The church itself is cruciform in design, and comprises of chancel, central tower, transepts, and aisled and clerestoried nave. Only the tower and transepts survive from the medieval church, the remainder having been rebuilt in 1842. The tower carries a truncated spire topped off with battlements and finials; it had taken that form by the early 18th century when the top was said to have been removed because of its instability.

Five new bells were cast for the church by Roger Purdue in 1633 or 1634 and the tenor was recast by Abraham Rudhall. 1686. At least three were recast by Rudhall in 1719, and of the three others making up the ring of six, one was recast by John Rudhall in 1797, another by the same founder in 1825, and a third by T. Mears in 1842. The bells are all on metal headstocks with ball bearings. They were rehung by Taylors in 1973.

We arrived in Painswick at the church of "St Mary the Virgin" at 11-00 am, entering the Churchyard through a most magnificent lych gate. The churchyard itself is criss-crossed with paths, and graced with fine clipped yew trees and elegant tombstones. St Mary's Church dates from the late fourteenth century and is famous for the ninety nine yew trees that dominate the churchyard. The yew trees were planted in 1792 and legend has it that a hundredth can never grow because the devil will always pull it out.

The bells at Painswick are a famous and early peal of twelve on which many notable performances have been rung. At their heart is a complete Rudhall ten of 1731, of which one was replaced a year after installation. As these bells were installed so close to the Rudhall foundry at Gloucester, one can imagine Rudhalls saw these bells as a showcase peal. They have not since been tuned, and therefore show what this prolific family of founders considered their best work. Their sister peal at Wrexham, of near identical date and weight, were tuned by Taylors about 100 years ago. The belfry was overhauled in 1900, with the wooden timbers supporting the bells being replaced with an iron framework. Some of the timbers from the belfry were used in the construction of the lych-gate at the western end of the churchyard.

By this time we were all ready for lunch, but there was hitch, as a large group us had no idea where "The Royal Oak" was in relation to the church. Tessa however sought directions from a Painswick resident and we were soon enjoying a very tasty meal. After lunch Heather decided to try out the the rare 17th-century spectacle stocks situated near the court house in Bisley Street.

At around 2-00pm, Andrew ~ our coach driver, who by sheer coincidence is a bellringer himself, delivered us to our third church of
the day. The church of "St. Swthun" at Leonard Stanley

Around the year 1000 a Saxon church dedicated to St. Swithun was built here. The present Parish Church is almost as old, dating from 1129, and was part of a priory building complex (monastery) the rest of which, apart from the tithe barn, has long since disappeared.

The original four bells, dating from the 14th, 15th and 17th centuries, were recast in 1908 into a ring of six bells. In the 1920s, due to movement in the tower, bell ringing ceased and the tower was strengthened. It was not until 1982 that the bells were re-hung and heard again. The local ringers, one of the leading bands in the district, practice every Thursday evening commencing at 7.30pm.

Our penultimate church for the day was the church of "St. Martin" at Horsley. A church had been established at Horsley prior to 1105, but the present church was rebuilt in 1838. The tower is mediaeval and many 17th & 18th century memorial tablets are retained. The new church, incorporated the west tower of the old building, to which many of the monuments of the old church were removed.  In 1887 the church was restored and some internal fittings replaced.

The bells include two dated 1632, three cast during the 18th century by various members of the Rudhall family, and one, replacing an earlier bell, cast by Mears and Stainbank in 1871. St.Martin's is ground floor ring and was augmented to 8 bells in 1994. Prior to this, the original six were re-hung in 1989 by Whites.

Our final port of call was to be the Georgian Gothic Church of "St Mary" at Tetbury. The church has undergone several changes since opening in 1781, the most significant being in 1901 and 1993. The last restoration attempted to undo much of the "Victorianisation" and restore the interior, as far as possible and practicable, to its original Georgian plan.

The mediaeval tower slipped from the perpendicular and was completely rebuilt in 1891 ~ an exact copy of the original, and using much of the original material. The spire is reputed to be the fourth highest in the country and has a ring of eight bells, dating from 1722, cast by Randall of Gloucester.