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Anyone who has looked at the Wheatsheaf
=s
entry in the 1998 issue of the Good Beer Guide cannot have failed to
notice that it says ATraditional,
cosy, two-bar village pub, popular with locals, bell ringers and morris
dancers@.
Some would say popular with Brewster=s
as well, but that=s
another story. This article is not about campanology which is a study of
bells. It is about bell ringing which is something completely different.
The particular pattern of swirling sounds made by
church bells is unique to this country and just a few other
English-speaking countries. It is called Achange
ringing@
and has been practised for over 400 years. Every time you hear the bells
ringing in this way, they are not being rung mechanically but by people
in the tower actually pulling the ropes. English church bells have
always been rung this way. There are over 5,000 church towers in England
with bells suitable for change ringing.
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But who are they and how did they
become bellringers?
They are local people from all
walks of life, men, women, boys, girls, young and old. At Writtle we
have a band whose ages range from the youngest at thirteen to our eldest
who has turned eighty! We have an engineer, a civil servant and a
housewife to name but a few. Some have been ringing for over 25 years,
whilst others for just a short while. What other hobby can you begin as
a child and enjoy well into your eighties? Ringers may appear very
serious when actually ringing but anyone who participates in group
exercises will have experienced the great sense of achievement when the
team plays well. It is a remarkably social activity too.
Why are church bells rung?
They are rung to call people to services, for weddings,
anniversaries of local and national events or, more recently, to mark
the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Inside the tower
The majority of towers have 6 or 8 bells
hung for ringing. Some have 4 or 5, while others have 10 or 12. There is
one tower in Birmingham with 16! The heaviest bells in the world, hung
for full circle ringing by ringers are the 13 bells at Liverpool
Cathedral which weigh over 84 tons. The heaviest bell, called the tenor,
weighs 42
tons and has been rung to a peal by one man. The heaviest bell in
Britain is in St Pauls Cathedral and weighs over 162
tons, while Big Ben weighs a mere 132
tons.
There are eight bells at Writtle with a total weight of 4 tons. The
lightest, known as the treble, weighs about a quarter of a ton. The
tenor weighs nearly 1 ton. The bells are hung on bearings, supported in
a massive oak frame in the top of the tower. The earliest record of
ringing at Writtle was found in the Churchwardens=
accounts of 1598 when ,6 7s
8d was paid to a local founder for casting a bell
On 4 April 1800 the tower collapsed. A
publication of the time recorded that Aat
noon, the NW corner of the venerable tower, which had shown for some
time evident means of decay, and had been at different time very
injudiciously repaired, came down with a thundering crash@.
The remainder of the tower having lost the support of the corner was an
astonishing sight. The bells could be seen suspended on the shattered
and crumbling stonework. At midnight the remainder of the tower
collapsed. Villagers woke up to a scene of total devastation with the
bells lying broken in the rubble. A local rhyme of the time went Ain
1800 Writtle tower and Chelmsford steeple, both fell down and hurt no
people@.
|
| Bell |
Diameter |
|
Weight |
|
Note |
Date Cast |
|
|
cwt |
qtrs |
lbs |
|
|
| Treble |
2' 6" |
5 |
3 |
15 |
F |
1811 |
| 2 |
2' 7" |
6 |
2 |
13 |
E |
1917 |
| 3 |
2' 9" |
7 |
0 |
12 |
D |
1811 |
| 4 |
2' 10" |
7 |
2 |
7 |
C |
1811 |
| 5 |
3' 1" |
9 |
2 |
12 |
Bb |
1953 |
| 6 |
3' 4" |
11 |
1 |
14 |
A |
1917 |
| 7 |
3' 6" |
13 |
1 |
14 |
G |
1811 |
| Tenor |
3' 11" |
18 |
2 |
14 |
F |
1917 |
| Total weight |
80 |
0 |
17 |
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