"St. Peter's has the oldest and heaviest ring of bells in Bournemouth. There are eight bells hung for full circle ringing in the English style of change ringing and a Sanctus bell which is chimed by a switch in the chancel.
When the tower was completed in 1870, it was intended to be equipped with a peal of bells, and a bell-chamber, ringing chamber, and circular stairway were provided. When Morden Bennett, the founding priest, succumbed to a serious illness, members of the church and town organised an appeal to raise funds for an additional six bells, augmenting the existing two, to honour him. The bells were manufactured by Taylor's of Loughborough and were dedicated at Whitsun in 1871, on Morden Bennett's recovery. At the dedication, the Ancient Society of College Youths rang a peal consisting of 518 grandsire triples, 672 and 216 Stedman's triples, and 576 treble bob majors." Text Source: (
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In 1936, the church proposed re-hanging and re-tuning the existing ring and adding a Sanctus bell as "a distinct and beautiful memorial" to Alfred Daldy, a previous incumbent who had died the previous year. It was found that the bells were in a poor state, and Taylor's suggested re-casting the bells because many improvements had been made in bell-casting since 1871, a transitional period in this skill. At the time, this was still the only peal of bells in Bournemouth, and after recasting by Taylor's, they were dedicated on 20 November 1937.
1 1937 E John Taylor & Co 5 long cwt 0 qtr 2 lb (562 lb or 255 kg)
2 1937 D# John Taylor & Co 5 long cwt 2 qtr 0 lb (616 lb or 279 kg)
3 1937 C# John Taylor & Co 5 long cwt 3 qtr 13 lb (657 lb or 298 kg)
4 1937 B John Taylor & Co 7 long cwt 1 qtr 3 lb (815 lb or 370 kg)
5 1937 A John Taylor & Co 9 long cwt 1 qtr 8 lb (1,044 lb or 474 kg)
6 1937 G# John Taylor & Co 10 long cwt 3 qtr 18 lb (1,222 lb or 554 kg)
7 1937 F# John Taylor & Co 15 long cwt 0 qtr 2 lb (1,682 lb or 763 kg)
8 1937 E John Taylor & Co 20 long cwt 2 qtr 7 lb (2,303 lb or 1,045 kg)
Sanctus 1937 G John Taylor & Co 9 long cwt 2 qtr 25 lb (1,089 lb or 494 kg)[19]
"St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church located in the heart of Bournemouth, Dorset, Great Britain. It is a Grade I listed building and was completed in 1879 to a design by G.E. Street as the founding mother church of Bournemouth. The building incorporates work by some of the finest Gothic Revival architects and artists, including Street, George Frederick Bodley, Ninian Comper, Arthur Blomfield and Edward Burne-Jones, with stained glass and frescoes by Clayton and Bell. The chancel has been described as 'one of the richest Gothic Revival interiors in the UK'.
The 202 ft-high spire is a landmark in the town centre, where it forms part of the Town Centre Parish, together with the churches of St. Stephen and St. Augustine." Text Source: (
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"St. Peter's was built over a period of twenty-four years from 1855 at the instigation of the vicar, the Reverend Alexander Morden Bennett, to replace an earlier building. G.E. Street was commissioned to create a finer church to match the beauty of the town. It was constructed between 1854 and 1879 on the foundations of the 1840s predecessor. (G.E. Street later designed the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand in London.)" Text Source: (
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