The Gray Monk

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March 01, 2004

The Bells, the Bells ...

I have several friends who are bell ringers and it is a fascinating art - one which most of us hear, but rarely actually see in action.

One of my closest friends is a member of the Fire Service Guild of Bell Ringers and they regularly tour towers and try to ring different combinations on the different sounding bells. It is something that is peculiarly British (There are 5278 sets or "rings" of bells in England, 16 in Scotland, 166 in Wales, 35 in Ireland and 102 in all the rest of the world that are hung to be rung on wheel and rope.) I find, as many countries have bells, but they are not hung this way or rung this way. If you want to hear a "heavy" ring being rung, try this link for a look at a heavy "ring" of bells and then follow the site links for sound.

There is a lot of skill involved and there more bells you add to the ring, the more skill required.

Bell ringers ring "Changes" and a "peal" is when 5,000 changes are rung. To do this you need a minimum of five bells ringing which gives a possible combination of 120 "changes", but each of these allows further combinations so you can ring a peal. With 8 bells ringing you can achieve 40,320 changes - something which has been done - once - and it took 17 hours and 58 minutes without a stop or a change of ringers.

A ring is arranged so that the lightest is called the Treble bell and then down the range to the heaviest, which is called the Tenor. When mounted on the swinging frame all the bells are arranged so that no two are swinging in the same direction at the same time. This prevents them from setting up a sympathetic swing in the tower structure which would damage it. The various combinations can be done either in single changes or progressions called "rounds" or as paired bells switching their order "bobs" or "singles". Other terms indicate the number of bells in use and include "Minimus" (4 bells), Doubles (5 bells), Minor (6 bells), Triples (7 bells), Major (8 bells), Caters (9 bells), Royal (10), Cinques (11) and Maximus (12).

Tewkesbury Abbey has a full set of twelve bells, and the ringers stand in a ringing chamber beneath the bells to ring. The chamber has some sound proofing and no one is permitted in the actual bell chamber while ringing is in progress. Quite apart from the hazard presented by several tons of metal swinging about, the noise is overwhelming and can do serious damage.

Just for interest, the heaviest ringing bell in England is hung in St Paul's in London and weighs in at 334 cwts, but this one, like Big Peter in York, is not rung by wheel. That honour goes to Liverpool's Emmanuel at 82 cwt.

As I said, it is a fascinating art and worth exploring if you can.

Posted by The Gray Monk at March 1, 2004 10:37 PM

Comments

Posted by: Ted at March 2, 2004 06:55 PM

Posted by: The Gray Monk at March 6, 2004 09:25 AM