Bellringing

Bells can be rung in a number of different ways. The bell at St Andrew's Uxbridge are sounded three ways - not all available simultaneously.
Firstly the clock chimes by raising hammers and letting them drop on to the outside of the bell.
A carillion works this way and can be manual or mechanical. This is the way to play tunes on the bells.
Secondly they can be chimed by pulling ropes which lift a set of hammers which hit the inside of the bell. Tunes can also be played this way but it is harder to do.
Thirdly the bells can be swung round on bearings, worked by ropes round a large wheel, and a clapper swings inside the bell, striking one side or the other, or both. The amount of swing depends on the country you are in. The continental bells are swung through a maximum of 45 degrees each way.
English bells are swung through a full 360 degrees backwards and forwards, and this gives the control needed to ring changes. Tunes are now impossible as the bells take up to 2 seconds to turn, so consecutive notes on the same bell are 2 seconds apart.
However the order of the bells can be changed very easily providing certain rules are observed. Bellringing this way is very English. There are over 5500 towers with bells hung for full circle ringing in England, and less than 200 in the rest of the world !

The bells start in what is known as 'rounds'. The lightest, called the treble, rings first, followed by the rest in decending order, the heaviest bell, called the tenor, sounding last.
After each bell has rung twice, there is (usually) a gap equal to one bell. On six bells there will be twelve notes and a gap - equivalent to a time signature of 13/8.
The rules for changing the ringing order are as follows :

  • A bell can only move one place at a time. ie if it was ringing third, then it can only ring second, third or fourth next time (note it doesn't have to move).
  • Each bell must ring once (and only once) in each change.
    If the bells are numbered with 1 the treble, then a set of changes on six bells will look like this :

    Row No Bell Order Row No Bell Order
    Rounds 123456
    123456
    1 214365 7 563412
    2 241635 8 536142
    3 426153 9 351624
    4 462513 10 315264
    5 645231 11 132546
    6 654321 12 123456

    If this is written out as music it will look loke this :



    Or try clicking this to play the midi file .. MIDI


    Bellringing in Uxbridge
    On to the Pictures of St Margaret's bells (and me !)(230k bytes).
    Or back to Churches and Bellringing

    If there are no buttons on the left Click Here to get them.
    Otherwise go back to Alan's Home page from here.

    Web page created by
    Last modified 9th August 2005