St. Mark's Church, Marske-by-the-sea
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Who rings St. Mark's Church bells?
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Famous Bells
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Welcome to St. Mark's Church Bellringers of Marske-by-Sea
 | St. Mark's is the parish church of Marske-by-the-Sea, a small town on the Cleveland coast and on the northern fringe of the North Yorkshire Moors.
The church stands tall and square, close to the town centre and adjacent to the 17th century Marske Hall.
The bellringers are one of the more active church-based groups in the local community. The current group was founded in 1967 and has rung the bells to call people to worship every week, without a break for almost forty years.
Regular ringing times:
Sundays: 9.00-9.30am; occasional quarter peals 6.00-7.00pm
Mondays: 7.30-9.00pm; regular practice night. Closed on certain Bank Holidays.
Sundays: 6.00-7.00pm (by arrangement); beginers' session.
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The bells of St. Mark's
 | The eight bells in their steel frame.
The eight bells in St. mark's church tower were installed in the early 1970's. The original bells, dating from the 19th century had been donated from two different sources, cast by two different bellfounders and were somewhat less than musical.
In the early 1970's, parts of the ringing mechanisms were falling off quicker than the local ringers could repair them. "Every week one of us was trekking round the local industrial estate, begging local tradesmen to replace or repair a piece of wood or metal," said Peter Sotheran who lead the original restoration team.
The ringers undertook to remove the old bells and frame and to raise the funds to install a brand new peal of bells. It took two years to raise sufficient money to replace the orginal six bells and the first six new bells were installed in time for Christmas 1973. Provision was made to add two tenor bells to complete the octave of notes. Eighteen months later, the project was completed and the eight bells rang out at Easter 1975.
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Details of the bells
 Five of the six smaller bells were cast by John Taylor & Company of Leicester in 1973. Bell no.6 is a medieval bell, retrieved from the ancient church of St. Germain on the cliff tops above Marske beach. It is believed to have been cast by a founder called Ellerker, of York. The style of lettering on the bell suggests that it was cast beween 1390 and 1410. The two heavier bells were added in 1975.
The late Revd. Canon Richard White and Tower Leader Peter Sotheran inspect the newly delivered bells in 1973. |
Technical details
| Bell no. |
Inscription |
Weight |
Note |
| 1 (Treble) |
Gift of Teesside County Borough Council
1973 |
2cwts-0qtrs-0lbs (102kg) |
B-flat |
| 2 |
1973 |
2cwts-0qtrs-26lbs (113Kg) |
A |
| 3 |
1973 |
2cwts-1qtr-19lbs (123Kg) |
G |
| 4 |
The Ringers' Bell
1973 |
2cwts-3qtrs-4lbs (142Kg) |
F |
| 5 |
Gift of Saltburn & Marske Urban District Council
1973 |
3cwts-0qtrs-7lbs (156Kg) |
E-flat |
| 6 |
Maria laudamus
1390-1410 (estimated) |
3cwts-2qtrs-12lbs (183Kg) |
D |
| 7 |
St. Germain
1975 |
4cwts-2qtrs-23lbs (239Kg) |
C |
| 8 (Tenor) |
St. Peter
The Gift of Susan Clare and Peter Sotheran
1975 |
6cwts-3qtrs-21lbs (352Kg) |
B-flat |
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