OS: SP313034
Bampton, Saint Mary the Virgin
The parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Bampton is West of the A4095 beside Church View. There is quite a bit of parking near the Church.
This is a sizable Church with a ringing room that is reached by climbing a spiral staircase of stone steps with wooden treads. The entrance to the spiral staircase is inside the Church. There is one small external window and another that looks into the north wing of the cruciform church.
2010-01-21 [ expand ]
I visited for the first time on Thursday 21st January 2010 for the "Two Hundred and Fourtythird Mid-week Outing" of the Four Shires Guild of Bell Ringers. They are a fairly heavy set of bells and the Tenor has a tendency to go up wrong, which it did, but not my fault as I rang up bell #7. My only other ring was Call Changes on bell #6.
The Bells
The tower has a ring of 8 bells with a tenor weighing 23-0-4 in D. Dove's Guide includes details of the bells at St Mary and more information is provided by the Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers.
