Kirtlington, 10 miles north of Oxford, has a fine 16 cwt ring of eight, whose claim to fame in ODG history is where the first peal by the newly-formed Guild was rung in 1881, and commemorated on a rather large peal board hanging in the ringing chamber.
Ten years ago in 2015 the tower had been silent since 2005, when the previous tower captain and his wife moved away from the village, with no one stepping in to replace them. Kirtlington resident Gill Summerfield decided that it was time to get the bells at St Mary’s Kirtlington ringing again by a local team.
The village newsletter and Facebook group were used to advertise the start of ringing at Kirtlington from the end of September, which drew a considerable response. Gill enlisted the help of local teachers Willie Haynes and Ron Burgess to teach the new team, and a group of helpers from Kidlington and Islip turned out regularly on Monday evenings from late September until the end of 2015 to support the initial fourteen new ringers, which quickly dwindled to six within a few weeks
Of the original band from ten years ago, three still now ring at Kirtlington. Judith Vickars and Caroline Cater learnt to ring from scratch, while Steve Vickars returned to ringing after 40 years, having rung for two years as a teenager near Wantage. Steve remembers the bell handling coming back within 5 minutes of starting, after which he was sent to join the helpers to ring rounds.
Early in 2016 the team went through a difficult period as the support from outside eased off. Then the team gained the ability to teach handling when Steve attended an ART M1 teaching handling course at Abingdon in June, then in 2017 attended the ART M2F teaching Foundation course at Marsworth, which helped bring on the team as it progressed from rounds to Plain Hunt and further.
Also in 2017, thanks to a grant from Bicester Branch and local donations, the tower acquired a simulator to help in the training of new ringers.
In 2018 the team ran a recruitment drive at Kirtlington and neighbouring Bletchingdon as part of the “Ringing Remembers” initiative, attracting five recruits who joined in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that November.
The team kept together during the COVID lockdown in 2020 and 2021 through meeting online and practicing methods using the Ringing Room application, with a number of virtual quarter peals completed in this time.
After the resumption of tower bell ringing, four more recruits joined the team as part of “Ring for the King”. A quarter peal was rung at the tower which was open for most of the Coronation weekend for villagers to “Ding for the King”, both on the sanctus bell from the chancel as well as chiming the bells from the ringing chamber.
In 2023 Kirtlington joined St Helens Abingdon, Witney and Dorchester Abbey to form Oxon Ringing School, offering quality ART-based handling and foundation skills training to students alongside mentoring support for new teachers. This has trained over fifty students in Oxfordshire to gain necessary skills to become valuable members of their local teams. Seven local ringers have attended ART teaching courses, with three gaining accreditation as ART teachers.
From 2023, monthly well-attended focussed practices called “Doubles Daytime” have been run, where up to seven students get to practice trebling, tenoring and inside to doubles and minor methods, supported by bands of experienced ringers, rewarded by refreshments provided by the students. Thanks to these, the number of local ringers participating in quarter peal attempts has steadily increased, culminating in a band entirely composed of local ringers, completing a Quarter Peal in August 2025 (https://bellboard.uk/view.php?id=1877762
Three local ringers have achieved their ART Learning the Ropes Level 5, representing a high standard of personal achievement.
Celebrations of the team’s tenth anniversary have been planned at Kirtlington involving villagers and guest ringers for the 1st November. Thank you to all who joined in.
Currently, Kirtlington and Bletchingdon ringers practice on Monday and Wednesday evenings, usually well attended, which are regularly joined by other ringers from nearby towers and further afield, getting valuable rope time and enjoying a welcoming, relaxed and fun environment.
The team regularly rings on six or all eight bells for Sunday Services and key events including Remembrance Sunday, VE Day, New Year and for the Village Fete.
The team has been fortunate to gain grants from Bicester Branch,
Kirtlington Village Fete, Oxford Diocesan Bell Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund together with local donations to undertake a number of projects including: repairing the no. 4 gudgeon pin, replacing the Hastings Stays for the front six bells with traditional staying gear, replacing worn bearings and worn ropes, repainting the bell frame and also refurbishing and augmenting the tower’s existing set of twelve handbells, some of which were originally made by Whites of Appleton in the 1870s. A number of handbell workshops have been run by the team in the church and the village school to promote handbell ringing.
The ringers enjoy a high profile in the village and further afield through regular posts on the village Facebook group, its own ringers’ Facebook group, regular articles in Village publications, and engagement with the school and other groups. The team is in good shape and progressing its skills, although always on the lookout for new recruits to help keep this wonderful tradition alive in this beautiful church. Here’s to the next 10 years and more of ringing in Kirtlington!
