Bell Ringing at Little Chart, Kent

Little Chart is a small village lying a few miles to the north-west of the large Kentish town of Ashford. The village has some notoriety as it was on the 16th of August 1944 that the medieval parish church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and the Holy Rood, was hit by a stray German V-1 flying bomb and almost completely destroyed. It wasn't until 1945 that the bells were removed from the dangerous and crumbling remains of the tower, and then stored beside the railway line - the tenor bell was stolen and it not known what became of it. The belfry stage was mostly demolished to make the ruins safe, and the building was stabilised. The ruins of the medieval church are still there to this day.
In 1955, work began on a new parish on land given by a Major T Reynolds. The building was completed quite quickly by 1956 and was designed by architect H Anderson in an interesting blend of the Gothic Revival and Art Deco styles. The tower is very reminiscent of Guildford Cathedral's central tower. In 1955, the bells were removed from the side of the railway and taken to the John Taylor and Co. bell foundry in Loughborough, Leicestershire. The bells were recast into a brand new ring of six bells, tenor weighing 6-0-21cwt and ringing out the note of B. They were hung in a steel frame alongside two other bells: a sanctus bell (hung dead) cast by John Warner and Sons in 1899, and a clock bell cast by John Taylor and Co. in 1872 - these two bells presumably came from the old church. Overall, this new ring sounds absolutely fantastic outside but the brick tower elicits a rather... interesting... knocking sound as the clappers strike the bells. They do feel like they need some work though - some of the bells are oddstruck (particularly the tenor). But aside from that I'd definitely recommend them for a visit!

[@DevonRingerEwan]

Lovely clapper knock, I'm not normally a fan of 6 bells in B but these are nice, great video.

[@RingerJake]

It was interesting for sure. I liked these a lot. I think my favourite key for sixes is D or C for a light six and then Eb or D for a heavy six - Steeple Ashton and Bruton... cor blimey.

[@susanne5803]

Wow, the parts of the sound travelling and not travelling through the walls is fascinating! Thank you very much!

[@RingerJake]

It is rather. Brick towers often have a funny knocking sound in them when the bells are ringing. I've never heard it so pronounced though, Little Chart was something else!

[@francescogreenslade7793]

Tower reminds me very much of one of my regular towers - St Mary's Liss - designed by Edward Maufe who also worked on Guildford Cathedral.

[@RingerJake]

Yes, it is reminiscent of it (I mention that in the description). Maufe also worked on the east end of Bradford Cathedral. I like his style a lot... even built Guildford Cathedral on Minecraft recently!

[@adamcrane6306]

Hello Ringer Jake

[@RingerJake]

Goodbye Adam Crane