BELLS
ST PAULS OPEN TOWER DAY
Sunday 19th October 2025 from 11.00am – 12.30pm
A unique opportunity to visit the ringing chamber and learn about the ancient art of bellringing
Tour of the belfry to see the bells
Bellringing Demonstrations
A chance to have a go and try out ringing yourself!
(10 years and over only)
Free Entrance
Warning – you will need to be capable of climbing 43 steps up a stone spiral staircase to the ringing chamber.
NB The tower roof will not be open to the public for reasons of health and safety
The Ancient Art of Bellringing (or how I became a born again campanologist!)
By Wendy Mulhall
Who would have guessed that a chance remark to the vicar on Christmas morning would have ended up taking me back to the days of my youth and a fascinating hobby which I hadn’t partaken in for 40 years! I happened to mention to Reverend Paul Cudby, vicar of St. Paul’s Church in Wooburn Green that his bellringer could do with a hand as there was only one bell being rung before the service of one of the most important days in the church calendar! Having rung myself in the past, I love the sound of church bells and was rather disappointed not to hear them pealing out in unison. Paul suggested that I contact the tower Captain, John Walton, who was trying to build up a new team of bell ringers. I later found out that things had been difficult since ringing was stopped during the covid pandemic, so John was having to build up a new band from scratch.
I originally learned how to ring when I was 15 years old in a little church in Addington Village, South London which had a very light ‘ring’ of 6 bells. After moving to Harrow around 8 years later, I joined the band of ringers at St. Mary’s, Harrow-on-the-Hill but after moving away from the area and the church a couple of years later, drifted away from ringing.
It was with some trepidation that I went down to St. Paul’s on a dark Wednesday practice night in February, having literally not touched a rope for 40 years. I was feeling very nervous as I held the rope, wondering what I had let myself in for after such a long break, but I need not have worried, as John is an excellent teacher; I could hardly believe that within 20 minutes, he had me ringing by myself, his comforting words that ‘bellringing is like riding a bicycle, you never forget’ certainly rang true! (excuse the pun!)
John Walton has been ringing for 40 years and has been the Ringing Master of St. Paul’s for more than 20 years. He has an incredible knowledge of bellringing having rung in an impressive 2,500 churches both near and afar. There are over 7,000 churches throughout the world, most of them in the UK, which have peals of bells set on wheels, hung for ringing ‘full circle’ with rope and wheel in the English style, which enables them to be used for change ringing - more of that later!
In no time at all, I found myself ‘roped in’ to regular practice nights as well as ringing for Sunday services and excitingly, my first wedding in 40 years. It’s hard to explain the magic of bellringing as there are so many different facets to this pastime, the challenge and satisfaction of being able to handle a bell which may be hundreds of years old, enjoyment of the musical sound of the bells, the mental agility required, especially for change ringing, the benefits of excellent upper body exercise, the fun of visiting different churches and clambering up ancient narrow stone spiral staircases! A very significant aspect of this unusual and quirky hobby is the camaraderie amongst bellringers. An experienced ringer can visit any tower in the country on their practice night and be welcomed with open arms and encouraged to visit again. People from all walks of life get involved, and there is no age barrier – children can learn from the age of 11, albeit standing on a box to reach the rope, and there are many ringers in their 80’s as technique rather than brute strength is key! Bellringing is variously described as an art, a sport, or simply a hobby which involves playing a musical instrument as part of a team to produce a lovely musical sound (as opposed to the cacophony which can occur when mistakes are made, concentration lapses and the bells clash together!) In order to progress and improve my skills, I have also rung several times in All Saint’s, Marlow where I was given a warm welcome and invitation to join them whenever I can. I have also recently visited and rung at Holy Trinity in Cookham after meeting some of their ringers who we had borrowed to ring at the wedding, as we are still in the process of increasing our numbers to enable all 8 bells to be rung together by a Wooburn band! I had a very pleasant evening at Cookham, in good company and with a wonderful opportunity to ring on a peal of 10 bells, a very different experience to ringing on 6 or 8. Being able to visit and ring at other churches is one of the perks as you meet some interesting people who are part of this welcoming fraternity, and different towers and bells all have their own peculiarities and quirks, some bells being far easier to ring than others! Teams sometimes organize outings which involve visiting 6 or more different churches in a day to try out different bells, and most towers welcome teams of visiting ringers. We had a team visit St. Paul’s on May Day to commemorate VE Day; it was joyous to hear all 8 bells ringing in celebration!
One particularly surprising fact is that so many of the ringers I have recently met have also returned to ringing after a long gap, my 40 year break is certainly not unique, showing that it really is something that stays in your heart and soul always. I have even been in contact with some of the people I rang with nearly 50 years ago, who are still bellringing and never stopped!
The traditional sound of bells is rounds, when bells are run in a sequence from the highest to the lowest note. The next stage to be learned is how to ring ‘call changes’ when the conductor of the band calls out instructions to the ringers to swop places in the order of ringing, which involves more control of the bells as the ringers need to be able to speed up or slow down their bell in order to ring in the right place. This produces known sequences with different names, such as Queens, a pattern with ascending odd number bells, followed by ascending even numbered bells (i.e. 1,3,5,7,2,4,6,8) said to be given its name by Queen Elizabeth 1st who overheard this sequence and commented how much she liked it! Another sequence is known as Tittums as it produces a ti-tum-ti-tum sound. And a favourite amongst bellringers is to play Pop goes the Weasel on 5 bells!
Once call changes have been mastered, things get really interesting and bellringers learn to ring methods. This originated in the 17th century when it was realized that by setting bells on wheels to ring on a large arc and turn almost a full circle, it is possible to change the speed of each bell to chime either faster or slower and consequently change the order in which they ring, producing different permutations. In method ringing, each row is unique and bellringers memorise diagrams showing the position of their own bell in relation to the others. As well as having the technical ability to control the speed of their bell, ringers also try to acquire ‘ropesight’, the ability to the order of the bells to identify where they (and consequently you) must ring! Quarter peals, which are often rung for special occasions, consist of 1260 different changes and takes around 50 minutes to ring on 8 bells. An even more ambitious endeavour for highly accomplished ringers is a full peal, which consists of over 5000 rounds. This is a real marathon as it takes around 3 hours, and may be rung for royal coronations or jubilees and is often commemorated in ringing chambers with an ornate decorative black and gold plaque showing the names of the ringers and which bell they rung. I still have a card commemorating a quarter peal which I rung to commemorate the marriage of HRH The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer on 29th July 1981! I think it will take me a while to regain the expertise required to ring a quarter peal!
Each bell in every tower has its own characteristics and history. In St. Paul’s, we have 8 bells, the lightest bell called the treble weighing just over 5 cwt (hundredweight) or 250 kgs, and the heaviest, the tenor, weighs more than 17 cwt which is over 850 kgs - nearly a ton! It is fortunate that ringing relies on technique rather than muscle strength but we still all have our favourites, some people prefer to ring the heavier bells and some prefer the lighter ones!
6 of our 8 current bells were cast in Whitechapel. The bell founding industry in that area can be traced back to at least 1360 but the Whitechapel Bell Foundry itself closed in 2017. Our 6th and newest bell was cast in 2002 by John Taylor Bellfounders, Loughborough. This is now the last major bell foundry in the country, thanks in part to a £3.45 million grant from The National Lottery in 2020. Since 1859 this foundry has cast more than 250,000 bells hung in churches, cathedrals, universities and public buildings and continues to supply bells and other associated parts and mechanisms such as ropes, frames and wheels to over 100 countries so closure would have been catastrophic to the bellringing world as well a huge loss of traditional craftmanship. Our 6th bell was commissioned to replace the previous 6th bell which was cast in Dublin in 1868, making it unique in this country but no longer suitable for use in the peal as it wasn’t possible to tune it as part of the restoration project that took place in 2002. The Dublin bell was subsequently moved from its position in the frame to make way for the new bell but you can still hear it every day as it was retained as the clock bell. Incidentally the clock is a fine example of Victorian engineering but requires winding by hand every week!
By contrast, the oldest bell was cast in 1718, although records show that there were 5 bells in St. Paul’s as early as 1552, all of them having subsequently been replaced or recast. The second largest bell was replaced in 1802 by a second hand bell from All Saint’s, High Wycombe, cast in 1712, but this bell was replaced again by the Whitechapel Foundry in 1902.
The maintenance and upkeep of both bells and the towers they are installed in can result in a significant financial outlay and constant vigilance is required in order to maintain safety. In 1973, excessive movement was felt in the tower when all the bells (a total weight of over 3 and a half tons!) were rung and remedial work was required reduce the sway by bedding some of the joists in concrete and later adding 3 further joists to stabilize the tower.
At the beginning of 2002, the Parochial Church Council decided to suspend bellringing as the installation was considered unsafe and posed a risk to the ringers. The tenor, cast in 1762, was of particular concern – as well as being badly cracked, an irreparable flaw in the headstock (the mounting from which bells hang) could have caused it to fall and crash down with potentially catastrophic results. Major work was required to enable the bells to be repaired and rehung. The bells, cast in 3 different centuries by 6 different founders but never tuned together, could for the first time be dealt with as a single instrument to enable the sound to be more musical, harmonious and in key.
This plan, first formulated 20 years previously now became essential in order to allow the bells to be rung once more, but required funding of £40,000, equivalent to over £73k today, an amount which was certainly not readily available at that time. Unbelievably, the money was raised by an inordinate amount of fundraising, appeals and assistance from the bellringers at the time who managed to bring the cost down by providing unskilled labour themselves for free!
I hope our readers will be able to understand the total fascination and complexity of something which many people take for granted, the traditional sound of bells common to towns, cities and villages throughout the UK, and that it is more involved than just pulling a rope! One must always remember the main aim of bellringing is to proclaim the glory of God and to beckon parishioners to their place of worship! Bellringing also signifies joyous occasions such as weddings, coronations etc but they are sometimes rung for funerals or for remembrance. On such an occasion, the bells are rung half muffled. A leather muffle is placed on the clapper of each bell, so the first stroke will sound normal but the second will be sonorous and mournful, almost like an echo.
At St. Paul’s, we have a beautiful and harmonious peal of bells which are very comfortable to ring, especially after the restoration work carried out over 20 years ago. They have been ringing out throughout the Wye Valley for hundreds of years and will continue to do so, providing there are dedicated persons to ring them. If this article has inspired you to find out how you can learn this unique and traditional pastime, please contact us for a chat. We are also in particular need of experienced ringers, or lapsed ones like myself - all would be most welcome!
John Walton – 07740 187272
Wendy Mulhall – 07746 369044
You can read more about the tower in ‘The Parish Church of St Paul with St Mary Wooburn, An Historical Guide’, a very interesting booklet which can be purchased from the foyer in St. Paul’s.
We have a ring of 8 bells, that were refurbished in 2002, and a
small dedicated band of ringers, who ring for Sunday service, and other special
services and weddings.
We regularly welcome visitors from around the country.
We practice on a Wednesday evening, 7pm for our learners, and 7.30pm to 9.00pm for our more experienced ringers.
Central Council of Church Bell Ringers: