We are a group of all ages who meet to ring the bells for a weekly practice ahead of Sunday service ringing. We aim to have fun while developing our skills and learning new methods. We ring full-circle English Change-Ringing. We operate an open door, and visitors and learners are very welcome.
Our normal Friday practice start time is 7:30 pm, but we sometimes we will start at 7 pm in case we need the extra time, but ordinarily this extra 30 minutes is not used. At our practice we aim to develop all our ringers to help them meet their potential and having fun while doing so. We seek to polish pieces we ring for Sunday service and other times, like wedding ringing.
You don’t need to be big and strong: it’s all about good technique, and we’ll teach you that.
It’s even a myth that you need to be mathematical… unless you include counting from 1 to 6, and back again! There is no maths needed. A sense of rhythm or pulse is required, and again, we’ll teach you that.
We have a lovely sounding peal of 6 bells in a tower designed for 8 bells.
The 4th, 5th and 6th (tenor) bells were cast in 1903 by Taylors of Loughborough and were the main part of the original peal of four bells together with our 1673 bell which came from the demolished church of St Crux in York. Our tenor bell is approx. 14cwt (nearly ¾ ton) and in F#.
In 1988 we were given a bell by the York Bell Fund, which had come from Watton, East Yorkshire. This bell was cast in 1705, and was installed in one of the two empty bell stalls in our six-bell frame and it became our new treble, giving us a ring of 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. Then in 1990 the ringers of the day raised funds for a brand new 2nd bell and that was cast in 1990 by Taylors, and is in situ in the then remaining bell stall. Our treble and 3rd bells were cast by York bellfounder Samuel I Smith.
There remains room in the tower for two additional trebles, should there ever be a desire to augment, but that would also need some considerable changes in the belfry, as new bell frame would also have to be installed and the stairs to the roof changed, at the very least.
Sunday service ringing is 9:45 am for a 10:30 am service. Just occasionally the service is elsewhere.
While we do ring most Friday’s do check if you are coming some distance to avoid disappointment particularly for Sunday ringing.
We do not practice on Good Friday. Church bell ringers do not ordinarily ring during Holy Week. Special ringing often happens around Christmas and so if Christmas and most likely New Year’s days falls on a Friday, we won’t be practising then either.
We will occasionally have some special ringing. Some will be open-door, and some not. If we’re attempting a quarter peal, these will be closed-door, as we’re concentrating hard and don’t need any distractions.
Over the years only twelve full peals have been rung at St Andrew’s, the first three being on the original peal of four bells: Sunday 7th April 1963, Sunday 27th June 1965, Saturday 14th May 1988. Full peals are minimum of 5000 changes, and take about 3 hours of continuous ringing, and takes a lot of effort and concentration.
The other peals were all minor methods, that is with the tenor bell turned in, not drumming at the back as in doubles: Sunday 9th September 1990, Saturday 9th February 1991, Saturday 1st June 1991, Saturday 29th May 1993, Saturday 7th July 2001 (which was rung to mark the retirement of Rev Paul Rathbone and rung by the local band with a guest conductor), Monday 18th February 2002, Sunday 4th January 2004, Saturday 12th November 2011 and Thursday 3rd July 2014. There was also a peal attempt by a leading band in 2024, but it failed because it was too hot!
We are very happy to teach people from age 8 to 80 to learn to ring. It can be a very fulfilling interest for you personally and can help with your confidence in meeting and conversing with people of all ages, and a way of you contributing to the life of your village church. You will learn transferrable skills and eventually be able to go to ring at other churches and cathedrals.
Do we really mean 8 to 80? Yes, in the late 1980s and into the 1990s we had many teenagers in the band, then in the 2000s we had a youngster who started chiming younger than 8 and then started properly as soon as they were just about tall enough. And now we have two more teenagers learning. And older people can absolutely learn to ring too. Indeed, there are many ringing families across the country. And of course, it is just the coolest of interests!
We operate an open-door for all our ordinary ringing sessions: i.e. practice night, service and wedding ringing. All are welcome to come up to see us. Just be aware, that if we are ringing something, we cannot just stop, so please wait at the top of the stairs for the ringing to stop before coming in. We don’t normally ring pieces longer than about 5 minutes.
Access to the ringing room is from the inside of the tower, and then via a spiral staircase of 40 steps. Toilets are available in the church hall. We do have a church car park. If this is full, you may be able to park on the road: but do check it’s not a York Races day as often Church Lane becomes a tow-away zone for the period. There will be cones on the road and notices displayed making this obvious.
We work with the church Safeguarding Officer to ensure an encouraging, fun and safe environment for all. We have a signing-in book which must be filled in by all for every session. Our band is a mixture of ages and always has been. Ringing is very definitely not just for adults.
We’re in Dove’s Guide for Church Bell Ringers, and we encourage our band to become members of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers (est 1875): See the listing for Bishopthorpe’s tower here.
Contact Us
If you would like to find out more, contact us by clicking here and ask it is forwarded to the St Andrew’s tower captain, Mark Murfin. Or just turn up and introduce yourself!
If you are under 18, please ask a parent to get in touch or bring you.