St Michael and All Angels' Church with St Eadburgha's Church, Broadway, St John the Baptist Church, Wickhamford
&  St Mary's Church, Childswickham

Earlier this year, Alison & Graham Lee and Matthew Turvey (from Childswickham's ringing team) took over the bell maintenance and organisation of ringing at St Eadburgha's, Broadway.

 

This, for a long time, had been undertaken by Chris Povey and Mark Newbury, but upon their retirement we were only too happy to see the bells looked after.

 

The bells of St Eadburgha's have a combined age of 1,702 years and it's fascinating to think of the events they have witnessed.

 

The earliest of the bells dates back to 1603, so it took the parish a good number of years to raise the money to replace the bells that were reputedly taken down and buried nearby to avoid being plundered during the dissolution of the monasteries, the manor of Broadway being in possession of Pershore Abbey at that time.

 

The bells of Broadway are notable for their weight, the heaviest bell, the tenor, in ' old money' is 18-1-16 (cwt-qtr-Ib), 934 kg in metric, this is considerably heavier than most rings of 6 bells in the area.

 

The biggest ringing complication comes from the fact that the bells are rung from the ground floor, so parishioners have to wait for us to move choir stalls in and out in order to access the bell ropes. Standing underneath the tower it is clear to see this wasn't always necessary as you will see evidence of a blocked up doorway and post holes for a floor - St Eadburgha's had an upstairs ringing room until around the 1st World War when work on the tower necessitated its removal.

 

It may have been noticed that the bells are rung more frequently than in the recent past.

 

As well as Alison, Graham and Matthew, a loyal group of ringers from local towers have been determined to see the return of Sunday service ringing at St Eadburgha's, as well as the usual ringing for weddings etc.

 

Every 1st and 3rd Sunday, from 5.15-6pm from Easter to Harvest the bells have called the faithful to prayer at our beautiful St Eadburgha's church.

 

We are keen to do this for as long as we are able to, so if you would like to take up this rewarding, exciting and sociable traditional art - please get in touch.

 

We hold our regular practices on Wednesday nights 7.30-9pm at St Mary's Childswickham, visitors are always welcomed.

 

Please get in touch with Matthew Turvey if you have any questions or would like to learn!