The Bells of St Peter's, Burnham having been ringing out for centuries, filling the air with the historic and resonant sound 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 the sound 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.
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Our tower bell captain is Emma and if you'd like to know more information or arrange a visit, please email her HERE​
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...
