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The original Norman Church was commenced in 1140. It was planned on a large scale, probably aisle-less and with a central tower. Bells were cast for the Minster in 1360 by Johannes de Stafford of Leicester. It seems likely that he would, at the same time, cast bells for St Mary's. It is also possible that these might have been recastings of bells of which we have no record. Bells being such heavy, bulky objects had to be cast 'on site' in bell pits in the vicinity of the church. Any extra metal required, ingots of copper and tin or would probably be brought from the Cornish mines by sea to the River Hull because their weight would have been too great for such a long journey by pack horse.

9th bell being 'Rung Up'

Certain it is, records show that there were 'more than four bells in the Tower in 1417 - the reign of Henry V, two years after the battle or Agincourt.  (See "Ramble around the Church" by  Hairsine: Ref1)

The whole of mediaeval life was governed by the sound or bells and there is no reason to doubt that this sound, announcing services at various times of the day must have pervaded Beverley from the Minster and from St Mary's (see the Bells and Bellringers of York Minster - David Potter 1987).

The building of clerestoreys to the North and South Transepts in about 1485 in addition to the Chancel and Nave clerestoreys probably prompted the disastrous decision to raise the height of the tower in the early 16th century.

On the third Sunday after Easter, the 29th April 1520, during the saying of Mass, the tower collapsed, and fell on to the nave, killing many 'men, wymmen and scheldryn'. The bells would have broken in the fall, though the metal would have been recovered from the ruins. In only four years, the nave and the tower were rebuilt and were as we see them today.

The next definite evidence of the bells is still in existence in the church Priests' rooms museum. This is the upper half of a bell complete with its inscription band which was cast in the late 16th century by Quermbie and Oldfield of Nottingham and York. It bears the Royal Coat of Arms of Elizabeth I and has the inscription - "Ut Tuba sic sonitu Domini conducc cohortes". 'As with the sound of the trumpet (tuba) I gather in the hosts of The Lord'. It also bears the following inscription "1599 PD.RC.RS.WI". Are these letters the initials of the churchwardens at that date?

During the rebuilding, the centre of the westernmost beam in the roof of the nave was furnished with a fine representation of the heads of Henry Vlll and Catherine of Aragon. It is said that this roof boss saved the bells and other metal in the church's possession when the commissioners of Edward V1 sought to remove them from parish churches in order to swell the king's coffers in 1552/53. These bells, with additions and recastings in 1631, 1740 and 1888 became the set of eight bells "ill-matched and of miserable tone" which were in the tower to the end of the l9th century. Part of the oak frame which carried them is also in the church museum. It was built in 1744 by James Harrison of Barrow on Humber, brother of John Harrison who received a Royal prize for designing the first accurate marine chronometer.

In 1899, Mercy Crust, the widow of a churchwarden and benefactor bequeathed £850 in his memory to install, in the tower, a ring of bells worthy of the church. The churchwardens gave a further £800 including £300-worth of metal from the old bells. These were removed from the tower in January 1900 (see photographs in the church museum and copies in the ringing chamber). At this time, the foremost bellfounders were John Taylor & Co. of Loughborough. Not only were their castings superior but also they had perfected the system of tuning bells discovered by Canon Simpson of Fittleworth and they contracted to install a "grand peal of ten bells hung on one level in the exceedingly fine tower"

The bell-chamber floor and the ringing-chamber ceiling were removed and replaced. A new cast iron 'H' pattern bell frame was built resting on a grille of steel girders. The new bells were cast, Simpson-tuned and ready for installation during April 1900. The Treble, the smallest bell weighed 6cwt 1qr 261bs and the largest bell, the Tenor weighed 34cwt 3qr 12lbs in the key of D flat, the total weight of the new peal being over 7 tons or about 7000kg metric. An article in the "Beverley Guardian" of 9th July asserted that our town "can now boast of possessing what is unquestionably from a musical point of view, the finest peal of bells in the country". The Dedication of the new bells by the Archbishop of York took place during an impressive service at 4.30 p.m. on Saturday, 2nd June. The first and only peal on the original eight bells was rung by ringers from York, Hull and Beverley; 5040 changes of Grandsire Triples in 3 hours and 2 minutes on the 14th March, 1896.

Tenor bell ringing 'Full Circle'

The first peal on the new ten bells was 5002 changes of Stedman Caters in 3 hours and 39 minutes on Monday 1st June 1903. Since then, a total of 92 peals have been successfully rung, the most recent being by the Cumberland Youths in April 2001. 5040 changes in 3 hours and 36minutes, the method was Beverlea Delight Royal, composed for the occasion by the conductor Roderick R. Horton, first time in the method for all the band of ten ringers. During the early months of 1996 the ringing chamber was thoroughly cleaned and decorated. A new carpet, the gift of anonymous donors was fitted and new chairs were supplied. This work was master minded by Simon Mearns, then Tower Captain assisted by other members. A dumb bell-training device was fitted by John Taylor, Bellfounders, designed by the church architect and paid for out of money raised by the ringers.

In 1997, a faculty was obtained to carry out a complete overhaul of the bells. The cost was met by a most generous donation given anonymously to the Tower Funds, a grant of £1000 from the Beverley and District Ringing Society and money raised by the ringers. At no cost to the Church Funds therefore, new spheroidal graphite cast iron clappers with stainless steel pivot pins were fitted to bells 1 to 7 and new pins to 8 and 9. The ground pulley on the 3rd was replaced. The 5th was turned through 90 degrees on its headstock. All twenty of the bearings were removed in turn, inspected, cleaned, lubricated, sealed and where possible replaced. Seven of the bearings were found to be damaged and were replaced with new ones at a cost £600.

The work was carried out by 11 of the ringers at various times supervised by John Taylor's Foreman bell hanger and completed in less than two weeks during August at a total cost of £4300.

The bells are rung for services on Sundays from 9.00 to 10.00 a.m. and from 5.30 to 6.30 p.m. Practice night is from 7.15 to 9.00 p.m. on Wednesdays. On most Sundays call changes on ten are rung to a high standard with Caters and Royal when possible and methods up to Surprise Royal are also practised.

Ringing visitors to the tower are always made most welcome and during 1997 there were over 400 of them.

In addition to ringing for services and weddings, the bells are also rung for national celebrations and for mourning. Historically, the bells may have been rung after the victory of Agincourt in 1415, probably after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, certainly after the overthrow of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, for the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 and following the victories at Trafalgar in 1805, Waterloo in 1815, El Alamein in 1942 and the Falklands in 1982. More recently, the bells were rung to a celebration quarter peal on the release of Terry Waite from captivity in 1991. They were rung half-muffled in mourning for the slaughtered innocents of Dunblane in 1996 and of course on the 31st August and 6th September 1997 to mark the grief felt by the people of Beverley on the tragic and untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

How do we do it? Hopefully, you know that in England, bells are rung from the mouth uppermost position. The rope is attached to a huge wheel on the bell's headstock. A long steady pull on the rope (handstroke) causes the bell to revolve a full circle anti-clockwise. The bell speaks once. At the next pull (backstroke) the bell revolves clockwise and the clapper strikes once more. This gives the ringer complete control over the bell and allows the English system of change-ringing to take place where the order in which the bells sound changes at every stroke according to a large variety of mathematical patterns known as methods.

The outer end of the clapper has a ball several inches in diameter and to half-muffle the bells, a thick leather cup is attached to half of the ball by means of straps so when the bells revolve, they strike the normal sounding blow at one stroke and a muffled sound at the other. This produces a kind of echo - a uniquely English expression of sadness.

The Scots have their bagpipes, the Welsh and the Irish their harps. We in England have our Church Bells. There are over 5000 towers with bells rung like ours in England. There are fewer than 20 in Scotland, about 100 each in Wales and Ireland and just over 100 in the rest of the world, mostly in Australia and the U.S.A.

D Watson

Last modified: 19 June, 2002