Church Bells

Brief History of Bells and Bell Ringing

Bells date back thousands of years, to ancient Chinese and European civilizations, but the main ancestor of the Church bells of today was the Medieval Church ‘Chiming’ bells. In England, in the tenth century, a decree was passed that granted the title of thane to any Saxon possessing 500 acres, a church, and a belltower. And so it came to pass that nearly every English town and village has a church with a belltower. There are more than 5000 in England today.
Chiming bells originally involved lots of men pulling on a lever. The three-ton bell at Canterbury needed about twenty men, and they would all pull the lever, and raise the bell slightly, and then let it go. The bell would swing back; the clapper would hit and strike a note. For greater control, a wooden half circle with a rope was attached to the headstock. The pull of the rope turned the half wheel, and the bell swung with the half wheel. Control was much better than men pulling on...