Bells
Ring of 8 bells (17-1-15 / 883kg) in the key of E.
One clock hammer on the 3rd bell
Location
New Lane Hill, Tilehurst, Reading, Berks RG30 4JX
OS map ref. SU 673729 (map 175)
Click to view map.
Click for church website.
Parking
A few dozen parking spaces around the church, some in New Lane Hill (lay-by) and some in Routh Lane (hard-standing).
Access/Height
Access into church via the New Extension door to the north of the Tower. The ringing chamber is reached by an internal, spiral, iron staircase of 18 steps, with a handrail. The staircase is surrounded by a steel grill and secured with locked doors at top and bottom. The draught is average and audibility is good-to-loud. Access to the belfry is by a long, fixed, wooden ladder.
There are instructions and notices alerting people that the clock hammer needs to be switched off before ringing and the bell lowered and the hammer switched on afterwards.
Service ringing
Sunday mornings – 9:30am to 9:55am
Sunday evenings – By arrangement
* Occasionally Quarter Peals are rung in the evening so please check if there is normal service ringing. Refer to Church Web site for Service times –
St Michael’s Service times.
Practice ringing
Wednesday evenings – 7:30pm to 9pm. When the New Extension door is locked, use the doorbell on the West door at the base of the tower.
Facilities
Emergency back-up lighting, first aid box and fire extinguisher.
Also equipped with a Ringing Simulator and a clock. A kitchen and toilets are available in the church extension.
Belfry fittings
Roller bearings.
Ash wood stays. Oak wood frame.
Ringers
About 10-14 regular ringers. Training provided for beginners and intermediate ringers. Quarter peals approximately every month. Annual outing. Annual ringers’ dinner and other social events.
Bell details
| No. | Weight cwt qr lb | Note | Date Cast | Founder | Inscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5-0-2 | E | 1970 | Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd | MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON : IN CALEDONIS AFEXANONI MEMORIAM CONNUBIALIS QUE PEA XL ANNOS FELICITATIS ME ET SOROREM MEAM DD VIDUA EJUS CAROLINA |
| 2 | 5-3-13 | D# | 1885 | Mears & Stainbank | MEARS & STAINBANK FOUNDERS LONDON : CALEDON DU PRE ALEXANDER OBIIT XVIIImo DIE QUINT AD1884 AETAT LXVI |
| 3 | 7-0-10 | C# | 1723 | Henry Bagley III | HENRY BAGLEY MADE MEE ANNO DOMINI 1723 : CANTATE DOMINO CANTICUM NOVVM |
| 4 | 8-0-23 | B | 1723 | Henry Bagley III | THOMAS STEVENS : WILLIAM BOULT : CHURCH WARDENS : HENREY BAGLEY MADE MEE 1723 |
| 5 | 8-0-12 | A | 1970 | Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd | HENREY BAGLEY MADE MEE IN YER OF OUR LORD 1723 : BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD |
| 6 | 10-2-1 | G# | 1723 | Henry Bagley III | THOMAS STEVENS : WILLIAM BOULT : CHURCH WARDENS : H B |
| 7 | 12-0-13 | F# | 1978 | Whitechapel Bell Foundry Ltd | WILLIAM COWDEROY : WILLIAM KNIGHT : BE IT KNOWN TO ALL THAT DO ME SEE THAT H B OF READING MADE ME IN YE YER OF OUR LORD 1723 |
| 8 | 17-1-15 | E | 1723 | Henry Bagley III | THOMAS WALKER RECTOR : WILLIAM BOULT : THOMAS STEVENS : CHURCH WARDENS : BE IT KNOWN TO ALL THAT HEARE MEE SINGE THAT H BAGLEY OF READING MADE THIS RING 1723 : WHEN I RING OR TOLL, MY VOICE IS SPENT THAT MEN MAY COME AND HEARE GOD’S WORD, AND SO REPENT |
History
There has been a Christian church dedicated to St Michael on this site in Tilehurst since 1189, about 70 years after Reading Abbey was founded. The church was served by the monks of Reading Abbey until the Dissolution. In 1542 the parish was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to the Diocese of Oxford. The first church building here was probably made of wood and no trace remains of it. Several other buildings may have followed.
The oldest part of the present church is the south aisle, now called the Lady Chapel, which was built round about 1300.
The tower was built in the 1730s. The spire was added at the time of re-building in 1855 to G.E.Street’s design.
The Bells
Originally there were six bells in the tower, tung from the ground floor. These were cast at Reading in the year 1723 by Henry Bagley III, believed to be on the site of a mediaeval foundry now extinct but previously owned by Joseph Carter, the last of the famous Wokingham founders dating from the 14th century.
In 1885 the bells were rehung in a new oak frame, two trebles by Mears & Stainbank of London were added to complete the octave, being dedicated to the memory of Du Pre Alexandra.
Ringing continued from the ground floor until 1906 when the present floor and screen were erected.
In 1937 the eight bells were fitted with ball bearings, rehung in the existing frame which was quarter turned and reassembled on girders replacing decayed timbers.
In 1970, the treble and 5th were recast, and the other bells were tuned, by Whitechapel. The bells were rehung in the oak frame of 1885 with mainly new fittings (cast iron headstocks, fixed steel gudgeons, self-aligning ball bearings, and traditional English wheels, stays and sliders).
In 1978, the 7th was found to be unsafe and was recast by Whitechapel. The inscriptions given above for the treble, 5th and 7th are to be confirmed.