listen to the Goldhanger bells... |
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Rounds on 5 bells: |
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Call changes on 6 bells: |
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Plain Bob Doubles on 6 bells: |
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Half muffled bells 6 bells: |
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A complex method on 8 bells: |
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The Ellacombe Chimes: |
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Contents |
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History
of the bells |
open view of tower |
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1400
s |
The tower was added at the west end of the existing nave,
probably initially as a watch tower containing one bell. There is more about
the... history of the tower |
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1549 |
An inventory of "Church Goods" was made in this
year The following is included... iiij
greate bells hanginge in the stepyll with lettell sauncfcus bell |
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1657 |
The Church tower contained 4 bells. Two of the bells have
the date of 1657 and are inscribed: MILES
GRAYE MADE ME 1657 Miles
Graye was a bell foundry in Colchester |
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1781 |
Two of the bells in the tower are engraved with the date
of 1781 |
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1899 |
The date recorded when the bells upgraded to a peal of 6 |
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1908 |
The Ellacombe Chimes frame has a manufacturer's plate with
a date of 1908... |
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1909 |
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1910 |
A plaque in the bell tower of this date commemorates the
first peal on six bells by the local ringers. They were each given a silver
medallion by the Rector. |
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1914 -1918 |
The bells were tolled
many times during the Great War to mark the loss of young men from the village, including the loss of several bellringers. See.
the . . Great-War |
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1919 |
The Parish magazine reported . . . The Church
bells rang joyous peals for the return of thirty of our soldiers |
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1920 |
The tenor bell was tolled during the dedication of the
war memorial marking the loss of seventeen young men from the village. |
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1951 |
A new steel frame was installed to replace the old oak
frame and the bells were upgraded to a peal of eight. One of the bells came
from the redundant Church of St Giles in Colchester. The funds needed to
complete the work were collected over a period of five years, with regular
house to house collections organised using a 'payment card'. The amount
collected was entered onto the card so that a record of everyone's
contribution was maintained. |
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1951 |
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1951 |
The 8cwt tenor bell was re-cast in this year and is
inscribed and dedicated to the Revd Frederick Gardner
who was Rector from 1893 -1936. The Tenor bell being lifted: |
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The bell frame
since 1951 |
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1971 |
The Arthur Appleton Trophy is regularly awarded by the
local branch of Essex Bellringing Association to the winning tower of the
annual Striking Competition. It would have been made at some time after his
death in 1971. Arthur was an accomplished Goldhanger ringer, well known in
the district and an honorary member of the Essex Bellringing Association. The
plaque in our tower dated 1910 has Arthur's name on it as one of the six
rings who completed a peal of 5040 changes A medallion presented to Arthur by
the Revd. Gardner is embedded within the trophy. The trophy is still presented today to the winner tower
of the striking competition organised annually by the Essex Bellringing
Association. |
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1984 |
The Ernie Johnson Call Change trophy was constructed
using oak from the old Goldhanger bell frame by Tollesbury tower Captain Bob Leavett
to commemorated Ernie's life and achievements as a dedicated and well known
Essex ringer. The trophy is still presented today to the winner tower
of the local call-change competition organised annually by the Essex
Bellringing Association. |
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1992 |
The one hundredth peal was rung at St Peters to mark Tower
Captain Bernard Mann's 80th birthday, plus the 40 years since the upgrade to
8 bells and the 30 years Bernard had been the tower captain. |
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2005 |
In January 2005 the bellringers organised a fund raising activity
for those affected by the Indonesian Tsunami. Each afternoon the bells were
rung or popular tunes played on the Ellacombe Chimes
in response to requests from sponsors in the village. Over a two week period
several hundred pounds were raised. |
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2005 |
A radio programme entitled: Funeral of a Bellringer
was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 which recalled the ringing life of the former
Goldhanger Tower Captain, Bernard Mann. The programme has the voices of Rosemary
Mann, Bernard's widow, and other relatives, together with former Tower
Captains, Cyril Southgate (in his gentle, unique Suffolk/Essex burr), and the
late Ken Perry. A three minute audio extract of the programme is at. . . |
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2006 |
David Webb wrote a poem for a special bellringers' Church service... Oh what are you
ringing you Goldhanger ringers; Is it to Matins you
summon your friends; Who'll call the change
which will signal your ending, Who'll grasp the sally
as the tenor bell ends? How greatly your voice
can embellish a nuptial With tintabulation
from the treble you sing. T'is no coincidence
that the bride and her consort Are each proudly shining
their bright golden ring. Or is it the cry of a
baby new christened Will call each of the
ringers to loosen a rope To ring the godparents
and friends and relations To the thrill and
delight of Christ's message of Hope? Only one pair of hands
for the tolling bell is needed To say fond farewell
to a friend whom we love, But imagine the
tumult, of joy and of welcome, Which peals out from
the belfry in Heaven above. 'To God be the glory'
is our constant injunction, It's fixed in our
hearts by the hymn that we sing In nervous beginnings,
in practised performance, It
is only to you Lord, in praise, that we ring. |
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2008 |
A study of Improving the sound of
the bells was undertaken to analyse the difference between the sound
produced by some of the bells when full
circle ringing compared with the sound produced by the same bells using
Ellacombe chimes. The conclusion was that clapper
buffers fitted in the past had made a significant improvement, but most
had worn away and some new simple devices were fitted. |
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2014 -2018 |
As part of the commemorations of the
100th anniversary of Great War, the bells are being rung on the exact date
of the deaths of the nineteen men who are named on the War
Memorial. |
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2019 |
The bells are frequently rung by a local band and by
visiting ringers from around the country, who frequently take advantage of
the excellent meals and refreshments in The Chequers
just next door. The bells are regularly maintained and continue to be in good
working order but a programme of maintenance work has recently been initiated
to prevent any deterioration and possible breakages... • Reshrouding and resoling the tenor wheel • Refurbishing all rope pulleys • Welding new clapper staples onto each clapper and
rebushing them The
bellringers are currently raising funds for the work. |
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Ellacombe Chimes The Ellacombe Chimes is a device that enables one person
to ring all the bells. The mechanism was invented by the Revd. H.T. Ellacombe
in the Parish of Bitton, near Bath in the late 1800s. The device is in two
parts, a wall-mounted rack in the ringing chamber with ropes that go up to
the bell chamber, and counter-balanced under-hammers
that strike the rim of each bell. |
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During full circle ringing, the under-hammers must be
moved out of the path of the swinging bells. This is achieved by
disconnecting, or loosening the ropes on the rack in the ringing chamber. It has been said that Revd. Ellacombe devised the
mechanism originally so that all bells could be rung without involving a band
of unruly and drunken ringers! In St Peters tower however, several methods of
ringing and musical styles have been devised. From hand written music scores
preserved in the tower that date back to time when the bells and the chimes
rack were upgraded to an octave of eight bell in the 1950s, we know that the
chimes were used to play carols at Christmas and appropriate hymns during
Lent. |
An Ellacombe hammer is shown here |
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The Ellacombe Chimes in St Peter's Church is still
used today which is quite unusual. For example, during 2014 to 2018 the
chimes are being used to play appropriate music to commemorate the 100th
anniverary of the exact date of the death of each of the Goldhanger Great-War fallen. More information about
the Ellacombe Chimes, the history, how to set up and play it, examples of the
sounds, etc. is at... |
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