St Mary Magdalene
New Bells for Richmond
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The Vision for St Mary Magdalene
Our purpose has been to repair the present day and secure the future. As Richmond ringers, we have a responsibility to St Mary Magdalene parish church and to the wider community to provide the musical sound of bells.
The outgoing Richmond bells became less and less fit for our purpose. The bells were rehung in 1981 but the largest bell, the tenor, was always too big to run smoothly in the tower’s steel frame and the other bells were also difficult to ring. We lost more recruits than we retained.
To solve the problem, the Richmond bells had to be lighter to sit more comfortably in the frame. This means the tenor at 18.5cwt (bells are still identified using imperial weights) had to go – although the metal will be melted to make new bell
The table shows the new bells and the existing bells and how they will sit together to form a new ring of eight bells that will fit properly into the steel frame in the St Mary’s tower.
The final peal – a non-stop performance of 5088 changes of Plain Bob Major – was rung on the bells on November 24 2024
Our new bells will be installed by Whites of Appleton, a highly respected firm of bell hangers based at Appleton, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
The five new bells were made by Royal Eijsbouts, the world’s largest bell makers, at their works in Asten, Holland. This is the company that made the Olympic bell for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
When the new bells arrive at Whites they and the three 1680 bells, made by James Bartlet at Whitechapel, will be tuned in the key of G. This is a process of shaving away some of the metal to achieve a perfect octave.
The finished bells will be on display at St Mary’s for viewing and a blessing. The work is scheduled for completion by Christmas 2026.
Once the new bells are in place, some of the redundant bells will be kept in the church to stimulate interest in bell ringing.