The Bells of St Peter's, Burnham having been ringing out for centuries, filling the air with the historic and resonant sounds of village life.
Bells are rung to call the faithful to come and worship, they are rung during the services of Holy Communion, to mark occasions such as weddings and funerals and also to announce important happenings to the local community.
A key part of our social history, bell ringing (campanology) is part of of St Peter's.
Read on to discover more about this tradition which continues to be a key part of of church life and something you can get involved in.
Tower Bells
Our Tower Bell ringers are a fantastic group of people who ring before our Sunday Services and at weddings; bringing that extra special flourish to many church occasions.
You can read more about the history and have a look behind the scenes of Tower Bell ringing by reading the first edition of "In the Spotlight" which features the ringers and lots more interesting tower info
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Click the Adobe icon to read the PDF
The tower ringers have their practice night on Tuesday evenings from 7pm.
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If you are interested in coming along and having a try to see whether it is something you'd like to participate in on a regular basis, you'd be very welcome. Please email our tower bell captain, Emma for more information (details below)
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Tower Bell ringing groups are very welcome to arrange a visit and a peal.
2026 is proving to be a popular year for groups to visit so if you are interested in coming to St Peter's - please contact Emma - you can click and email her HERE​
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Hand Bells
The Hand Bell Ringers are a community of two different groups who come together on occasions to ring en masse.
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The teams travel and perform upon request at local care homes, special community and local events and other gatherings around the area.
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Christmas is a very busy time for the bell ringers who entertain at carol services both in church and out in the community.
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Burnham Handbell Society often meet during the week to ring hand bells using the numbers method -
(sequences of numbers representing musical notes).
The leader of BHS is Cliff, our longest serving ringer and long standing member of our church family.
Please enjoy our interview with him in the section on this page entitled Ringing with Cliff.
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The Gore Ringers meet up on Friday mornings and practise in the church. A lovely and gentle end to the week, for an hour the sound of bells echoes through the church, bringing
harmonies and peace.
The Friday ringers use the score ringing method -
(reading music sheets with bars and notes).
The leader of this group is Sheila.
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Both of the hand bell groups use a different method for reading the music for the notes they play.
The Handbell Society use Numbers ringing whilst the Gore Ringers play from score. Both are fun and uplifting to learn.
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​So, why not give it a try?
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You'd be very welcome to come along and have a go to see if hand bell ringing is something that calls to you as it has to so many people over it's long association with St Peter's.​
A look back in time to the ringers of St Peter's from years gone by...
Ringing with Cliff
Cliff on Bells...
"Ring dem bells!
Those of us who ring bells at St. Peter’s give thanks for the people who came before us and gave us, arguably, the best ring of 8 tower bells in the area and the only set of 5 chromatic octaves of handbells in the county.
We also have access to several smaller sets of handbells.
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One of the people we should honour must be George Gilbert who, as well as being Ringing Master for almost 30 years from 1932, spent many hours in 1949 collecting pennies from most families in the village towards the £2000 needed to recast and rehang the tower bells.
Similarly, the handbell ringers and their families, in1960/70, raised a similar sum, from donations, both personal and from performing concerts, near and far, (not forgetting selling tons of marmalade and pickled onions!) to augment the original 22 handbells to our present 61 bells.
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There are many people we remember - some of whom are commemorated in the plot outside the tower door.
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Bell ringing, particularly in English churches, has a long and respected history.
The oldest inscription on our own tower bells is dated 1624.
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Our oldest handbells are known to have been owned by a local family of tower bell ringers in the 1880s.
The current ringers, in both the tower and on handbells, are as keen to pass on their skills and pleasure from ringing to their successors as were our predecessors.
Come and join us for a hobby which is also a service to the church, and which will stay with you all your life.
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If you think tower bell ringing sounds interesting please speak to our present Tower Captain, Emma Warburton.
If handbells might be more in your line, speak to either Sheila Warburton or Cliff Blundell.
Sheila’s band (The Gore Ringers) meet in church most Friday mornings and Cliff’s group (Burnham Handbell Society) meets at his home on Wednesday afternoons and in church after the 10 a.m. service.
Either group would be delighted to welcome you!
Children can start to learn to handle a tower bell when they are 10 years old and handbells from about 8 years.
The present age range in the tower is, probably, mid-20s to 95 and, in the handbell groups, from 10 to 96.
Do come and help us to lower the average of ringers!
Surely, you must fit into one or other of those age ranges"