A band of bellringers aims to break a world bell-ringing record at South Petherton’s parish church in October!
Twelve bellringers from all over the country will be revisiting St Peter & St Paul’s South Petherton on Saturday, 17th October to have another go at ringing 21,216 changes of a method known as Cambridge Surprise Maximus.
If successful, the ringers will break a record set on Birmingham Cathedral’s bells nearly 50 years ago. The 12 highly experienced ringers are subject to rules laid down by the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. Each ringer has to ring his bell for the whole time without a break. It is expected the record peal attempt will take approximately fourteen hours, ending around approximately 9.00pm.
The church will be open throughout the day for visitors to listen and watch the ringers via video link. Refreshments will be available from 10am to 5pm.
In order to contain the sound within the confines of the churchyard as much as possible, some additional sound control mechanisms will be installed in the tower.