This was the first of three operettas written for the young ladies of Clapham County School. The score is dated April-August 1971 and the one and only performance would have been given in the summer term of 1972.

Peter Cork wrote of it, "The Bells of Craxminster set in another favourite period, the heyday of the Edwardian era. There were no men in the story but they were germane to the plot although not appearing, so all the roles went to the girls. It was a strange concoction, a tale of a small Edwardian village where by a fusion of a 13th chime from the church clock tower and a flash of lightning, visitors appeared from another planet, the exact converse of our own and turned every one's lives literally upside down."

You will see from the programme that The Bells of Craxminster is a full length, three hour Musical with five Scenes in three Acts separated by two Intervals. Although the programme states, 'Operetta', Peter himself used the term 'Musical' on more than one occasion.

The original musical score, in Peter's handwriting, still exists with the dialogue pasted between the musical staves. In addition, there are a further seven performance copies and just two copies of the programme. It was thought that no sound recording of the numbers existed but a reel-to-reel mono tape recording of a concert given at Walsingham School in July 1977 was recently discovered. It featured two of the numbers; 'Theodore' and 'Loneliness' and included Peter Cork's voice introducing 'Loneliness'. You will be able to listen to the individual numbers by clicking on the links at the end of this page.

The following recordings were made on a ½ track mono reel-to-reel tape recorder at 7½ i.p.s. during a concert given on the Clapham County School site in July 1977, then known as Walsingham School. The recording would not have been played for 35 years, as Peter Cork did not have a suitable machine of his own, but was of good quality and was subsequently transferred to Audio CD-R and then 'ripped' to the mp3 format for the Internet.

'Theodore' is actually the third number of Scene 1, Act 1 and is a solo by Antonia with backing by the chorus and piano accompaniment. Click on the play symbol below to listen to 'Theodore'.

To listen to Peter Cork describe 'The Bells of Craxminster' and introduce the next number, click on the play symbol below.

'Loneliness' is actually the second number of Scene 1, Act 1 and in the musical is heard before 'Theodore'. It is a duet between Antonia and her mother, Mrs Brice, with piano accompaniment. Click on the play symbol below to listen to 'Loneliness'.