Church bells ring for an hour to mark bellringing guild anniversary

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 16 Oct, 06:08 · Archive

Four church towers in Devizes will ring simultaneously for an hour on Saturday to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the town's bellringing guild.

Four church towers in Devizes will ring their bells simultaneously from 10.30am on Saturday, October 17, in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Devizes bellringing guild. The event is not four simultaneous weddings, but a coordinated ringing of quarter peals – extended sequences of bell music – from St John's church near the town hall, St Mary's near the M&S roundabout, St James Southbroom and St Mary of the Virgin Bishops Cannings. Twenty-eight ringers, ranging in age from 12 to 84, will participate in the main event.

More than 40 ringers of all standards and ages from across the area will ring beforehand, involving towers in villages covering Devizes, Melksham, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury and Warminster. The ringers are members of the Devizes branch of the Salisbury Diocese Guild of Ringers, formed in 1901 to promote high standards of bellringing and the complicated performance of 'methods' – the musical patterns that enable extended ringing. The branch is one of the largest in the Guild, with 241 current members.

Mayor Vanessa Tanner will launch the 10.30am ringing at St John's. After the quarter peals, many members will gather for a photograph at the church, recreating an image taken for the branch's centenary in 2001. The bellringing guild is seeking new ringers and welcomes enquiries from interested people.

How it is being reported

• Why dozens of church bells around town will ring for nearly a full hourResidents of Devizes will hear four church towers ring their bells simultaneously for almost an hour.Wiltshire Times · 16 Oct, 05:00
• Why dozens of church bells around town will ring for nearly a full hourResidents of Devizes will hear four church towers ring their bells simultaneously for almost an hour.Gazette & Herald · 16 Oct, 05:00

In this story: Devizes · Salisbury Diocese Guild of Ringers · Vanessa Tanner · St John's church · St Mary's church · St James Southbroom · St Mary of the Virgin Bishops Cannings

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