Stretton on Dunsmore

All Saints 6: 7-0-14 in B

Grid Reference 140/407725 Stretton. Source: Mike Chester
Postcode CV23 9NA
Affiliation Coventry DG
Peals Felstead Database
Sunday None
Practice Tuesday 7.30-9.00pm

History

Set just off the Coventry to Southam road, this is a very pretty village with a nicely kept church, near to a good pub!

The church is situated to the west of the village on the summit of a hill and stands in a large churchyard. It was completed in 1837 from designs by Rickman, and except for the addition of a choir vestry and a new east window inserted in 1936 as a memorial, it is unaltered. It is built of brick faced with stone ashlar and consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, west tower, vestry and choir vestry.

For many years the bells here were an unringable three. They were hung in an oak frame, with all bells swinging north-south, that predated the rebuilding of the tower in 1835-7. The fittings probably dated from this time. This remained the situation here until the early 1990s when the ring was augmented in stages to the highly satisfactory ring of 6 in an 8 bell frame, made locally to designs by Whitechapel, that they are today. The previous second of three was cast at the same time and by the same founder as the treble. This was the same year as when Smith cast a ring of 5 for nearby Brinklow. The fourth has had its canons removed and both old bells have been turned.

The position of the work on the bells at that time was noted in a “Foundry Focus” article in The Ringing World of October 1st 1993

Stretton on Dunsmore, W arwickshire. Another long-term project of which the first two stages are complete. Of the old three bells, the tenor and treble were tuned whilst a new bell was cast to form the 5th of a future ring of eight. The bells were provided with new fittings and hung in a new 8-bell frame built locally. More recently, the old 2nd was recast to form the future 7th, and provided with new fittings. The tenor weighs 7-0-14 in B.”

Details of the project were published in The Ringing World of April 15th 1994 and this article gives the inscriptions for all the current bells:

Stretton RW 1994
Stretton RW 1994

The weights of the bells as received at Whitechapel were:- 3-3-15, 4-0-16 and 7-0-23.

The inscriptions on the then ring of three are given in Tilley and Walters’ book, “The Church Bells of Warwickshire”

Stretton Inscriptions

The first peal on the bells was rung for the Coventry DG centenary in 2007:

Stretton First Peal

Park by the church wall and entry is via the west door of the tower.

Details of the Bells

1 Whitechapel, London       1993  2-2-19  22.50″  1658.5Hz (G#-3c)
2 Whitechapel, London       1993  2-2-25  23.50″  1480.5Hz (F#+1c)
3 Whitechapel, London       1992  3-1-14  25.25″  1321.0Hz (E+3c)
4 Joseph Smith, Edgbaston   1705  3-2-23  26.50″  1243.0Hz (D#-2c)
5 Whitechapel, London       1993  5-0-17  29.50″  1112.0Hz (C#+5c)
6 Hugh Watts II, Leicester  1620  7-0-14  33.25″   991.5Hz (B+7c)

Photo Gallery

Stretton East. Source: Mike Chester Stretton Sanctuary. Source: Mike Chester
The Church – Looking East The Sanctuary
Stretton West. Source: Mike Chester Stretton Tower. Source: Mike Chester
The Church – Looking West The Tower
Stretton Memorial. Source: Mike Chester Stretton Ringing Chamber. Source: Mike Chester
The War Memorial The  Ringing Chamber
Stretton Wheel. Source: Mike Chester Stretton Bells. Source: Mike Chester
A wheel from the former ring of three The Bells. The empty pits are at the far side and the top right of the photo
Stretton Tenor. Source: Mike Chester Layout 8.3
The Tenor – Showing its canon retaining headstock The frame layout