Cathedral of St. Paul

Dove's Guide details

12 + 2 Bells, 27-1-24 (1400kg) in D

Before the completion of the tower, three bells were hung at the level of the current belfry floor, consisting of two bells cast in 1866, originally part of the ring at Old St Paul's, and the Francis bell, given in memory of Francis Dillon Bell and Francis Henry Dillon Bell. They hung there for many years until the funds were raised to build the tower to its current height. The Dean at the time, James Thomas, was very enthusiastic about the bells and decided 14 were needed, making it the biggest ring of bells in New Zealand! 

8 of the bells are second hand. They were originally hung in St Edmund's church, Northampton, England, but the church became redundant in the 1970's and the bells had no further use. They were removed from the tower in 1979 and put into storage at John Taylor & Co bell foundry where they were originally cast. The availability of these bells soon became known to the Dean, and as they had found no use elsewhere in the diocese, they were incorporated into a new ring of 14 for the cathedral. As part of the process, the old 2nd bell was retuned and the 6th was recast, as it had poor tone. The rest of the bells received a good clean-up and light retuning. The remaining 6 bells were cast in 1981, and were shipped to Wellington along with the frame and fittings. 

An article in the Ringing World, No. 5627 March 1, 2019, describes some of the history surrounding the removal of the bells from St Edmund's 

The bells were finally installed in 1983-1984 and rung for the first time at the dedication service on Easter Sunday 1984. The old bells now make up numbers 4-8, 10, 11 of the current ring. The Extra Treble, 1-3, flat Sixth, 9 and 12 were newly-cast bells. A maximum of 12 bells (tuned to D) can be rung at once, with the additional bells forming as sharps and flats, enabling a lighter ring of 10 (tuned to G) to be rung. 

Before the full completion of the tower, the Cathedral had three bells which were hung dead at the level of the current belfry floor. Two of them, cast in 1866, were originally from Old St Paul's, along with the Francis Dillon Bell (the Flat Sixth in the ring today). The 1866 bells were eventually melted down and contributed to the casting of the 6 new bells. The Francis Dillon bell was recast. 

In addition to the ring of fourteen, there are 2 additional bells hanging at the cathedral. The first of these is the "Bell of Remembrance", a service bell which hangs 'dead' at the front of the cathedral, under a turret roof high above the main entrance. It was originally cast by John Taylor & Co, as the treble of a set of three for St John the Evangelist in Eastbourne, Sussex, in England. This church was badly damaged in the blitz, but luckily the bells had been hung in a separate campanile which was not touched. To fund for restoration of the church, 2 of the bells were sold off. The tenor was sent to St David's Cathedral in Hobart to be used as the tenor of the ring of ten, and the middle bell remained at St John's, leaving behind the treble. Timothy Hurd purchased it from the Whitechapel Bellfoundry as they had done the removal work and donated it as part of the Cathedral completion campaign. It is rung today via an Electromagnetic hammer.

You can read more about the bells by following the links below: 

Cathedral website

Change-Ringing Bells of New Zealand: Wellington Cathedral of St Paul 

For Inscriptions, Audio Recordings, and more. 

Old St. Paul's

Dove's Guide details

5 bells, 3-3-25 (202kg) in E♭

Old St Paul’s was built between 1865 and 1866 on what was originally the site of Pipitea Pā, a Māori settlement on Wellington’s waterfront. It was the first church in New Zealand to boast a full 'peal' of bells, that is, more than a single bell that was traditional in most other churches at the time. 3 bells were ordered for the church in 1866 from the Bell Foundry 'John Warner and Sons' in Cripplegate, London, UK, and were installed the following year. They were rung for the first time on 31 March 1867. 

Unfortunately, they didn't ring together for very long. By 1916, the bells were no longer being rung full circle as the mechanism was reported to be broken, and it was believed the small, wooden tower was not able to take the force of all three bells ringing. Then in 1940, the tenor bell cracked, which is suspected to be due to the bells being "clocked" instead of rung full circle - a technique frowned upon in the ringing world as the bells are hit much harder this way, It was sent to a Wellington engineering firm, forgotten about, and not rediscovered until 1990 when a bell ringer, Terry Barrett, found it being used at St Barnabas' church in Khandallah. It has since been repaired and returned to Old St Paul's, where it is currently on display. The remaining two bells were transferred to the new cathedral in 1964 and rang there until they were melted down and incorporated into the new set of 14 for the cathedral, in 1981. 

The bells we ring at Old St Paul's today are a light ring of five bells cast by Whitechapel Foundry (tenor 3-3-25cwt), the result of a major campaign and fundraising effort by the Friends of Old St Paul’s in the 1970’s to restore bells to the tower. These were first rung on 27 October 1979. They are still rung today for weddings and special events, but it is hoped that a regular practice will be established again at some point.  

A sixth bell hangs in the tower, the "Shaw Saville" bell, donated to the church in 1958 by the shipping company Shaw, Saville & Albion, to mark their centenary. It currently has no function and is only rung occasionally for visitors

You can read more about the bells by following the links below: 

History of the Old Bells

New Bells

Change-Ringing Bells of New Zealand: Old St Paul's 

For Inscriptions, Audio Recordings, and more. 

John David Mini Ring 

Dove's Guide details

8 Bells, 9lb 10oz (4.3kg) in F#

The John David Mini Ring was bought from Matthew Higby & Co in 2015 by the Wellington Ringers. A Mini ring is essentially a scale model of regular tower bells, only without stays and sliders as the bells are so small, they do not need to be rung up and down each time. The mini ring is used for demonstrating and teaching ringing, and frequently for quarter peals too. 

Donations towards the cost were made by many ringers, by the Australia and New Zealand Association of Bellringers (ANZAB), and by Wellington City Council. The bells were cast by Mark Prior and tuned and hung by Matthew Higby. The ring is named after two members of the Caldwell family, four generations of which have been ringers in New Zealand. David Caldwell was a ringer at St Matthew's, Auckland and Hamilton Cathedral. His son, John, learnt to ring. John died at a relatively young age. John's son, Andrew learnt to ring at Wellington Cathedral, becoming the fourth generation of Caldwells to ring.

Initially the ring was a six. Each bell is named after a donor. The treble and tenor are named Gill and Gerald respectively, after Gill and Gerald McIlhone. The second is named Rei, after Rei Ngatai. The third is named Jarman, after Chris Jarman. The fourth is named Barrett, after Terry Barrett. Gerald, Rei, Chris and Terry are Wellington ringers. Rei is the first Maori to ring a peal. The fifth is named Pleasance, after Pleasance Purser, who was Ringing Master at the Cathedral for 25 years.

In December 2015 two additional bells were ordered from Matthew Higby to augment the ring to an eight. Delivery was somewhat protracted and the ring finally became an eight in September 2017. Generous donations made the augmentation possible, particularly one from Lian von Wantoch. Lian was an American diplomat based at the American Embassy in Wellington for a period. She is a ringer and and donated money for the bells as thanks for her ringing welcome in Wellington. The new second is named Harvey, after her father Harvey von Wantoch. The new treble is named Nathan, after the grandson of Derek and Mary Williams, who are Wellington ringers.

Handbells

In 1982 Derek and Mary Williams bought several cardboard boxes of old handbells at an auction in Levin, NZ for NZ$1000. There were several dozen bells, all in a poor state. The clapper leathers and leather handles were hardened and cracked beyond use or had disappeared altogether. Several clapper mechanisms were missing completely, others had springs missing and many were immovable. Some bells were cracked or of poor tone. It is believed the bells came from the Marycrest Convent and Catholic Girls Boarding School located at Te Horo, between Waikanae and Otaki. The Convent and School was run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. The Convent was founded in 1946 and the School began about 1956. Marycrest closed in 1980. However, the bells appear to be from the firm of John Warner and Sons, which ceased manufacture in 1910, well before the opening of Marycrest. The bells may have originally been at the Sisters of the Good Shepherd establishment at Mount Magdala, Christchurch. Steve McEwan, handbell foreman at the Whitechapel Foundry, noted that the bells had leather work and profiles typical of the Whitechapel Foundry around 1900. At this time Warners and Whitechapel co-operated and Whitechapel made bells that were marketed by Warners. It is likely therefore that the bells are actually from the Whitechapel Foundry. The bells were sent to Whitechapel in 1983 for evaluation and for a quote for the renovation work. For several reasons no work was done on the bells and they remained in storage at Whitechapel.

Derek and Mary had no contact with the Foundry until 2013. In that year, Derek, Gerald McIlhone and Peter Bill began change ringing on Malmark tune-ringing handbells. Because the Malmark bells have plastic handles and adjustable clappers, they are not entirely satisfactory for change ringing. Consequently Derek contacted Whitechapel with a view to having some of the Marycrest bells restored. The following reply was received:

Dear Mr Williams Thank you for your email. After much searching we find we do have four boxes here containing old bells. The boxes are marked with the name Derek Williams and the bells are covered with newspapers dated 1983. We have not counted the bells or looked further at their condition as yet but it would certainly seem that these bells are yours and still with us. We look forward to hearing from you further as to how you wish to proceed now. Kind regards, Kathryn Hughes

It is impressive that the Foundry kept the bells stored for 30 years during which there had been no contact. Derek and Mary arranged for 14 bells to be renovated for themselves: a diatonic 12 in 21D, with a flat 6th and a sharp treble (the sharp treble was a new casting). They also gave 8 bells to the Wellington Ringers for renovation to form a diatonic scale in 15C. Subsequently, Derek and Mary visited the Whitechapel foundry to inspect the remaining bells. A further 6 bells were selected and given to the Wellington Ringers to extend their 8 to a diatonic 12 in C with a flat 6th and a sharp treble. These bells are still in the tower today. With two new bells added, another four bells were suitable for a 6 in 13E; these four bells were given to Gerald McIlhone. In 2014 Gerald ordered two new trebles to make them an 8. Finally, a very light 7 were identified that would make a pocket set. These were renovated in 2014 and a new tenor bell (C6) added to make an 8. This set is also in the possession of Derek and Mary. 

39 of the original 67 bells have been saved. The remainder, which were cracked or of poor tone, were sold for scrap

St. Peter's (currently not part of W.C.S.B)

Dove's Guide Details

There is a ring of 8 bells, cast in 1879 by John Warner & Sons, installed at St Peter's. They are chimed only; full circle ringing is not possible. The history of the bells can be found on the St Peter's web site.

A restoration proposal is being pursued to get four of the bells ringing.