What is Bell Ringing?

For four centuries, bell ringing has been a unique part of the UK’s soundscape.

The sounds of the same bells have echoed across our country for hundreds of years. They are part of our culture and heritage and link us to previous generations.

Bell ringing is almost unique to our four nations. Read on to find out more.

Full Circle Ringing

Wherever you go in the world you will find churches with bells.

In most countries, when at rest bells face downwards and simply swing from side-to-side with a clatter of noise.

In England of the 1600s, some bright spark came up with the idea of Full Circle Ringing.

In Full Circle Ringing, bells rest upside down. When pulled they swing a full circle and then back again. This allows far more control over when the bells sound. It also enables us to create music.

Change Ringing

Rounds

Over time, Full Circle Ringing led to Change Ringing.

At its most basic, Change Ringing involves a number of bells ringing a scale of notes over and over again. This is called Rounds – because the bell ropes in a Ringing Chamber are arranged in a circle.

Rounds and Call Changes

Bells are always given a number – the lightest is the 1 and so on up to 12 for the heaviest.

Different churches have different numbers of bells. The 1 is always called the treble, the heaviest is called the tenor.

In Rounds the bells sound in order: 1 2 3 4 5 6.

To make things more interesting bell ringers change the order of the bells around. When one of the ringers calls out ‘2 to 3’, the 2 and the 3 switch position:

1 3 2 4 5 6

Similarly, when a ringer calls ‘4 to 5’, the 4 and 5 switch position:

1 3 2 5 4 6

Ringers keep doing this until the bells return to Rounds.

Method Ringing

A Method is a bit like a computer programme. Methods allow ringers to create more interesting musical patterns.

All the ringers will learn a pattern and when someone shouts “Go” the bells will start switching places. Each time the bells sound they are in a different order. The bells continue changing places – without any repetition – until they come back to rounds.

The trick is for ringers to try and maintain their rhythm and concentration, throughout.

Plain Hunt

Plain Hunt is the simplest of all methods. When rung on 6 bells it starts with all pairs of bells swapping places:

Then, the internal pairs of swap places:

This continues until the bells return to rounds. Have a go on a piece of paper. See if you can write it out!

Plain Bob Minor

Ready for a harder challenge? Plain Bob Minor is like Plain Hunt, but with a tiny tweak. When bell #1 (the treble) gets back to the start, the bells in first and second position stay where they are and the other two pairs switch places:

After that, the pattern continues: All the Pairs Switch, Middle Pairs Switch, and so on, until the treble gets back to the start again.

Have a go at writing it out. There are 60 changes. Can you mark them all out?

 Pictures courtesy of www.twoforjoyphotography.co.uk