A course of Bristol Major rung at Steyning on the opening day of The Lilliputters Guild's 2018 Summer Tour.
There has been a church on this site since at least Saxon times, although the earliest parts of the current building are Norman. The very unusual dedication to St Cuthman refers to a local saint; legend tells us of a travelling shepherd boy, who transported his mother round with him using a wheelbarrow, with ropes looped round his shoulders and attached to the barrow's handles to help take the weight. Where these ropes broke is where Cuthman built his church. Despite its historical foundations, the Normans dedicated their church solely to St Andrew; the dedication to St Cuthman was not restored until 2007.
The church's squat tower, dating from Elizabethan times, contains a 12cwt, basically Whitechapel eight. A ring of 5 bells was in-situ by 1724, cast by itinerant founder John Waylett; of these, only the 7th survives. The 6th was recast by Pack & Chapman in 1775, and the tenor as recently as 1977 by Whitechapel. The two trebles were recast by Mears & Stainbank in 1889, and three more bells added to complete the octave. A longish draught made the front ones slightly flighty, but otherwise they handled well and sounded reasonable. Access was via a tiny door at the base of the tower - we had to fold Joshua in three to get him through! - and, judging by the length of some of the ropes, one could be forgiven for thinking the local band consists of Snow White and her Seven Dwarves :-)
Tenor 12-1-16 in F#
dove.cccbr.org...
My original video from the 2018 Summer Tour, which featured a short extract from this touch, may be found here:
• The Lilliputters Summe...