All Saints' Church, Stranton is one of three churches in Hartlepool to have bells in their tower (St Aidans and St Oswalds are the other two). The Arts Centre, formerly Christ Church, also has a ring of bells. Campanology, the art of bell ringing almost died out in Hartlepool, but recent years has seen an increasingly enthusiastic number of people who have learned to ring and make the bells heard on a regular basis.

There have been bells at All Saints' Church, Stranton since the middle ages. The Church is known to have had a bell in the tower since 1664, and recent research has suggested it may be considerably older. A second bell is of great antiquity and is thought to be from around that time, although no exact date is recorded. A third bell was hung in the tower in 1699 and was recast in 1898.

When in 1907/8 the 3 bells were enhanced to 8 bells, the original 3 bells were included in the ring, but in a new order. So the 1664 bell is now the 4th, the second bell (date unknown) is now the 6th and the 1699 bell was recast for a second time and now hangs as the 7th.

The cast/recast work in 1908 was undertaken by Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, Whitechapel, London. The bells were hung in a wrought iron frame suspended on steel girders.

The bells were rehung again by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1951 when ball bearings were fitted.

A major retuning and refurbishment was completred in 2023: The bells were rehung again on their cleaned and refurbished frame by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough: The No 4 bell was "retired" us not suitable for re-tuning (but kept for use as a service bell, replaced by a more tuneful modern casting

Anybody who would like to learn or know more about ringing bells in Hartlepool can contact:

Andrew Frost on 01429 281767 or Email at ag.frost@ntlworld.com