Bell ringing is an ancient art developed over the centuries, as is the craft of making them. The earliest reference to them goes back to the time of Moses, when there were bells on the priest’s robes. The Greeks and Romans used bells, probably in the shape of gongs, to call people to markets and the baths. The feast of Osiris was announced by ringing of bells in ancient Egypt. They were used in the religious rites of priests in ancient Athens. It is the instrument of the saucer shape from which the modern bell has evolved. The bell was inverted and crowned with a handle by which it could be held and rung. Later, as their size grew and their weight became too great they were suspended and rung with a hammer.

 

About the twelfth and thirteenth century a contour was reached not much different from the bells we know today. Its outstanding feature was the introduction of the sound bow or thick part near the lip where the clapper strikes. In the East the bell making art attained its height many centuries ago when there was mention of huge bells, like one cast in 220BC, at the time when the Great Wall of China was built.

 

We now come into the technical area of how bells in Britain were rung. In the early days it would have been the custom to ring heavy bells by lever. Later half and three quarter wheels came into being, the difference being that the original method called the whole-pull required a lot of labour from the ringers. The exact date when whole wheels were first introduced is hard to determine. The earliest in use are given in ancient churchwardens’ accounts. At Wimborne Minster, in Dorset (which I have attended) as early as 1475 there are items in the accounts:-

           “Paid for mending the stock of the bell and “clams”            bought for the same                                      4d.           Mending the wheel of the bell                     3d.

           In 1495 paid to Thomas Carpenter for making a            wheel for a little bell                               3s. 4d

 

Much strength was sometimes needed on the part of ringers; for example one bell at the parish church at Sherbourne in Dorset weighed 60 cwt and 23 men were used. Queens Camel in Somerset had a peal of 6 bells containing the Tenor bell which weighed 50 cwt and they needed 16 men to work them. From this point it becomes very difficult for me to explain all the intricacies of bells and the methods of ringing them. I took three books out of the library to assist with this article and the total number of pages came to approximately 1400! Without diagrams it is nearly impossible to show what needs to be shown. I will leave it here and pass on the rest of this article to Alan Forrester, our Deputy Warden, who has been ringing the bells at the Parish Church for the last 48 years and I would say if you are really interested ask him because he is the fount of knowledge.

 

What Alan says is that there have probably been bells at Bolton Parish Church since the 12^th or 13^th century as records will show. Since the ring of 1699 was installed it would appear that all was not right with them because in

1806 three bells were amalgamated with five of the 1699 ones making a mix of foundries with a result they were not quite in tune with one another. The 1699 bells were by Henry Bagley of Northampton and the 1806 ones by John Ruddall, not the most noteworthy of founders. This ring of bells was put in the new Parish Church in 1871 and remained in place until 1974.

 

In the 1950s replacements were needed. Bells at St. Bartholomew’s, which had become redundant following the church being closed, were brought to the Parish Church and stored in the old Church Institute schoolyard only for them to be stolen. At this time the church was undertaking a major overhaul and at the same time St. Saviours, Deane, was closing, which had a fine peal of bells which deserved saving or they might have been thrown away as scrap. However this was prevented by the intervention of Canon Craston, Area Dean, who said “If you can take them out you can have them”. The Parish church readily accepted them and they were sent to John Taylor’s foundry in Loughborough.

 

As for the bells at our church, there were eight hanging in the tower. All these were scrapped, except the tenor, the largest of the bells which weighed nearly 16 cwt. It is now “hung dead” as it doesn’t swing like the others and is sounded by a mechanical and electrical clapper controlled from the vestry. After considerable discussions relating to the merits of hanging 10 bells it was decided to make a new frame to hold a ring of 12. What happened was that the eight bells from St. Saviour’s church should form the back eight and the spare metal from the old bells was to be recast into five new ones to complete the full set. All the bells were then tuned to form the ring we now have today. It should be added that they hang in the tower standing 182 feet high, which is the tallest church tower in Lancashire.

 

Alan points out that once people have learnt how to handle a bell they can move on to learn the art of ringing changes. This requires skill and concentration, teamwork and a good ear for listening. There is also a good social life outside the tower with visits to the local hostelries, outings and dinners. Alan is always on the lookout for volunteers and would be pleased to welcome anyone who feels they are interested in being a ringer, an ancient art. 

 

Courtesy of   “Bell Ringing” Ron Johnston

“The History and Art of Change Ringing” Ernest Morris     “Church Bells of England” H.B.Walters

Alan Forrester. Dep. Church Warden and Bell Ringer

 

David Bevis

OUR PARISH CHURCH - PART 7 - THE CHURCH BELLS