Studley Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary 8, 11-1-9 in G
| Grid Reference | 150/081637 |  |
| Postcode | B80 7AB | |
| Recording | None Available | |
| Affiliation | Coventry DG | |
| Peals | Felstead Database | |
| Sunday | 0915-1000 | |
| Practice | Thursday 1930-2100 |
History
This church is right on the western edge of the Diocese. It is set just outside the main part of the town and can be missed by the unwary traveller. Look for the signpost (the bottom one of 3) pointing east near the north of the village.
The church consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle, and west tower. The church dates from the early 12th century and the nave preserves the original north wall, with herringbone masonry, a doorway, and a window of the period. Early in the 14th century the south aisle was added with the arcade of three bays. The chancel is probably part of the same work but seems to have been rebuilt, or remodelled, in the 15th century. The west tower was added in the 15th century, but the top part of it is later work of the same century. It seems to have had no doorway before one was inserted in the west in the 16th or early 17th century. The roofs are hidden by modern ceilings but there is a record on a tablet that the body of the church was ceiled in 1723. The church was restored in 1888, and again in 1935, when the 12th-century window in the north nave wall was discovered.
A complete ring of 5 by Matthew Bagley, the bells were rehung in a new cast iron lowside frame and fittings for six by Taylors in 1957. The listed back 5 bells retain their canons and have been quarter turned, while the others were cast with flat tops. The previous frame - most unusually - had five parallel pits (treble to tenor in a row from south to north) which explains the ropes hanging in a straight line. The narrow gallery behind the organ from which the bells were rung, lower down the tower than the present ringing room only dates from 1888, having been put up when the old west gallery was removed.
The bells here were augmented to 8 in 1999 and first rung as an octave for the new Millennium. This required a rearrangement of the existing frame, only bells 4 and 5 (now 6 and 7) staying in the same pits, and an extension to it. The work was carried out by Arthur "Bill" Berry using Taylors castings.
Ask to see where the bells used to be rung from - you will easily spot that the original five used to hang in a straight line!
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 Studley
Details of the Bells
1 John Taylor, Bellfounders Ltd, Loughborough 1998 4-0-07 25.00" 1570.0Hz (G+2c)
2 John Taylor, Bellfounders Ltd, Loughborough 1998 4-1-11 26.00" 1481.0Hz (F#+1c)
3 John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1957 4-0-20 26.875" 1323.0Hz (E+6c)
4 Matthew Bagley I, Evesham 1688 5-1-22 30.25" 1178.0Hz (D+5c)
5 Matthew Bagley I, Evesham 1688 5-3-11 31.625" 1050.0Hz (C+6c)
6 Matthew Bagley I, Evesham 1688 6-2-10 33.00" 991.0Hz (B+6c)
7 Matthew Bagley I, Evesham 1688 8-0-02 35.75" 883.0Hz (A+6c)
8 Matthew Bagley I, Evesham 1688 11-1-09 39.75" 786.0Hz (G+4c)
Photo Gallery |
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| The Bells | The Church - Looking East | The Church - Looking West |
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