All Saints Kingston

Bells and Bellringing

Introduction

You can also visit the All Saints' Bellringers' home page.

In 1552, King Edward VI called for a great inventory of church equipment, which was to include all church bells. When he saw the completed document Bishop Latimer remarked that 'if all the bells in England were rung at one time there would scarcely be a single spot where a bell would not be heard'. Each Sunday the bells ring out announcing the approaching hour of divine service. Millions of people hear their call but few know how the sequence of sounds is being created. In most churches the work of the bellringers is hidden from view and the nature of their skills is not widely known.

Although many churches have a single bell hung for chiming, there are currently only around 5,600 towers with bells hung for ringing full circle. The hanging of bells with a semi-circular wheel, and then a full wheel, is something which evolved in England late in the 16th century. This allowed the ringing of the bells to be coordinated and change ringing to be developed, emphasising the notably fuller and more sonorous tone only a swinging bell can generate. Change ringing is a uniquely English art. In most other countries the bells are only chimed, although the number of overseas towers with English style rings of bells has started to increase in recent years.

Bellfounding

To the untrained ear a bell may appear to have only one note. But it is possible to pick out several, giving the quality of sound associated with bells. In the past, bells were traditionally cast near to the church. They were tuned by removing chips of metal from the lip of the bell. The development of improved transport systems allowed bellfounding to be concentrated at specialist sites, which in turn led to dramatic advances in the field of bell tuning. Today, tuning is achieved by means of a vertical boring mill which removes metal from specific parts of the inside of the bell to produce all the harmonic notes required. Only two major bellfoundries still exist in the UK. They are John Taylor Bellfounders at Loughborough and the Whitechapel Bellfoundry located to the east of the City of London. Whitechapel has a long history, having produced bells since 1420. Most of the bells for Kingston Parish Church were made there.

Tower Bells at the Parish Church

An additional bell was cast in 1561, possibly giving the church a ring of six bells, with some curious entries appearing in the accounts. The carrier's charge from Kingston to Reading was 13s (65 pence in decimal currency), but the expenses en route also entailed items such as 'Dynner at Meydenhedd 5s-2d, Sopper at Reading, 5s-Od, Dynner at Reading on the morrow 2s-8d, horse meate at Reding 6s-Od, and dryke at the founders 6s-Od'. On the return journey however, the only expenditure seems to have been 'baytyng at Stanes co'myng homeward 3s-Od'. These were not insignificant sums at the time, when there were twenty shillings (20s) to the pound and twelve pence (12d) to each shilling. Further recasting of individual bells took place in 1566 (4th) and 1588 (tenor bell. The tenor is the name given to the heaviest bell in any ring. The lightest is called the treble.)

In 1681 a considerable sum was paid for new bells and a new frame. This work probably included the augmentation of the ring from six to eight bells. The practice of ringing changes on bells was starting in the London area around this time, and several towers that could afford to augment did so. These eight bells were themselves recast in 1748 by Robert Catlin of Holborn, with two additional bells being added to form a ring of ten. At the time Kingston was one of only a handful of churches in the country with ten or more bells. Robert Catlin had started work as a bellframe maker, working in conjunction with Samuel Knight, who had moved to London from Reading around 1709. They became a formidable rival to the long established Whitechapel foundry and Catlin carried on the business after Knight's death in 1739. It is likely that the previous work undertaken in Reading was by earlier members of the Knight family who had been casting bells there since 1518. Robert Catlin himself died in 1751 having had to recast the 3rd and 4th bells of the new ring of ten in the previous year.

The treble bell of the ring of ten bells cast by Catlin carried the Latin inscription 'Intactum Sileo Percute Dulce Cano' which translates to 'Untouched I am a silent thing, but strike me and I sweetly sing'. This tag can be found on the head of a mace manufactured in 1762 for the Ancient Society of College Youths, a bellringing society founded in 1637 which is still active in the City of London today. This inscription is reproduced on the current 4th bell which replaced the original treble.

The ring of ten bells remained in place until 1936 although recasting of individual bells was needed. The 9th was recast in 1808, the 5th, 6th, and 7th in 1826, the tenor bell in 1830, the second in 1841, the 4th in 1873 and the 9th (again) in 1879. All the recasting work during this period was given to the Whitechapel foundry, apart from the work in 1873 which was awarded to the firm of Blew & Sons in Birmingham. The 5th and 6th bells cast in 1826 have survived to this day and form the 8th and 9th in the current ring of twelve bells, making them the oldest in the tower. The work done in 1936 was a major refurbishment. Whitechapel recast the treble, 2nd, 3rd and 4th bells, to give a ring with a tenor weighing 27cwt (1372kg) in the key of D flat.

Finally, in 1972/73, as part of the major programme of work on the tower, the old wooden frame was removed and replaced with a new metal frame. This provided the opportunity to rehang the bells in the more usual clockwise manner, instead of anticlockwise as the old ring had been. Four new bells were cast by the Whitechapel foundry using metal from some of the old bells. Two smaller bells were also added to augment the ring to twelve bells with a tenor weighing 19cwt (965kg) in the key of E flat. Later, in 1989, the tenor was rehung with a lighter headstock to make it easier to ring. Further details of the current ring of twelve bells can be found in the Appendices.

Change Ringing

Ringing began with rounds, when the bells strike in order in the familiar descending scale. Next came call changes, where the order of adjacent pairs of bells is repeatedly reversed to give more variety to the sound. The final step was to full change ringing, when every time the bells strike they are in a different order. A method is a particular way of generating unique changes, based on mathematical permutations. Each one has its own name, for example Plain Bob Major (on 8 bells), Grandsire Triples (rung on 7 with the tenor ringing last in every row, or change). These developments started at the beginning of the 17th century and culminated in the first true peal being rung in 1690 at the church of St Sepulchre without Newgate, in the City of London. (A definition of a peal is given below.)

The number of different changes possible on four bells is 24, or factorial 4 (1x2x3x4). The number of unique changes possible on other numbers, and the length of time it would take to ring them all at an average speed of 24 changes per minute, is shown in the following table:

In the early days there were no rules covering the permutations allowed. As a result change ringing methods were developed along local traditions. Since then the Central Council of Church Bellringers, which is equivalent to a bellringers' parliament comprised of representatives drawn from different territorial areas, has drawn up a set of rules. These cover the changes permitted as well as the naming of any new methods devised. For example, it is not possible for bells to move their position more than one place in any subsequent change. The naming of a new method (for example, Kingston Surprise Maximus) signifies the number of bells it was rung on (Maximus=12), the classification of the type of method (Surprise), and the particular method itself which the inventor is allowed to name after it has been rung to a peal (Kingston).

The changes that might be produced are best illustrated by looking at a simple method such as Little Bob Minor. As the final part of its name suggests this would be rung on six bells.

1 2 3 4 5 6
         /
2 1 4 3 6 5 
       /
2 4 1 6 3 5 
     /
4 2 6 1 5 3 
   /
4 6 2 1 3 5 
 /
6 4 1 2 5 3 
|
6 1 4 5 2 3 
 \
1 6 5 4 3 2 
  |
1 6 4 5 2 3
 /
6 1 5 4 3 2 
|
6 5 1 3 4 2
 \
5 6 3 1 2 4 
   \
5 3 6 1 4 2 
     \
3 5 1 6 2 4 
       \
3 1 5 2 6 4 
         \
1 3 2 5 4 6 
         /
1 3 5 2 6 4 
         \
3 1 2 5 4 6 
          |
3 2 1 4 5 6 
         /
2 3 4 1 6 5 
         \
2 4 3 1 5 6 
         /
4 2 1 3 6 5
       /
4 1 2 6 3 5
     /
1 4 6 2 5 3
     \
1 4 2 6 3 5
     /
4 1 6 2 5 3
   /
4 6 1 5 2 3
 /
6 4 5 1 3 2 
|
6 5 4 1 2 3 
 \
5 6 1 4 3 2 
   \
5 1 6 3 4 2 
     \
1 5 3 6 2 4 
     /
1 5 6 3 4 2 
     \
5 1 3 6 2 4 
       \
5 3 1 2 6 4 
         \
3 5 2 1 4 6 
         /
3 2 5 1 6 4 
         \
2 3 1 5 4 6
          |
2 1 3 4 5 6 
         /
1 2 4 3 6 5
         \
-----------
1 2 3 4 5 6 

This method has 40 changes beginning with and ending in rounds. For each block of work the treble bell 'hunts' up to fourth place and then back down to lead. It would however, be difficult to remember all the different changes for each method. Ringers have solved this by tracing the path their bell takes through a method and then learning the shape of the line produced. The above example (which traces the path of bell number 6) shows that a symmetrical line exists, with each bell, other than the treble, starting and finishing at a different but equidistant point along it.

The Central Council have defined a peal to be a minimum of 5,000 changes rung without interruption. As well as the physical effort of ringing a bell and the skill of ringing it just to the balance at each stroke, ringers need to keep mentally alert. The standard length of most methods is only around one hundred changes which is well short of the desired peal length. Two calls have therefore been invented, known as a Bob and Single, which alter the place of either three or two bells respectively. With appropriate calls being made by the Conductor (who is also ringing one of the bells) it is possible to continue to ring unique changes before arriving back at rounds. Short compositions are rung every Sunday with peal length compositions usually being reserved for special occasions.

Ringing at the Parish Church

Prior to 1562 a number of entries in the accounts record payments made to individuals for repairs to both the clock and chime. For the next 30 years however, all repairs appear to have been undertaken by Thomas Warthall alone, with Nicholas Baker supplying new ropes when required. Various entries then follow with payments to different individuals for separate pieces. It is interesting to note that in 1700 a sum of £3-14s-2d was paid To Roger Jeffrey for a new set of bell ropes, clock ropes, chime ropes and for old ropes, and for 6 dayes work and a half as appears by his bill.

The ringers also appear to have been paid for day to day duties with the accounts showing 30s Paid for ringing the Curfew during 1651. Unfortunately, few records appear to have been kept in the 18th and 19th Centuries. This is an area requiring further research, a start having been made recently with the reconstruction of details of all the peals that have been rung in the tower.

Local ringing societies existed prior to the middle of the 19th Century. Bells had been hung in church towers 'to give notice of death, to give notice of divine service by chiming, and to give pleasure in times of public rejoicing' (Samuel Beaufoy in 1804). But before the belfry reform movement it was often the case that ringers rarely attended the church services and rang only for their own pleasure or when paid to do so. Early bells were also hung on plain bearings which made ringing hard work. It was not uncommon to find large quantities of beer being drunk leading to irreverent behaviour on the part of some ringers. The belfry reform movement redefined change ringing as a church activity with a main role of calling people to worship. Ringing guilds were also set up based on territorial areas linked either to the county or diocesan boundaries. As Kingston lies in the old county of Surrey, it was one of the ringing centres that participated in the setting up of the Surrey Association of Church Bellringers on 21 May 1880.

Peals Rung in the Tower

The first recorded peal in the tower was rung by a visiting band of College Youths on 23 June 1782. It consisted of 5,339 changes of Orandsire Caters and took 3 hours and 48 minutes to complete. Up to the end of 1996 a total of 216 different peals had been rung, most of them since the bells were augmented to a ring of twelve.

Taking part in a successful peal is an important benchmark in the career of most bellringers. Ringers are justly proud of their ringing achievements in this area. A tradition has developed over the years that boards are put up in belfries to record peals rung for special occasions, or which were considered at the time to be of particular merit. The earliest peal board in the belfry records a performance rung on 10 December 1787. Later boards show the development of different lettering styles over the years. A board recording a peal rung on 10 January 1804 is particularly interesting in that it can be seen to overwrite what appears to have been an earlier blacksmith and farrier's sign. Until recent years all the boards in the belfry recorded local band peals only, although there were many meritorious performances by visiting bands.

The peal board immediately above the entrance to the belfry records the first peal rung for the newly formed Surrey Association on 18 February 1881. Other notable peals include a peal of 10,560 changes of Yorkshire Surprise Maximus rung by an all female band in 6 hours and 53 minutes on 28 May 1984. This is the greatest number of changes rung to a peal in the tower to date. Although peals of up to 40,320 changes have been rung by other bands elsewhere, the Kingston peal remains a world record for the greatest number of changes rung in that particular method. A peal in a new method, subsequently named Everest Surprise Maximus, was rung on 2 September 1990. The name chosen might indicate that the ringers taking part considered it to be the pinnacle of change ringing! Another peal rung on the 6 November 1954 was by a band with each member having a common forename. This was the first peal on ten bells by a band of 'Franks'.

The number of peal attempts at Kingston is limited to 12 a year, usually the first Sunday of each month, prior to evensong. These dates can be booked by visiting bands of ringers who want to ring on Kingston's bells. But it is unusual for all the dates to be taken up. Ringing peals is also an uncertain exercise since success is by no means guaranteed. The ringers can lose concentration or one of them may feel unwell; the conductor may make a wrong call; something can go wrong with one of the bells or a rope may break; visiting ringers can even get lost in the one-way system and arrive too late for the start.

The clock and the carillon

The carillon works in the same way and plays hymn tunes four times a day (9am, 12 noon, 3pm and 6pm). Its purpose is to draw attention to the church as the old-time angelus used to do. The ringers change the tunes on the carillon at intervals during the year. There are four to choose from - O Worship the King, God moves in a mysterious way, Christ is gone up, and Christ the Lord is risen. The present clock and carillon were installed in 1923, but there has been a clock in the church since 1503.

Conclusion

Visit the All Saints' Bellringers' home page.

Appendix A - Inscriptions On 1972 Ring Of Twelve Bells

Appendix B - Details Of The 1972 Ring Of Twelve Bells

Visit the All Saints' Bellringers' home page.

This page updated 19/10/2003

The All Saints Kingston website is maintained by Nigel Duffin and any comments will be welcomed.