Welcome to Ringing in Northampton

The town of Northampton has many beautiful and historic churches. This site has been set up to provide information on ringing at the four churches in the centre of the town with peals of bells, All Saints, St Giles, Holy Sepulchre and St Peter. Regular practices are held and Sunday service ringing takes place in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, and visitors are always welcome.

There is also information about the bells of other churches in Northampton.

All ringing towers mentioned on this site are in the area covered by the Northampton Branch of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers. The branch holds ringing meetings which are usually on Saturdays and other social activities. See the guild website at www.pdg.org.uk for more information.

Practices

Practices rotate between the four churches, with ringing generally taking place at a different one each week. They start at 7.15 pm and continue until 9 pm. Between 7.15 pm and 8 pm the emphasis is on those ringing rounds, call changes, plain hunting or simple methods on five or six bells. Between 8 pm and 9 pm the more advanced ringers are catered for but there are still opportunities for the learners to ring on eight and ten bells. There is usually a refreshment interval at around 8 pm. Details of forthcoming practices are shown below.

The outside doors at All Saints and St Giles have to be kept locked during practices. Anyone intending to attend but not able to be present at either church at the start of the practice should contact All Saints Tower Captain when they arrive at the church so that access can be arranged. Contact details can be found under the towers section of this site. At All Saints the middle west door is used and at St Giles it is the door adjacent to the south transept.

A ringing school takes place at All Saints on most Saturday mornings starting at 9.30 am and lasting for between an hour and an hour and a half. The simulator is used for these practices which which are intended for all learners from those starting to handle a bell to those practising simple change ringing.

There are no practices during August.

Sunday service ringing

Regular service ringing takes place at All Saints, Holy Sepulchre and St Giles before morning services only. At All Saints this is on the second and fourth Sundays of every month, the service beginning at 10.30 am with the ringers meeting at 9.45 am. The ringing at Holy Sepulchre is also on the second and fourth Sundays following ringing at All Saints. The service here begins at 11.00 am and the ringers meet at 10.30 am. There is ringing before the morning service at St Giles on the first and third Sundays of every month. The service begins at 10 am and the ringers meet at 9.15 am.

St Peter's church is closed and there is no regular service ringing. However the church lies within the parish of All Saints and up to four times each year the All Saints congregation has a service there for which the bells may be rung.

There is no regular ringing on the fifth Sundays in a month. Instead a quarter peal may be rung or ringing may take place for a service at one of the churches.

Details of forthcoming service ringing are given below.

Help for anyone organising an outing to Northampton

Anyone considering organising an outing which will include ringing at the four Town Centre churches is invited in the first instance to contact Bridget Paul, All Saints Tower Captain. She will liaise with the other Tower Captains to determine any possible difficulties and also advise on timings, car parking etc.

Learning to Ring

If you are thinking of learning to ring or simply want more information about bell ringing please use the contact page to request more information.