Bell Ringing at Seasalter, Whitstable, Kent

Introducing... Kent's lightest ring of eight! St Alphege's Church lies in the heart of Whitstable and is the parish church of Seasalter. Until the 1840s, a medieval church also dedicated to St Alphege was Seasalter's parish church. However this was mostly demolished, with a new building built in the middle of Whitstable. Of the original building only the chancel survives, with a west wall dating from 1845. The current St Alphege's is a simple early Victorian Neo-Gothic building with a west front and tower built of brick and faced in Kentish ragstone - the rest of the building is built of brick.

The squat little west tower contains Kent's lightest ring of eight bells, with a tenor weighing only 3-1-12cwt and ringing out the note of G. They were originally cast as a ring of six bells in 1969 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, using metal from the bells of Tottington in Norfolk, but were augmented to eight in 1973 by the same foundry. In 1975, the former treble and now 3rd of the ring of eight was recast by Whitechapel into a bell 24lbs heavier than its predecessor. This tiny little ring replaced a chime of eight tubular bells cast by Harrington, Holland and Company of Coventry, West Midlands, and also a single bell cast by George Mears and Company in 1845 hung for full circle ringing - this bell weighed 12-2-17cwt and rang out the note of F#. All in all, they're a very nice little ring. They go fantastically for their weight, but you need to keep a tight rope with them to make sure you don't lose control. I'd thoroughly recommend them!