St Mary Magdalene
New Bells for Richmond
raised of £220,000 target
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 £200,000 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.
A Foothold in the Future
- Febuary 2026 -
Hugh Bonneville opens
A Night at the Movies
The church of St Mary Magdalene was transformed into a cinema for a special screening of the bell ringers whodunit Ring Out Your Dead on February 6. The event, that attracted a full house audience of 150 people, including Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney, was a gala fund raising evening in aid of the New Bells for Richmond campaign.
The film was originally made for the ITV television series Midsomer Murders featuring Hugh Bonneville who sent a message of support from the Aldwych Theatre where he is currently starring as C. S. Lewis in the play Shadowlands.
The special guest at the St Mary’s screening was John Harrison from Wokingham who taught six of the Midsomer actors to ring. He is a ringer of 60 years’ experience and in his introduction he gave a brief explanation of the bell ringing process as well as sharing some stories from the film set.
There was a buoyant feeling in the church when it was announced that fund raising for the new bells had passed £170,000 towards the target of £220,000. The order for the new bells has now been placed. They are due to ring out over Richmond before Christmas.
- January 2026 -
Richard E Grant Backs New Bells
Distinguished actor and local resident Richard E Grant is supporting New Bells for Richmond. Smiling through the winter weather, he stopped by St Mary Magdalene church to give a boost to our fund raising. Richard, currently featured in the thriller Nuremberg, loves the sound of church bells.
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