SS Peter & Paul 10: 14-0-24 in F#
Grid Reference | 139/201890 | |
Postcode | B46 3AJ | |
Affiliation | St Martin’s Guild | |
Peals | Felstead Database | |
Sunday | 0900-0930 & 1800-1830 | |
Practice | Tuesday 1930-2100 |
History
The oldest part of the current church dates from the 14th century, but the Norman font suggests a much earlier date for the foundation of the church. In the Anglo-Saxon period Coleshill was a “Minster” church serving a wide area. The church was extensively restored in 1868. All the external masonry was renewed and the plaster of the internal stonework was either scraped or replaced.
The church has a large tower and a tall spire. It can be seen for many miles around and it was used as a lookout post in WWII, being then the tallest vantage point in the area.
There were bells in the medieval tower. When the spire was struck by lightning in 1550 two bells were sold to pay for repairs. The spire was rebuilt some 5 metres shorter; it was rebuilt again in 1888. In 1720 Joseph Smith of Edgbaston recast the old ring of five bells as a five and added a new treble. The inscriptions at this time are given in Tilley and Walters’ book, “The Church Bells of Warwickshire”:
The ring was augmented to eight by Taylors in 1923 by the addition of two trebles. This mysterious note appeared in The Ringing World of August 31st 1923: “The peal of sis at Coleshill, Warwickshire, are shortly to be augmented to eight through the generosity of a gentleman, who, for the present, desires to remain anonymous.”.
The first peal on the bells was rung shortly before the augmentation:
The following appeared in The Ringing World of January 18th 1924:
The first peal on the 8 was rung shortly after the trebles were installed:
The back six were rehung on ball bearings by Taylor in 1933. The tenor was on a Barwell cast iron stock of c.1907, the rest on wooden stocks. (CJP)
The church was the “front page tower” in The Ringing World of August 29th 1975:
These bells were an anti-clockwise ring until 1977, when 8 new bells were cast around the existing two trebles and the whole ring was rehung in a new, clockwise, lowside frame. The Smith tenor had a scrapping weight of 12-2-22.
Two of the old ring of 3 at Nether Whitacre were bought by Coleshill when the ring of 6 from Hampton in Arden were installed in that tower, the metal being used to offset the costs of the augmentation scheme here.
The augmentation was reported in The Ringing World of June 2nd 1978:
The first peal on the 10 was rung the following year:
There is some parking in and around Church Hill, though this might be taken at busy times. There is a public car park of Church Hill.
Details of the Bells
1 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 3-2-22 22.875″ 1881.0Hz (A#+15c)
2 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 3-3-10 23.75″ 1676.0Hz (G#+15c)
3 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1923 4-0-00 25.125″ 1488.0Hz (F#+9c)
4 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1923 4-2-14 26.625″ 1404.0Hz (Ex+9c)
5 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 4-3-10 28.00″ 1247.0Hz (D#+3c)
6 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 5-0-26 29.50″ 1108.0Hz (C#-1c)
7 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 6-3-04 32.50″ 988.0Hz (B+0c)
8 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 8-0-17 34.375″ 931.0Hz (A#-2c)
9 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 10-1-22 38.00″ 828.0Hz (G#-5c)
10 John Taylor & Co, (Bellfounders) Loughborough 1978 14-0-24 42.375″ 734.0Hz (F#-14c)
Photo Gallery |
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Looking East | Looking West |
The Bells Removed: 1977 |