St. James' Accrington
Bellringers Homepage

Introduction

Accrington St James' is one of four churches within the borough of Hyndburn (the others being St. Peter's and St Paul's, Rishton - 8 bells, Immanuel, Oswaldtwistle - 8 bells and St James', Church Kirk- 8 bells) which possess tower bells hung for ringing. Ringing takes place regularly at Accrington, both on practice nights and for Sunday services. Visitors are always welcome to join us at these times. However, it is advisable for visitors to confirm ringing arrangements before travelling.

Our bellropes at Accrington are always an interesting feature for visitors, as they are the Yorkshire type, with small sallies on the tail ends (See our Picture Gallery).

Our particular favorites on practice nights are Kent and Cambridge, as well as touches of spliced plain minor methods - Little Bob, St Clements and Plain Bob etc.

Accrington is a very popular tower for visiting peal bands. The tower is fitted with sound control and is away from residential areas of the town. Therefore peal requests can usually be accommodated. Being a light ring of twelve, peals can be rung relatively quickly and without great physical effort. The Yorkshire tails reduce the possibility of blistered hands. The peal fees for 2008 are Ł2.30 per rope and Ł1.60 for a failed attempt. The fee for a quarter is Ł0.75 per rope.

Tower Captain: Anthony Helliwell

OS Grid Reference: SD 760285 (1:63360 Map 95) See our Map Page

Practice night: Friday evenings 7:30 to 8.30 PM.

Service ringing: Sunday morning from 10.15 to 10.45 AM.

Contact Ian Benson by e-mail, or phone Anthony Helliwell on 01254 393740 / Fax 01254 382274 for more details.

The Church And Tower

Early records show that St James' Accrington was founded in 1546. A chapel was built on the present site, which lasted for 217 years. It was replaced in 1763 by the present building. In 1795 additional accommodation was required and a gallery was erected at the west end. In 1804 a further extension was required and the north wall was moved back 15 feet. The tower was built in 1805 and the first peal of six bells were installed. In 1915 electric lighting was first installed in the church. In 1996 a new roof was fitted to the church, after a major fundraising effort.

History Of The Bells

1805 A ring of six bells cast by Thomas Mears and Son of London, was installed in a wooden frame. Paid for by public subscription, the heaviest or tenor bell was 9½ cwt. in A. They were first rung on Christmas Day.

1905 The centenary was celebrated with a full peal of 5040 changes. This was the first full peal on the bells.

1953 The bells were recast as a ring of eight and hung in an iron frame by John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough. the new tenor weighs 11½ cwt. in G. A chiming apparatus was also installed to enable hymns to be played on the bells. The whole cost was defrayed by a generous donor.

1967 Two new trebles were installed. Again the cost was defrayed by private donation.

1973 A further new treble was added.

1974 The addition of a final treble made the ring up to a twelve. At this time they were the lightest ring of twelve bells in the country.

The tower is affiliated to theLancashireAssociation Of Change Ringers

Weights Of The Bells

Bell	Weight (Cwts,Qtrs,lbs)	Bell	Weight (Cwts,Qtrs,lbs)
Treble	2-2-3	Seventh	3-3-26
Second	2-2-26	Eighth	4-1-14
Third	2-3-7	Ninth	5-1-26
Fourth	3-1-16	Tenth	6-1-7
Fifth	3-3-12	Eleventh	8-1-5
Sixth	3-3-12	Tenor	11-1-14

Learning To Ring

New learners are always welcome. We have ringers of all ages amongstour members, and there is no age limit - just a need to be big enough tohandle a bell. New learners normally come to one of our practices to meetour ringers and see what is involved, and this is then followed by a fewindividual sessions with a silenced bell. Once sufficient bell control hasbeen achieved then a learner joins our normal practices.

We also welcome those who have learned to ring in the past either at Accrington, or anywhere else and who would like to resume bellringing. We are particularily keen to train new bellringers in time for the millenium celebrations.

Peal Ringing At Accrington

A peal on church bells needs to consist of at least 5000 changes. For the peal to count, it must not contain any false changes. A false change occurs when a particular combination of the bells occurs more than once in the peal.The peal must be rung in one session of ringing without stopping at all. A peal will take about 3 hours to ring. Many peals are therefore considerable feats of concentration and endurance.

Accrington St James' has a distinguished history of peal ringing. Many firsts have been achieved. A few selections from the peal record book are available to view.

Click the icon to view some selections from our peal book.

Accrington Ringers

Click the icon above to view a list of St James' ringers past and present.

Photograph Album

Click the icon above to view our photograph album.

Video Clips

Click the camera icon to go to the video menu.

Guest Book

Unfortunatly I have had to disable new guest book entries due to offensive material being put in it. The book can be viewed however. If you would like to make an entry please e-mail me and I will place it in for you.

Click Here To Make An Entry In Our Guest Book (disabled)

Click Here To View Our Guest Book