Bell Ringing

Bell Ringing & The Bell Tower

Bells have been rung for centuries to herald special events, to warn of invasion, fire and flood, to notify people of death and disaster, but mainly they have been rung to call people to worship or in celebration of weddings, festivals and anniversaries.

Today the bells of St Mary’s are rung regularly at:

• 10.30 a.m. on Sunday for the 11 a.m. Service

• Weddings
• Monday evening practices at 7.30 – 9.00 pm

In addition, the bells are rung half-muffled on
Remembrance Sunday and very occasionally at funerals. Click here to hear the muffledbells The bells are also rung to welcome in the New Year.

Anyone who would like to become a bell ringer is welcome to join us. Ringing church bells can be learned by people of all ages from about 10 upwards and is excellent exercise for both mind and body. You need no special talents: no musical abilities, or experience with other instruments. You just need to be fit enough to get up the spiral staircase, and determined enough to spend time learning a new skill. If you’d be interested to learn please text the tower Captain, Maggie Barnes, on 07721 840154. You’re welcome to come along on a Monday evening and see what’s involved and find out if you’d like to give it a try.

Bells of St Mary’s

St Mary’s Church has had bells since 1542 and the present ring of 6 bells were all cast by the same founder, Thomas Janaway in 1771.  Each bell has an inscription and they are tuned to the key of F#; the tenor weighs 15cwt (three quarters of a tonne!).  

In 1901, the bells were re-hung in a metal frame and in 1950 they were taken down, re-tuned and hung with self-aligning ball bearings.

In 1990 there were further changes at St Mary’s that involved creating the bell ringing floor which is now the ceiling of the newly created choir vestry at the west end of the church, and the steps up to the bell ringing floor were given new stone treads.

Before 1990, the bells were rung from the level of the main church. When the bell ringing floor was added the bell ringers began using the shorter length of rope to ring. This has made ringing a little easier.

All our bell ringers are members of the Sussex County Association of Change Ringers. Their website has information including a potted history of ringing in Sussex. There is a wealth of general information about bell ringing on the central council of church bell ringers website.

Change Ringing

Change ringing began in Britain over 300 years ago and it is only in the British Isles and at a few towers in English speaking countries that bells are rung in this way.  By fixing a wheel to the headstock of the bell and then tying the rope to the spokes, passing it through a hole in the rim of the wheel and then running the rope around the rim, it became possible to control the bell.  It could be raised to the upside-down position and swung through 360 degrees until it was upside-down again and then swung back 360 degrees the other way.  

The speed of ringing could be controlled by varying the length of pull on the rope, causing the bell to travel through a larger or smaller arc. It also allowed the bell to be held on the  balance in the upside-down position for a moment giving time for bells to change place in the round.

A wooden stay was fitted so that the bell could be rested when upside-down against a sliding stop.  If the rope is pulled too hard this can be broken, the bell rolls right over and the ringer may be raised from the floor.  (The old bell ringing joke – very frightening and dangerous!)

Because bells can only change one place at a time it is not possible to play tunes, so methods were devised whereby the bells rang a numerical pattern, weaving in and out and dodging with one another.  Methods with names like “Bob Doubles” and “Grandsire Triples”  go back a long way in time.

St Mary’s Church – the Clock

The church clock is older than Big Ben. It was built in 1835 and is wound up every Monday.  The tenor bell is the bell that chimes each hour.  

St Augustine’s Church

In 1873, the year after the spire was added to St Augustine’s, a parishioner donated three bells to the church so that bells could be rung there as well. The bell ringers were keen enough to add an additional treble bell the following year which they paid for themselves making a ring of four. For many years those four bells were rung from St Augustine’s.
Sadly at some point the bell frame was considered unsafe, and three of the bells were taken down and are now on the floor of the bell chamber. One bell is still in place and was regularly tolled until very recently. Unfortunately that bell too is no longer heard because the spire itself is now unstable. When the work to repair the spire is completed the bells of St Augustine’s can ring again.