St Mary Magdalene
New Bells for Richmond
raised of £240,000 target
- March 2026 -
Bell ringing comes to the May Fair
Now Donald Trump joins our celebrity supporters
Visitors to the Richmond May Fair will have a new attraction this year. They can have a go at bell ringing.
As part of the New Bells for Richmond campaign, the ringers of St Mary Magdalene parish church have hired a mobile belfry that will be erected on the Green giving everyone a chance to learn about ringing and pull on a rope.
Parents, children, passers-by of all ages can join experienced ringers to make the sound of bells.
The six bells in the Touring Tower have been made by Taylors bell foundry in Loughborough and are a miniature version of the bells that are rung in church towers throughout the country.
Roger Booth, chairman of the Mobile Belfries Trust that operates two mini-rings, says that over the past 20 years hundreds of people, many of them youngsters, have had their first experience of ringing on the light bells of the mobile units.
One of the key aims of Richmond’s new bells campaign is to attract and encourage young people to develop an interest in learning to ring.
Saturday May 9 could be the day that for some people a lifetime’s interest struck its first note.
The brilliant Rory Bremner has taken time out from preparing his new British tour to send us a message from the American president.
The satirist and impressionist joins a growing list of high profile people who are helping the fund raising campaign for New Bells for Richmond.
Here we get Donald Trump’s take on behalf of St Mary Magdalene parish church. It comes with an invitation to visit crowdfunder.co.uk/new-bells-for-richmond where donations can be made. The new bells are due to be installed in time for Christmas.
Rory Bremner is touring Making an Impression from May 10 to June 6
We're Half Way There
The bells of St Mary Magdalene, Richmond have rung out their last Christmas. Fund raising for a new set of bells passed the half-way point in December and in January 2026 the order for five new bells was placed. We expect the old bells will be taken out of the tower in the summer and the new ones will go in before the end of the year.
The Richmond ringers are immensely grateful for every contribution as they enter the next stage of their campaign.
The target is £240,000 and if that is surpassed it will be possible to refurbish the ringing room and restore the historic peal boards that record ringing feats going back to the 18th century.
New bells are needed because the old ones are mostly clapped out. Happily, the three oldest bells, cast in 1680, are the best quality in the tower so that link to history will survive as they retain their place alongside five new ones to produce a more tuneful ring of eight.
The new bells will be made by Royal Eijsbouts, the world’s largest foundry, at their works in Asten, Holland. This is the company that made the Olympic bell for the 2012 London Olympic Games and the 6-ton bell Marie, made to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
Crucially, the new bells will be easier to ring, giving learners the opportunity to flourish so that St Mary Magdalene can play its part in securing the art of ringing for centuries to come.