Midnight bell-ringing baffles residents in village south of Horsham

The sound of bells ringing late at night are baffling some residents in a village south of Horsham.
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The villagers in Partridge Green say that they have heard the bells ringing after midnight for up to 90 times.

Many have taken to social media to report the tolling and to query where the sound was coming from.

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One man said he had heard the bells chime 93 times at around 12.30am and a woman reported hearing them ‘at least 60 times’ in the early hours.

St Hugh's Cherterhouse, Partridge GreenSt Hugh's Cherterhouse, Partridge Green
St Hugh's Cherterhouse, Partridge Green

They discounted the sound coming from a local church because it is locked at night.

But monks at St Hugh’s Charterhouse Carthusian monastery in Henfield Road, Patridge Green, have admitted: “Yes, it’s probably us.”

The monks get ready to go to church on their secluded estate at midnight every night and begin bell-ringing at 12.30am.

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Spokesman Brother Simon said: “Yes, we’re the culprits.” He explained that the bells were rung by each monk at the start of matins and were rung again at the end. He said matins usually lasted about three hours but could go on for up to five hours.

He said the service included the antiphonal singing of psalms where two choirs sang in turns.

He said the sound sometimes carried “if the wind is in the wrong direction.”

Brother Simon, who has lived at the monastery - the only post-Reformation Carthusian monastery in the UK - since 1966, said there were currently 25 monks at St Hugh’s Charterhouse, plus two on retreat.

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He added of the bell-ringing: “I’m sorry if people were offended.”

The monastery was founded in 1873, when the property was acquired for its construction to accommodate two houses of French Carthusians in exile.

Building took place between 1876 and 1883 to designs by a French architect.