Old Marston Bell Ringers

Welcome to St Nicholas Society of Bell Ringers in Old Marston, Oxford. We are the bell ringers for St Nicholas Church in Old Marston. In addition to the church bells we also have a collection of hand bells that we ring at various events. You can find out more about us on our website and Facebook pages. Also To find out more, call Roy on 07788 746 157 or come on a Friday evening between 19:15 and 21:00. We are always looking for more ringers to join us so you will very welcome.

Welcome from Our Captain

You may be a seasoned ringer, or this could be your first time stumbling across this ancient hobby. Either way, thank you for stopping by. In all the years we’ve had bells at our tower, and it’s a long time, we’ve never put things on a social media footing, and so here we are.

A warm welcome awaits you if you venture to the tower at St Nicholas Church, Old Marston. We have ringers of all skill levels and one of the easiest sets of bells locally to learn to ring on. Join us and you will become part of our friendly community from day one.

There’s a misconception that you have to be old to ring and that’s simply not true. We have people of all ages who ring with us. If you have recently joined secondary school and would like a new hobby, this is perfect. Maybe you’re wanting to try a more quirky activity for your Duke of Edinburgh Award – this is probably as quirky as they come. And yes, if you’re an older member of the community, not wanting any award, but simply wanting to keep the grey matter ticking and your fitness levels up, then this really is the place for you to be.

So what are you waiting for? Come along and let us show you the ropes (awful jokes aren’t always included but a sense of humour is).

Oh, and my name’s Hugh by the way. I’m the Tower Captain. It’s a fancy title steeped in history which basically means I’ve been ringing long enough to know what I’m doing and everybody decided to put me in charge. I look forward to meeting you soon, and along with our band of ringers, introducing you to some of what we get up to.

Quarter Peal Award

A very special evening as our vicar, Rev Skye Denno, presented Tower Captain, Hugh Deam, with a plaque to commemorate his 2500th quarter peal. He’s done many more since the date shown, of course, but this beautiful plaque, handmade by a ringer, took some time, with much love and care.

A quarter peal is around 40-45 minutes of continuous ringing. As Skye explained in the dedication, this means if they were rung back to back, Hugh would have rung more than 100,000 minutes of continuous ringing to reach his 2500th quarter peal. 100,000 minutes of continuous ringing would equate to just shy of 1,667 hours of continuous ringing.

At around 8pm tonight when Hugh was presented, if he were to start ringing then and do 2500 quarter peals straight off, he wouldn’t stop ringing until about 7am on the morning of February 7th 2025. That date’s a Friday, and we suspect that 12 hours later Hugh would still turn out for usual practice night ringing.

His first quarter peal was recorded as Sunday 26th February 1984, where he rang the tenor bell prior to the Confirmation at Evensong by the Bishop George Appleton. That quarter peal was rung in 41 minutes. It was also rung as a celebration for fellow ringer, Ailsa’s birthday, who would later ring as part of the band for his 2500th quarter peal.

About half of the quarter peals have been rung at Marston but Hugh is no stranger to supporting ringing across the entire county, from Iffley to Eynsham, Bletchingdon to Swerford. He nips to Northamptonshire, bowls over to Buckinghamshire, and has even driven to Dorset to ring a quarter peal at St Edward, King and Martyr, a church which sits at the bottom of Corfe Castle.

Hugh has conducted more than 1300 of his quarter peals to date and somehow manages to not only keep track of what he is doing and what others should be doing, but seems to know exactly where everybody is going wrong and how to get them back on track, all whilst keeping control of his own bell. Not only has he reached this amazing milestone, let’s also not forget 15 full peals on top, each around two and a half to three hours of continuous ringing amassing another nearly another three thousand minutes…and that’s nothing to say of regular service ringing and practice nights too.

Skye gave a blessing to Hugh and the plaque, and thanked him for his commitment, dedication, and love for ringing, which shows through his enthusiasm and skill, which in turn not only keeps the bells ringing, but inspires others to ring at their very best.

Hugh is seen here with Skye as well as the band who rang with him at his 2500th quarter peal.
Congratulations Hugh!

The St Nicholas Society of Bellringers is small volunteer run non-profit organisation. We have very limited funds and welcome any donations to keeping the bells at St Nicholas Church ringing, as they have done for hundreds of years. To make a donation either scan the QR code or click on this link: • https://pay.sumup.com/b2c/QPPE80WK