Church Micro #220 - St Mary, Ringmer
There has probably been a church in Ringmer on the present site for at least 1000 years. The arches are Early English in style and are therefore probably 13th century. The first name to appear on the list of vicars is Richard, with a date of 1233. The two chapels were built shortly before the reformation at the start of the 16th century.
The tower, or towers, have the most varied history. There was a tower here in the 16th century, for there is a record of a bequest to the bell ringers from about 1550. However this tower had disappeared - collapsed or burned down - by 1682 when there is a reference to "the want of a steeple" and a new tower was built about this time. That in turn burned down around 1800 and was replaced by a simple bell turret. The present tower was built in 1884 complete with a ring of 8 bells.
In the early 19th century in Ringmer, as in most rural churches, music was provided by a church band, and, again in the usual way, it was replaced by an organ - in Ringmer's case in 1856. A larger organ replaced the original one in 1922. It is still in use after a major refurbishment in 1988.
The first, and latest, major addition to the church since the building of the tower was the addition of a Church Room, kitchen and much requested toilets. They were added in 2000!
You are looking for a 60ml screw top container.
**************************************
For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro@gmail.com.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
*************************************