Heritage Weekend 2016
The tower at All Saints church is a visible reminder of centuries of our heritage. Visitors are welcome to the church, and the ringers at All Saints are proud to share their heritage of English style bellringing with the community.
Public ringing
All Saints church tower, Wiltshire Road, Thursday 8th September, 6pm – 7pm
Thousands of bellringers across the country on the evening of Thursday 8th September to mark the opening of Heritage Weekend 2016. All Saints Wokingham ringers will be joining them in an initiative of the Central Council of Church BellRingers which has teamed with the national organisers of Heritage Open Days to make bell ringing a special this year's activity.
The ringing in Wokingham will include a quarter peal - a continuous performance that takes between 45 and 50 minutes. The main performance will be preceded and followed by a short period of ringing during which the bells are raised from their safe rest position to their ringing position and then lowered again afterwards.
The method (tune) to be rung will be posted here before the Heritage weekend.
Tours of All Saints bell tower
All Saints church tower, Wiltshire Road, Sunday 11th September, 1pm - 5pm
The tower will be open, giving members of the public a rare chance to see inside this historic bell tower.
Tours will include:
- Visit to the clock room to see the works of the restored 1827 turret clock
- Visit to the bell chamber to see the restored ring of 8 bells, the oldest of which are 300 years old
- Visit to the tower roof to see one of the finest views over Wokingham and the surrounding countryside.
Please note that the tour involves climbing spiral steps to the full height of the tower (about 70 feet).
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The church and churchyard
The church is a grade 2* listed building with many interesting historic features. It is open to the public on most days and will be open during the tower tours on the Sunday.
The churchyard is the largest green space in the centre of Wokingham. The churchyard's traditional function is a graveyard, and it has headstones and monuments going back several centuries. In recent years it has been developed as as a community resource as a place of quiet reflection and a habitat for diverse wildlife. It has a collection of many tree species and the vegetation is managed to provide different wildlife habitats with some areas regularly mown and others allowed to grow to provide a richer habitat for wildlifeies of tree is also home to Visitors are also welcome to look round the 7 acre churchyard, which includes many historic memorials, as well as areas devoted to the encouragement of wildlife, and some magnificent old trees.
Living Heritage
Copies of the book 'Living Heritage – 300 years of bells, ringing and bellringers at All Saints Wokingham' will be on sale during the afternoon. See more information.