History of Bellhanging

History of Bells
Church bells have been used by the Christian Church for at least 1400 years and possibly for longer than that. Originally small bells were used similar in size to the handbells of today and it was only later that larger bells began to come into use. The Saxons began to build some of their more important churches in stone and there are a surprising number of Saxon towers still in existence.

Many towers were probably constructed partly for defensive purposes though we know that they were also built to house bells. During the early medieval period the shape of church bells evolved until by the 15th century the shape and proportions were very much as we know them today. A considerable number of bells from the c15th still survive and many are wonderful examples of the craft of their age.

Restoring such bells on a regular basis we have deep admiration for the skills involved in their manufacture and it is always a great privilege to work on them. The reformation in the mid c16th century brought about an end to most bellfounding in England. The foundries which eventually began to develop demonstrate that in many parts of the country the skills of the medieval craftsmen had been lost. Many post-reformation foundries produced bells which by comparison with their medieval forebears are crudely moulded and sometimes of dubious tonal quality. Gradually the quality of bellfounding improved, although it was only at the end of the c19th century that the accurate tuning of bells was developed.

Today bells made in England are generally made with all their principal harmonics or partial tones in a proper musical relationship having been accurately tuned using the latest technology. The casting quality of modern bellfoundries is the equal of their medieval forebears. It seems that before the reformation bells hung in English churches were, like those in continental Europe, mostly able to be swung through a small arc which enabled them to be sounded though not accurately controlled. After the reformation experiments in bellhanging which had probably begun prior to the reformation continued in order to find a way of more precisely controlling swinging bells. This led to the development of full-circle ringing, where bells are rung through 360 degrees and have a mechanism which will support the bell near its balance point to prevent the bell from turning right over. The result was the ability to control each of the bells in a ring or peal thus allowing them to be rung to precise mechanical patterns or changes.

Change Ringing
From this developed the art of Changeringing and this combined with full-circle ringing is something which began in England and which is still, with one or two exceptions, only found in the English speaking world. Full circle ringing predominates in English churches and also in many in Wales along with a number in Scotland and Ireland. In many churches both in the UK and elsewhere and in non-secular buildings, however, the bells are not so hung, some being hung for stationary chiming perhaps as part of a clock chime and others for swing chiming.

Nicholson Engineering has an enormous breadth of experience in the hanging of bells, however they are rung and whether in a church or secular building. Our expertise is freely available to all who are considering the restoration or installation of bells of all kinds.