ANSLEY St Lawrence 6; 8-1-4 in G#
Grid Reference | 140/290526 | ![]() |
Postcode | CV10 0QR | |
Recording | ||
Affiliation | Coventry DG | |
Peals | Felstead Database | |
Sunday | 1040 | |
Practice | Wednesday 1945-2100 |
History
The village of Ansley moved about a mile away from the church when the plague struck Warwickshire, (you can still see traces of the buildings from the air) and therefore don't look in the present village for it! It is in Church End to the North West of the village, at the junction of the B4112 and B4114. The local church noticeboard and website use the alternative spelling "Laurence". Notice the number of differing roof levels.
There is a note of a church here in 1050AD. There is a possible connection to Lady Godiva in that she had several churches built in the area at this time that were dedicated to St Laurence, after Abbot Laurence, a trusted friend. The chancel arch is Norman and much of the nave is 12th century. The tower and clerestory are fithteenth century. That last part to be added was the North Aisle, in 1913. The differences in style and stone are most noticabe when viewed from the South - the same side as the carpark.
Formerly a ring of 3 these bells were rehung and augmented to 6 in 1976/7 and are a pleasant ring of 6 in good condition. The new frame is a composite "lowside" frame, with steel cills and frameheads with intermediate cast iron braces. The old frame is still in situ above the new one. It is a tall frame made of oak, consisting of cills, main braces, king posts, corner posts, and long frame heads. The old bells have had their canons removed, the trebles cast flat headed.
The inscriptions of the three old bells are given in Tilley and Walters' book, "The Church Bells of Warwickshire"
The three trebles are inscribed:
1 | PROVIDED BY DONATIONS & EFFORTS OF THE ANSLEY PARISHIONERS IN THE 1970s |
2 | PROVIDED BY BARBECUES HELD AT RED HOUSE FARM ANSLEY IN THE 1970s |
3 | PRESENTED BY FREDERICK & DAISY CARTWRIGHT IN MEMORY OF THE CARTWRIGHT FAMILY OF ANSLEY |
The work was reported in The Ringing World of August 18th 1978:
(Click to enlarge)
The first peal on the bells was rung for the Coventry DG shortly afterwards, but not printed in The Ringing World until February 8th 2013!
Entrance is from inside the church via the south door. Make sure that you are told the combination for the alarm system if you are given a key to let yourself in! There is a church car park on the south side of the church.
Details of the Bells
1 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1976 3-0-24 25.00" 1368.0Hz (E#-36c)
2 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1976 4-0-04 27.00" 1220.0Hz (D#-34c)
3 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1976 4-3-11 29.00" 1086.0Hz (C#-36c)
4 Thomas Newcombe II, Leicester c1580 5-2-03 31.375" 1026.0Hz (B#-34c)
5 George Oldfield I, Nottingham 1669 6-0-21 34.125" 915.0Hz (A#-32c)
6 Robert, Thomas & William Newcombe, Leicester 1609 8-1-04 37.25" 814.0Hz (G#-35c)
Photo gallery |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
The Church - Looking East | The west window. Note the boy holding a toy car at the bottom right! |
The Church Around the Turn of the 20th Century |