Change Ringing at Belchamp Walter
The bell tower at St. Mary's Belchamp Walter was the location of the art of Change Ringing. The tower is the home of 8 bells and had a tradition of Change Ringinging up until 1923.
The last recorded peal was a peel of Plain Bob Minor on the 1st February 1913
There are many publications that describe the art and techniques of Change Ringing and the Wikipedia page is a good place to start.
The Minor Peel that was recorded as being peformed on the 1st Feb 1913 must have meant that not all of the bells were in opoeration as a Minor Peel is made on an odd number of bells, 5 or possibly 7 or even 3.
The first Major Peel is recorded as "Oxford Treble Bob Major" on 8th January 1781.
Originally the tower had 6 bells and this was increased to 8 in 1778. If you visit the belfry you can see how the extra 2 bells were "squeezed" into the cramped space at the top of the tower. The North wall of the tower was "under-cut" to enable this installation. Hopefully this did not compromised the structural integrity of the masonry.
North Eastern division - The Essex Association of Change Ringers
Matthew Brown who gave a talk at Belchamp Walter on 6th Feb 2025 is the District Master.
Belchamp Walter, Belchamp St. Paul and other churches are located in the Northern District.
The tower at Belchamp Walter has 8 bells but they are designated as an "Unringable Peal" (according to eacr.org.uk). If the church records are correct it is doubtful that a Major Peal was rung as 2 of the bells were added at a later date from the first recorded peal in 1781. The Treble (1st) bell was added in 1782 and the Fourth in 1844
The Felstead Database
There are 22 valid recorded peals in the Felstead Database. there is a single false peal (will have to ask what this means)
The Felstead Database is a very nice resource hosted by The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (cccbr.org). It is a sub-domain of cccbr.org - as is the Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. https:// dove.cccbr.org.uk/ tower/16274 As a programmer and webmaster I am impressed with the implementation of the mySQL database and the rendition of the data in database in HTML tables.
The information on the peals performed at Belchamp Walter includes the name of the peal: Treble Bob Major, Plain Bob Major, Kent Treble Bob Major etc. The Kent Treble Bob Major seems to be the most popular at St. Mary's.