More News From The Belfry (7 April 1977)

To continue last week’s story of the bells . . .

No-one knows for certain how long there have been bells at Bletchley St Mary’s.  The Rev F W Bennitt, writing in 1924, assumed that the tower had been built in 1420 specifically to accommodate bells.  I think it quite likely.  But the only actual information we have is that left by the 18^th century rector, the Rev W. Cole.  Writing in 1760, he said that up to 1629 there were four large bells in the tower and that in that year they were taken down and recast into five.  Then in 1712 Dr Browne Willis decided to go the whole hog.

With some additional metal he had the five bells recast into six and added two trebles to complete the octave.

Ove the centuries there have been various recastings and returnings.  Even the bells and the ringers have not always occupied those parts of the tower they occupy today.  But we need not go into all that, nor into the various inscriptions on the bells.  Suffice it to say that the chief bell, the tenor, weighs 15½ cwts, that the eight bells together weigh over three tons, and that they are tuned to the key of F.

The present system whereby the bell performs a whole revolution is said to have been invented in this country about the year 1500.  Gradually, change-ringing was introduced, but the earliest known case of eight bells in a tower is of the date 1663.  During the next 50 years many towers had their bells increased from the customary five to eight and peal ringing became very popular in the large towns, the earliest record of a full peal being one rung at Norwich in 1717.

In later years the enthusiasm for ringing died down, but it revived in the latter part of last century with the formation of diocesan guilds or associations of church bellringers.  Members liked to ring in other towers besides their own and to cooperate with each other in the ringing of peals – as they still do.  Thus we find that the first peal at St. Mary’s was rung by the Beds Association in 1894.  The second was rung in the same year by another outside body.  The third, rung in 1899, had three Bletchley men in the team, but it was not until George the Fifth’s Coronation in 1911 that a peal was rung by an all-Bletchley band.

The records and details of all the 70 peals so far rung at St Mary’s are beautifully kept.  Interesting footnotes give the reasons why certain peals were rung, like that for Princess Anne’s wedding in 1973.  The details of a 1920 peal specially note that all the ringers were local railwaymen.

The earliest St. Mary’s peals were rung under the aegis of the Beds Association, but a North Bucks branch of the Oxford Diocesan Guild was formed in 1904 at Newton Longville and I have a pleasant memory of attending the branch’s jubilee celebration there in 1954.  The church was full of bellringers and after the service many of them queued to try the bells.

Bellringing up and down the country is apt to run in families, but the record of the Sear family at St. Mary’s will be hard to beat anywhere.  For the past 129 years St. Mary’s has never been without a Sear among its ringers.  In the south porch there is a memorial to Thomas Sear (1819-1880), his sons Redan (1861-1906) and Valentine (1850-1920), and grandsons Harry (1878-1964), Fred (1879-1958) and Walter (1885-1958), “all bellmasters and ringers of this church.”  The connection continues with Mr Raymond Sear, son of Walter. Valentine and his three sons were all in the team that rang a peal in 1901.  The one I knew was Harry.  He rang his first St. Mary’s peal in 1899 – the tower’s first to include Bletchley men – and his last in 1963 at the age of 85, when he rang the treble for 2 hours, 54 minutes of plain bob major.  He had then rung 57 peals on St. Mary’s bells.

Present bellmaster is Mr Roger Cadamy, who succeeded Mr Sear.  A local tradesman, he came to Bletchley in 1945 from that ringing stronghold, East Anglia.

But peal ringing is a speciality.  The main purpose of the bells is ringing for church services on every Sunday evening of the year.  Last year there was a 100 per cent attendance of ringers in that respect.  However, resources in personnel were sometimes stretched to the limit owing to holidays and sickness.  So Mr Cadamy cordially invites any erstwhile ringer among the new population, or any would-be trainee, male or female, “aged between nine and ninety,” to see him with a view to joining the band.  All he asks is that the pupil, having been taught, should then attend regularly.  Practices are held on Tuesday evenings.  So if you are interested, phone Bletchley 75221 and ask for Mr Cadamy.