Bells have been rung in the tower of St John’s church for over five hundred years. The band of ringers today is very strong and active. Members age from 12 to 80, and the majority of ringers are in the 30-something age range.
Many of the ringers are involved in the wider life of the church. St John’s is noted for the wide range of flags flown throughout the year, and the ringers are responsible for arranging that, and for day to day regulation of the clock and chimes.

Unfortunately…
In early 2008, death-watch beetle was found in the tower. Consequently the bells have been unable to be rung and flags have not been flown. The band of ringers continues to practice their skills by visiting other towers.
The task involved in bringing the tower back to a condition where the bells can once again be rung, is neither quick nor cheap. Please keep an eye on the Tower Appeal page and the News page for updates about any progress and when we are allowed to start raising money.

HISTORY OF OUR BELLS
The King’s Commissioners record three bells and a Sanctus bell in the tower in 1552. In 1707 there were five bells, and these were recast by Richard Sanders of Bromsgrove in December that year to produce six. Evidently the job was not satisfactory for three of the bells had to be recast (at Sanders’ own expense) in 1708; the parish finally paid him £52 3s in 1709 after independent arbiters vouched for the quality of the work. At every stage of the negotiations the churchwardens paid from parish funds for liberal eating and drinking for all concerned. All six bells were again recast in 1815-16 by Thomas Mears of Whitechapel, and are the ones we hear today. In 1929-30 two new bells were added, augmenting the peal to eight.

The art of change ringing took off in England towards the end of the 17th century, and St John’s keenness to have six bells by 1707 no doubt reflects an early involvement in that movement. The tower saw something of a ringing renaissance in the 1880s and 90s, when interference from cathedral ringers was stoutly resisted. St John’s was the tower where many of the ‘new’ surprise methods were rung to peal for the first time in the 1950s and 60s; it was the leading peal tower in the Worcestershire Association of Change Ringers during this period.