Site map Home Ringing at All Saints All Saints Ringers All Saints Tower Bell restoration Project Visiting All Saints Learning to Ring About Bellringing History of Ringing Articles Links Diary Contact us

Did you know? : All Saints bells are hung in a relatively rare type of iron frame, made by Webb & Bennett of Kidlington.


The Ringing Room

 The ringing room is where the ringers stand while ringing. At All Saints, this is a gallery open to the nave, unlike many towers where the ringers are hidden high in the tower. The gallery was dates from the 1869s and was part of a programme of extensive repairs and modification throughout the Victorian period.

The gallery provides some visibility of the ringing from the body of the church and it provides a good vantage point for two of the church's notable interior features: the splendid roof timbers  and the chalk pillars .

Ringing from an open gallery had two drawbacks: It used to get very hot when the church heating was runnung and it was impossible to hear the bells when noisy music rehearsals were held before services. Those peoblems were solved in 2016 by installing a glass screen in the archway , which protects the ringers from the heat and the noise while still providing a clear view.

The magnificant west window is the most striking feature of the room, filling one wall. It dates from 1885, and was erected in memory of Com. Elliott Mores. See the detailed pictures and description . It has no opening lights, which contributed to the excessive heat in the summer, especially on sunny afternoons. This problem was solved in 2020 by installing air conditioning, with the internal unit high on the north wall .

There are many stone Memorials – on the ringing room walls (pictures below) as well as five peal boards, several pictures and certificates from striking competitions .


Pictures

Click each to enlarge and move between pictures using the arrows.

10Gallery.jpg
View from the nave to the ringing gallery
NaveView.jpg
Nave viewed from the ringing gallery
3SouthAilse.jpg
Chalk pillars and south aisle from the gallery
4NaveRoof.jpg
The nave roof viewd from the gallery
lMay14c.jpg
Ringing
lApr14Above.jpg
Ringing practice viewed from above
94Spider.jpg
Rope 'spider'
96RopesFmBelow.jpg
Looking up at ropes hung on spider
2WestWindow.jpg
The west window
lWindowReflect.jpg
West window reflected in the screen
lScreenBaseSims.jpg
Base of the gallery screen
lIntUnit.jpg
Part of the north wall
93Visitors.jpg
Visitors
5SarahNashPlq.jpg
Sarah Nash & John Nash
6WilliamNashPlq.jpg
William Nash
7ENPlq.jpg
"E N'"
8AliciaWebbPlq.jpg
Alicia Webb & Henrietta Aspley
90IMPlq.jpg
"IM gave 40 shillings"
91HoltonPlq.jpg
Mary Holton
92BenBrownPlq.jpg
Benjamin Brown

Back to top Return to The tower Up to Clock room Down to Porch Return to Home page Feedback