window was made by Essex artist and conservator Benjamin
Finn (http://www.stpetersstainedglass.co.uk/contact.php)
The
window was featured in the BBC Songs of Praise programme
on 21st March 2010 - the same day that the window was
dedicated during a special service.
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