Bellringing & Peals

What is the most distinctive musical sound to have its origins in England? It must surely be church bells, and the English Art of Change Ringing.

It is not possible to ring conventional tunes on English church bells, because the manner in which they are hung precludes quickly repeated notes, thus they are rung in a series of permutations from descending scalar order. Another limiting factor is the number of bells available in any tower, the current maximum being sixteen, but most numbers are eight or six. Very few rings have accidentals, and they are in different keys. Wimborne Minster has a ring of ten bells; the heaviest weighing 29¾ cwt [1.5Tonne].

To make it possible to write down the orders in which the bells are to sound so that individual bands of ringers can repeat the sequences in other towers, a number notation has been developed that can be applied to any key signature.

Each permutation of the bells sounding is called a "change", and changes evolve one from another according to a set of rules, which allow various sequences of changes to be rung. These are called "methods".

The pinnacle of Change Ringing is to ring "Peals". A Peal comprises a minimum of 5000 changes rung continuously by the same ringers (one to each bell) with, on 7 or more bells, no change repeated. At Wimborne Minster this takes 3 to 3½ hrs to ring.

L.H. Turner.

Secretary & Treasurer Wimborne Minster Society of Church Bellringers

More about Change Ringing (this link opens a new browser window).