St Peter's Ropley

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On  Thursday 19th June 2014 a serious fire destroyed St Peter's, and left just the external walls standing. The bells were subsequenly salvaged from the tower and put in storage for safe keeping. The church has since rebuilt and reopened in August 2022.

Thanks to the generosity of many individuals and organisations, particualrly the Heritage Lottery Fund, the bells are scheduled to return in August 2024. Two of the bells were cracked as a result of the fire, but one has already been repaired by specialist welding, and the other is so badly cracked that it is being recast.

We are planning to trip to our bell-hanger, Matthew Higby's works in Somerset on 19th July to see them, just before they return. 

When they return, they will be put on display over a weekend, for all to see, before they are hoisted into the tower.

Over the summer holiday period, we also plan to teach a number of new ringers to augment our local band.

On Saturday 14th September we will also be participating in the Heritage Open Days festival, when you will be able to come and see our exhbition and find out more about the fascinating history of bells and bellringng in the local area. Experienced instructors will be on hand to give you a go on the tower bells, and there will also be handbell teams on hand to demonstrate tune-ringing and give you a go at that too.

If you would like to become a tower bell or handbell tune-ringer, at Ropley or one of the other churches in the Winchester Area, you can sign up for a course of lessons, either over the summer, or in the autumn. To find out more please complete this short questionnaire and we will be in touch.

If you are an experienced bell ringer and would like to help with our teaching sessions, you would be most welcome. To find out more about our plans, please complete this short questionnaire and we will also be in touch.

Listen to the bells ringing before the fire (click on the image below)

Tower & bell details (cccbr.org.uk)

To get in touch with us, please use the e-mail address ropley@bellringing.co.uk