Ringing Chamber - The Crucifixion
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
Look up; through a large, glazed arch you will see ropes in the ringing room, above which 8 church bells hang in the west Tower. For many years there was a ring of 5 bells. In 1923 the second was cracked and had to be recast. A treble was added, with the addition of a new steel frame, and sixty years later 2 remaining bells completed the octave. The glazing bars of the ringing gallery screen create a striking wooden cross at the west end of the church.
Anecdote
The lightest bell, the treble, was given by Purton Parish Council in 1989 and the heaviest bell, the tenor dates from 1738 and weighs just over a ton. Part of the inscription on this bell reads ‘I am called the widdowe bell and when they die do ring their knell.’ The oldest bell is bell number six which was made in 1598. This is the only bell in the country made by Joseph Carter of Reading.
Bible Reading
