Their guide was Bill Dargue, one of the church bellringers and a keen local historian. The group was shown Castle Bromwich Hall Hotel, originally built as the manor house in 1599, but extended in 1730 by Sir John Bridgeman II, who also rebuilt the parish church. After walking through the graveyard to see the site of the Norman castle on Pimple Hill on the other side of the Collector Road, the children went into the church. Here, as well as hearing about the history of the building, they learnt something of the Christian religion. Standing by the altar, Bill explained that the ceremony of Holy Communion was a re-enactment of Jesus’s last supper with his disciples and that it had been carried out in this same place for almost a thousand years. A visit to Castle Bromwich church is not complete without a ring of the bells and all of the school pupils successfully sounded them out across the village. A number of the church bellringers also came to show the children the bells in action. The visit concluded with a climb of 99 steps to the top of the tower for the best view in Castle Bromwich.

Link: http://www.cbjs.co.uk/church-visit-2017