What's On

Westminster Abbey has had bells since 1220 and two that were cast during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I continue to sound daily prior to Evensong.

During the sixteenth century six bells were hung in the incomplete north-west tower which at that time was lower than the nave roof. Under Nicholas Hawksmoor, the Abbey's Surveyor, work commenced on the west front and was completed in 1745 when the two west towers were raised to their present height. The bells were then rehung at a higher level.

The current ring of ten bells, installed in the north-west tower, was cast at London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1971. The bells are hung for traditional English style change ringing in which the bells swing full circle, allowing the ringers to vary the sequence in which each bell sounds.

The bells are rung by the Westminster Abbey Company of Ringers, which is a volunteer group comprising ten principal members and a number of supernumeraries. All are members of the Ancient Society of College Youths, a London based ringing society established in 1637.

The ten bells are hung below the level of the louvres and at first their sound did not carry adequately. The Queen Mother remarked to the Dean that at the Trooping of the Colour ceremony the bells were not as clear as the older ring of eight bells which had been located at the level of the louvres. Based on a design by a member of the Company of Ringers, an inverted wooden pyramid was installed above the bells towards the top of the tower. As a result, the sound was deflected enabling the bells to be heard across St. James's Park to Horse Guards Parade, along Whitehall and over Westminster Bridge to the South Bank.

The largest bell, the tenor, has a diameter of 54 inches, weighs over 30 cwt and is tuned to the note of D. It is this bell that is tolled following the death of a member of the Royal family and again prior to the funeral service.

The Abbey bells are rung for major church festivals, Royal anniversaries, civic events and special services. On solemn occasions the bells are rung half-muffled. This causes all bells to ring alternately strident and soft and is a distinctive sound. A leather pad is strapped to one side of the clapper ball to achieve the muffling. Abbey ringing on All Souls Day and on Remembrance Sunday is half-muffled.

Significant royal, national and Abbey occasions are marked by the ringing of a full peal. This comprises a minimum of 5000 different changes and takes more than three hours to complete. Peals demand considerable concentration by the ringers and the conductor all of whom commit the progress of the changes to memory.

Two other rings of bells have been cast to the same specification as those at the Abbey. In 1936 the Whitechapel Bell Foundry reproduced the sizes and weights of the then eight Abbey bells for Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, British Columbia.

In the early 1970s a set of bells, cast by Whitechapel to the specification of the Abbey's ten bells, formed a bicentennial gift by the English Ditchley Foundation to the Congress of the United States. The bells are installed in the Old Post Office Tower in Washington D.C. and each bell is inscribed with the Great Seals of the U.S. and of Britannia. The Abbey's coat of arms is cast on the headstock of each bell.

The company of ringers