THE ANTIENT SOCIETY OF ST.STEPHEN'S BELLRINGERS
We believe that the Society was formed long before 1620, the date of our earliest surviving Ordinance. The historian, John Latimer, has written that “It is clear from the tenor of some of the rules that the Society was even then an ancient institution. Like the fraternity of St. Mary of the Bell House, who had a chapel and a chantry priest in St. Peter’s Church, the Ringers had been probably a pre-Reformation guild for religious, benevolent and social purposes”.
Beyond our crucial help with the maintenance of the fabric of St Stephen’s, the Society’s role in the day-to-day life of the Church is limited, but it meets in the Church for two main events a year.
On May Day at 7 a.m. a short service takes place at the top of the tower. There are several hundred steps to the top of the bell tower and it is quite a sight to see the Vestry and twenty or thirty members of the Society singing hymns in this magical location! – quite apart from the service, the views over the City are spectacular!
The other main event in the Church is the Annual Service which is held on the Sunday nearest to the Accession Day of Queen Elizabeth 1 (17th November 1558). The church is packed and there is always a thought-provoking sermon from a visiting preacher. Following the Service a Drinks Party is attended by the Ringers and their families.
The Annual Dinner is held on the Monday evening after the Annual Service. It is no longer an occasion for the excesses which certainly characterised it in the past, but it does retain some interesting customs such as handbell ringing, personal toasting of friends, the singing of old songs, and the reading of the Ordinances, which make for an interesting and lively evening.
In 1931 the membership was restructured and sub-divided into Ringers and Colts (Apprentices) and the Ordnances were amended accordingly. As a result of the changes the objectives of the Society were re-stated: a Court comprising the Master, Wardens and Past Masters constituted as the governing body; the Learned Clerk appointed; and a register of Members prepared. Arising from these reforms the number of Ringers is limited to 100 (exclusive of members of the Court and Past Masters), and the number of Colts is limited to 40. The membership of the Society is made up from a cross-section of the business community in the greater Bristol area. Many of the senior members are now retired but were prominent and successful practitioners in their chosen fields.
The Court changes on an annual basis with a new Warden being elected at the Annual Meeting - the Michaelmas Court – which takes place on Michaelmas Day, 29th September, each year. The Warden Elect holds this position until the Annual Dinner, when he will become Junior Warden as the Master retires, and the Senior Warden becomes the new Master.
With a name such as ours you would have thought that the Society would be a collection of campanologists. Sadly, this is not the case, although this is almost certainly the origins of the Society. The link to campanology today is maintained by the St. Stephen’s Hand Bell Ringers, who have close links to the Society and play at both the Annual Service and the Annual Dinner.
The cache can be found at:
N51 2 C# . ( E - G# ) ( G# + D# - F# ) (( D# - F# ) + E)
W02 3 E . ( F# + G# ) ( C# + E - F# ) ( C# - F# - G# )