Bidford on Avon

St Laurence 8: 14-0-24 in F (GF)

Grid Reference 150/101518 Bidford. Source: Mike Chester
Postcode B50 4DA
Affiliation Coventry DG
Peals Felstead Database
Sunday 0945-1030 (1st). 0915-1000 (Rest) – check
Practice Tuesday 1930-2100 – check

History

This is a pretty village built, obviously, by the River Avon. It is worth spending a while resting here. Lots of open space and decent pubs! The church is in the centre of the village and is easy to find. Don’t be fooled by the photograph; behind that tree is the market place! The church consists of a chancel with a north vestry and organ-chamber, nave, north and south aisles, north porch, quire vestry in place of a south porch, and a west tower. The chancel, west end of the nave, and west tower date from about 1250. The nave was long and narrow and may (in part) have been on the lines of an earlier nave, but no 12th-century details remain. In 1835 it was widened for about two-thirds of its length and aisles of the same length were added, with arcades of three bays. The chancel was restored in 1886–9 and the roofs in 1922.

The bells are now a fairly easy going ring of 8 that are rung from the ground floor, behind a nicely carved screen.

In 1681 the existing bells in the tower were recast into 5, probably by Richard Keene of Woodstock, tenor being around 9cwt. Subsequently these were replaced by a ring of 6, cast by John Rudhall in 1791. The old tenor weighed 13-1-13 when cast. They arrived in Bidford by river on 23rd February 1792.

The previous frame arrangement was described: “Bells hung awkwardly in two tiers, the upper three very difficult to reach”, by Tilley, writing in 1878. He recorded the inscriptions as:

The Inscriptions

Only one peal was rung on the ring of six:

Bidford First Peal

The following letter was printed in The Ringing World of November 20th 1953:

“BIDFORD-ON-AVON
Dear Sir,—The bells of the Church of St. Lawrence, Bidford-on-Avon, which were cast in the year 1791, have not featured in the peal columns of ‘ The Ringing World ’ for many years, in fact only one peal has been rung in the last 25 years owing to the bad ‘ go ’ and the bells not being in peal form.
They have, however, been rung regularly for Sunday services and occasional practices until a few weeks ago, when it was considered unsafe to ring them in their present condition. Examination by experts confirmed this.
It is hoped to have the present ring of six bells retuned and rehung in an all metal frame with the addition of two treble bells.
An appeal for £1,500 is being made in order that the work may be put in hand as soon as possible. The ringers themselves will try to raise £100 towards this sum. If any of your readers feel that they would like to support this fund donations would be very gratefully accepted.—
Your truly,
A. T. SHOREY,
Captain of Ringers.
Steppes Piece.
Bidford-on-Avon,
Warwickshire.”

The tower is small and therefore the bells are on two levels.  The third, seventh and tenor bells are in the lower frame, which is an H-frame, layout 3.3. The rest are in the upper frame, which is a lowside frame, layout 5.12. The frames and fittings are all by Taylors, 1954. The four old bells were one-eighth turned, as they had been quarter-turned by Messrs Webb and Bennett of Kidlington, Oxon, who rehung the 6 in July 1908.

The first quarter peal on the ring of 8 was rung in February 1955,

First QP

and the first peal was rung in July of 1955:

First Peal on the 8.

The inscriptions on the Taylor bells are:

Treble TO THE GLORY OF GOD
IN MEMORY OF
ELLA MARY FAIRE
(JULY) 1954
S.G. FAIRE
P.G.E. FAIRE
1954
2 TO THE GLORY OF GOD
PRESENTED BY THE BARRON BELL TRUST
1954
EMMA BARRON, FOUNDER
H.W. ELDRED
K.C. WALROND
E.R. PENNELL
TRUSTEES
3 (original inscription)
(Taylors mark)
RECAST 1954
Tenor (original inscription)
(Taylors mark)
RECAST 1954

There is a small brassfoundry bell of 1878, 15.88″ in diameter, with an argent, and sounding the note “A”. It used to hang in St Matthew’s Church, Broom, Warwickshire.

There is plenty of on-street parking by the church.

Being on the edge of the Coventry Guild and the Worcester & Districts Association this tower has links with both. Here is a link to the W & D entry for Bidford

Details of the Bells

1 John Taylor, Co, Loughborough  1954   3-3-12  26.00″  1381.0Hz (F-20c)
2 John Taylor, Co, Loughborough  1954   4-1-10  26.875″ 1279.0Hz (E-53c)
3 John Taylor, Co, Loughborough  1954   4-3-06  28.50″  1156.0Hz (D-28c)
4 John Rudhall, Gloucester       1791   6-0-01  32.00″  1030.0Hz (C-28c)
5 John Rudhall, Gloucester       1791   6-0-06  32.00″   912.0Hz (Bb-38c)
6 John Rudhall, Gloucester       1791   6-3-06  34.125″  860.0hz (A-40c)
7 John Rudhall, Gloucester       1791   9-2-24  38.125″  765.0Hz (G-42c)
8 John Taylor, Co, Loughborough  1954  14-0-24  43.00″   683.0Hz (F-39c)

Details of the Previous Bells

1 John, Rudhall, Gloucester      1791   5½cwt
2 John, Rudhall, Gloucester      1791   6cwt
3 John, Rudhall, Gloucester      1791   7cwt
4 John, Rudhall, Gloucester      1791   8cwt
5 John, Rudhall, Gloucester      1791   9¾cwt
6 John, Rudhall, Gloucester      1791  13cwt

Photo Gallery

Bidford on Avon East. Source: Mike Chester Looking West. Source: Mike Chester
The Church – Looking East The Church – Looking West
The Sanctuary. Source: Mike Chester Ringing Chamber. Source: Mike Chester
The Sanctuary The Ringing Chamber
Rehaning 1954. Srouce: Evesham Journal and Four Shires Advertiser
Rehanging the bells in 1954.
L-R Jack Moore (ringer), Arthur Shorey (Tower Captain), W. Thorold (Taylors bellhanger)
Frame Layout 3.3 Frame Layout 5.12
The layout of the lower frame The layout of the upper frame