OS: SO932431
Birlingham, St James the Great
Birlingham Parish Church, St James the Great, is built of the local cotswold stone and is situated in the West of the village bounded on three sides by Church Lane, Rectory Lane and The Ave. I arrived by bike and did not notice any nearby parking.
I visited for the first time on Sunday 31st May 2009 as part of the "RING and RIDE" tour around Bredon Hill arranged by St Andrew's Parish Centre. The ringing room is reached by climbing a fairly short vertical ladder attached to the wall, the ladder is accessed from inside the tower. New ropes had recently been installed and they were still very springy. I rang up the Tenor followed by a couple of Plain Corses of Plain Bob Minor and then rang down bell #3. I imagine that the bells will be quite nice to ring when the new ropes have settled in.
The Bells
The tower has a ring of 6 bells with a tenor weighing 10-0-20 in F♯. Dove's Guide includes details of the bells at St James the Great and more information is provided by the Worcestershire & Districts Change Ringing Association.
| Bell | Inscription | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Dove's Guide to the bells at St James the Great |
Come ye faithful - Given by the friends of St James - 1980 | ||
| 2 | William Bagley made me 1692 Re-cast, I ring again 1980 |
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| 3 | When you ring me, I sweetly sing - Made 1748 | |||
| 4 | William Bagley made me 1683 | |||
| 5 | George Lunn and John Cubberley - Churchwardens 1685 | |||
| Tenor | Fear God and Honour the King 1683 | |||
