St. Andrew's Hornchurch Guild of Change Ringers

Welcome to the home of the Hornchurch Bell Ringers. Please take a look around to find out more about the art of bellringing and what the ringers get up to at St. Andrew's.

Learn to Ring

Learn to Ring

Interested in learning to ring church bells? All ages and welcome.

Read More

The Bells

The Bells

St. Andrew's Church has 10 bells made from 1779 to 2014.

Read More

The Church

The Church

On the exterior east end of the Church a bull's head that gives the town its name can be seen.

Read More

Bell Ringing for The Queen’s 90th Bithday

On Saturday 11th June, a largely Essex band successfully completed a peal of Plain Bob Royal as part of The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.

All 10 bells were rung to Plain Bob Royal and the bells were ringing for 3 hours and 12 minutes.

The peal also marked the 95th birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh.

Full details are as follows:

Essex Association

Hornchurch, Essex
St Andrew

Saturday, 11 June 2016 in 3 hr 12 min (18–0–0 in E♭)

5040 Plain Bob Royal

Composed by Daniel Brady

1. Paul J Bloomfield
2. M Louise Booth
3. Jillian Laken
4. Colin Friend
5. Colin G Wright
6. David E Rothera
7. Owen C R Webster
8. William J Stungo
9. Matthew E Rayner
10. Clive J Stephenson (C)

Rung as part of H M The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations.

Also to mark the 95th birthday of The Duke of Edinburgh.

First of Royal – 4.

L-R Paul Bloomfield, Clive Stephenson, Louise Booth, Matthew Rayner, Jillian Laken, Will Stungo, Colin Friend, Owen Webster, Colin Wright, David Rothera

L-R Paul Bloomfield, Clive Stephenson, Louise Booth, Matthew Rayner, Jillian Laken, Will Stungo, Colin Friend, Owen Webster, Colin Wright, David Rothera

First Quarter Peal Congratulations

Normally bell ringers perform for 5 to 10 minutes at a time and then stop to give their arms and brains a rest and give someone else a go. After a ringer has been learning for a few years, however, they can attempt a quarter peal which is at least 1250 changes (1250 rings or 1250 pulls) and takes about 45 minutes to complete. This is quite a big step and a big achievement, if successful.

On 1st May 2016, prior to the Memorial Evensong, Jacky Stockwell from St Andrew’s bell ringers, successfully completed her first quarter peal at the first attempt.

Jacky started to learn to ring about 3 years ago and has made good progress during that time showing regular commitment to practice nights and Sunday ringing.

Congratulations to Jacky from all her ringing friends!

Hornchurch, Essex
St Andrew
Sunday, 1 May 2016 (18–0–0 in E♭)

1260 Plain Bob Doubles

1. Jacky A Stockwell
2. John W Stephenson
3. Paul J Bloomfield
4. Christopher C M Pain
5. Clive J Stephenson (C)
6. Philip H Denton

Rung prior to Memorial Evensong particularly remembering Peter Saddleton who rang at Hornchurch in the 1970’s and died on 18th April.

First Quarter Peal – treble

L-R: Philip Denton, Paul Bloomfield, John Stephenson, Jacky Stockwell (first quarter), Chris Pain, Clive Stephenson

L-R: Philip Denton, Paul Bloomfield, John Stephenson, Jacky Stockwell (first quarter), Chris Pain, Clive Stephenson

Celebrating Shakespeare

Although we don’t know the exact date, William Shakespeare was born on or around 23rd April 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon. At the time, Stratford was in the grip of an outbreak of plague and he was lucky to survive.

On 22nd April 1616, a group of friends gathered to celebrate Shakespeare’s 52nd birthday but it was to be his last: ‘Shakespeare and friends had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted’.

Every year, on or around the 23rd April, the anniversary of William Shakespeare is celebrated in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of his death and on 30th April, St Andrew’s bell ringers chose Stratford-Upon-Avon as a venue for their spring outing. We rang the bells of Holy Trinity Church and also took the opportunity to visit Shakespeare’s grave inside the church.

These photographs show some of the ringers outside Holy Trinity Church and on the banks of the River Avon:

L-R: Eileen Drew, Lionel Woods, Rosemarie Edwards, John Stephenson, Jane Harper,John Thornhill and Terry Thornhill.

L-R: Eileen Drew, Lionel Woods, Rosemarie Edwards, John Stephenson, Jane Harper,John Thornhill and Terry Thornhill.

L-R: Rose Kaziro, John Stephenson and Angela Achampong

L-R: Rose Kaziro, John Stephenson and Angela Achampong

Hornchurch, Essex
St Andrew
Sunday, 24 April 2016 (18–0–0 in E♭)

2016 Grandsire Caters
Backstroke start – Composed by Brian E Whiting

1. Lionel S Woods
2. John W Stephenson
3. Christopher C M Pain
4. Jillian Laken
5. James Laken
6. Leonie J McCaughren
7. Nicholas M Allen
8. Paul J Bloomfield
9. Clive J Stephenson (C)
10. Paul Trueman

Date touch for Evensong and to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.

Bell Ringers Strike a Blow for Democracy

The ringers from Hornchurch and South Ockendon that took part in the general ringing.

This year saw the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta and bell ringers from across Havering took part in the National celebrations.

On 15th June 1215, the first version of Magna Carta or ‘Charter of Liberties’ was signed at Runnymede Meadows by King John. This removed absolute power from the King and paved the way for parliament and the many freedoms that we enjoy today.

Read More

Bell Ringers Team Up To Ring For VE Day

Bell Ringers Team Up To Ring For VE Day

Bell ringers from St Andrew’s, Hornchurch and Holy Cross, South Ockendon joined forces to support the National Campaign to ring for the 70th Anniversary of VE Day on 9th May 2015. The ringing took place at Hornchurch and included rounds on 10 and call changes on 8. The event was well supported with 18 ringers from both churches taking part. Congratulations to all involved especially those ringing for a special event for the first time.

Read More

Bell Ringers Peal for New Royal Princess

St Andrew’s bells have been rung for many Royal occasions over the years.

When 2nd May was arranged as the date to ring a peal for the Royal Birth, we thought that we were going to be too early but when we assembled just before 10.00am, we knew that the Duchess of Cambridge was already in labour.

Read More