An extremely brief introduction to change ringing on church bells

Change ringing on church bells developed in the 17th century, mainly in London and Norwich. The practice spread rapidly through England the 18th century, but rather more slowly to Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Nowadays, towers with ringing bells can be found in several of the larger Commonwealth countries, the USA and one or two in northern Europe. Here in Scotland, the number of towers with bells hung for change ringing has increased in the last two decades to twenty-two, from Dumfries in the southwest to Inverness in the north.

The distinctive feature of change ringing is the swinging of the bells in a full circle, allowing for control over when the bell strikes. This then allows the order in which the bells sound to be controlled by the band of bell ringers, using learned patterns called ‘methods’ and ‘principles’. These patterns have very strict rules of construction and come in very great variety, but they provide for much of the interest in ringing, once one has learned to control a bell. The art of change ringing also extends to handbells.

Ringing most church bells does not require any great strength. Rather, coordination and control are the keys to good ringing. Ringing uses all faculties and as long as one is reasonably fit - there are 65 steps up to the ringing chamber at Haddington - anyone can expect to learn to ring. It usually takes about six months to learn to handle a bell correctly. After that, learning to ring ‘in changes’ with others never stops - there’s always something more to challenge you. The bells at St Mary’s, Haddington are ideal to learn on and are regarded as one of the very best rings of bells in Scotland.

The primary purpose of church bell ringing is to call congregations to worship and to mark special occasions such as weddings, some funerals, national and memorial events. However, many of us, while making the commitment to ring for Church services and events, also ring because it is sociable, good exercise and mentally stimulating.

To find out more, why not contact us and come to a practice night, to see how it all works.