Welcome to the online site for the project to install a new ring of eight bells into the tower or St Mary the Virgin, Ovingham.

 

 

 

 

Bells have been part of the English way of life for many years. They have been used as a means of warning (especially from a church) and horses had them on their harness to herald their approach. Court jesters wore tinkling bells. Public clocks announced the hours to those without a clock of their own. Churches used them (and still do) to call the faithful to worship and to remind others that a service was about to take place. Church bells were used to call people to the fields. There was a Seeding Bell, a Harvest Bell and a Gleaning Bell to warn that it was time to start or finish work. A Pancake Bell was rung to remind of Lent and an Oven Bell to warn that the Lord-of-the-Manor's ovens were hot and they could bake their bread. Curfew bells were also sounded. William I had one rung to warn all men to put out their lights at 8 pm and to rest, although this was later abolished by Henry I in 1100. It is said that the ringing of a bell told sightseers at "Bedlam" (the Hospital of St Mary of Bethelem which was at Bishopsgate, London, until 1815) that the inmates of the asylum could be seen. Visiting an asylum to watch the antics of its inmates was a recognised form of entertainment.

 

Church Bells When bells are mentioned, most English people think of those of a church, which are cup-shaped and hang in cotes, turrets, campaniles or towers. A campanile is a detached bell-tower and their first mention was in 6th century.

THE SOUNDING OF BELLS

In England, many church bells are "hung for ringing". This means that each is attached to a wheel, around which a rope can coil, and the whole is mounted so that the wheel is pivoted on both sides and can be moved easily through 360 degrees. However, in some churches, the bells are mounted on a spindle or a half wheel. Others are attached to a fixed metal bar, so that the bell cannot be moved at all, and are therefore known as "hung dead". They are sounded according to the way in which they are hung. Those which have a complete wheel may be rung (ie. swung in a complete circle so that the clapper hits the bell hard) or chimed (ie. the side of the bell struck by the clapper by gentle swinging). Those with a spindle or half-wheel can be chimed. Bells that are "hung dead" are sounded by clocking - the clapper being pulled against the side by means of a rope attached to it. Those too heavy to move may also be clocked.

EARLY HISTORY

Bellringing has been known in Britain for some hundreds of years, but it did not originate here. Its origin has been lost in the mists of time. Like the wheel, the bell was not invented, but sprang up independently in various parts of the world. From far off times, bells have been known to man. They are mentioned in Exodus and Zachariah mentions them being on the harnesses of horses. Euripides mentions bells in "Rhesus" and Plutarch in "Brutus". The Spartans used them at their funerals. The Chinese and Japanese had bells of considerable size, long before the birth of Christ. The Greeks and Romans used them for various purposes - as warnings, reminders and signals.

THE PROLIFERATION OF BELLS

The early missionaries used small handbells to bring people together and the first "ministers" of churches used them to call people to worship. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (353-431 AD) in Campania, introduced bells into Christian churches. Their adoption on a wide scale does not become apparent until about 550, when they were introduced into France. In Italy at about 604, Pope Sabinianus hung bells in turrets and had them rung to announce canonical hours. From France and Italy, the idea spread to Britain, especially to Ireland and the North. It is thought that both the concept and the bells themselves were brought over by monks and friars coming to join religious orders in this country.

The hanging of bells in British churches spread quickly. The Venerable Bede (c. 673-735) tells us of one imported from Italy by Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, to hang in his abbey. Bede also mentions the bell which was hung in Whitby Abbey in 680. These two instances show that at least one was being hung in some abbey churches.

By 750, they were sufficiently common for Egbert, Archbishop of York, to order all priests to toll their bell at certain times. More than one was being hung by 930. Abbot Tucketul hung bells at Croyland (or Crowland) Abbey in 930. By 960 these had been increased to a peal of seven, each having a name, the tenor bearing the name of the patron saint of the abbey. St Dunstan (Abbot of Glastonbury, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury) hung bells in all churches under his care (in about 954) and gave rules for their use. In 960, St Ethelwold (Abbot of Abingdon and Bishop of Winchester), hung them in the restored Abbey Church at Abingdon. Oseney Abbey in Oxford had a named peal of six by the early 1300's. It is possible that the huge clock bell, Great Tom (also called Old or Mighty Tom), which today hangs in Tom Tower, Oxford, was at Oseney Abbey too. St Chad's of Claughton in Lancashire has the oldest dated bell of 1296. It is sixteen inches high and has a diameter of twenty one inches at the mouth.