About our Bells
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Cathedral of St. Paul
Cathedral of St. Paul
12 + 2 Bells, 27-1-24 (1400kg) tuned to 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 1970s, 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 a poor tone. The rest of the bells received a good clean-up and light re-tuning. To make the remaining six bells, the two 1866 bells from Old St Paul's were melted down and contributed to the casting of the four smallest bells and the flat sixth, ninth, and tenor.
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, and 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. The extra treble and flat sixth are not part of the main ring of 12, but act as the two extra notes required to enable a lighter ring of 10 (tuned to G) to be rung.
In addition to the ring of fourteen, two additional bells hang at the cathedral. The first of these is the "Bell of Remembrance", a service bell that 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 severely damaged in the Blitz, but fortunately, the bells had been hung in a separate campanile, which remained untouched. To fund the restoration of the church, two of the bells were sold. 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 Bell Foundry, 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. The other is a Ship's bell from the barge Indemnity, which sailed between England and New Zealand in the 19th century. It is on display in the nave.
You can read more about the bells by following the links below:
Change-Ringing Bells of New Zealand: Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
For Inscriptions, Audio Recordings, and more.
Old St. Paul's
Old St. Paul's
5 bells, 3-3-25 (202kg) tuned to 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 that the small, wooden tower was unable to withstand 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 1970s 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:
Change-Ringing Bells of New Zealand: Old St Paul's
For Inscriptions, Audio Recordings, and more.
John David Mini Ring
John David Mini Ring
8 Bells, 9lb 10oz (4.3kg) tuned to F#
The John David Mini Ring was bought from Matthew Higby & Co in 2015 by the Wellington Ringers. A Mini ring is a scale model of regular tower bells, but without stays and sliders, as the bells are so small that they do not need to be rung up and down each time. The mini ring is used for demonstrating and teaching ringing, and is also frequently used for quarter peals.
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 eight. Delivery was somewhat protracted, and the ring was finally received 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 donated money for the bells as a thank you 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 Williams, a Wellington ringer.
Handbells
Handbells
In 1982, Derek and Mary Williams purchased several cardboard boxes of old handbells at an auction in Levin, New Zealand, for NZ$ 1,000. 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 entirely, while others had missing springs, 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 Sisters of the Good Shepherd ran the Convent and School. 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 those produced by the Whitechapel Foundry around 1900. At this time, Warners and Whitechapel co-operated, and Whitechapel made bells that Warners marketed. It is likely, therefore, that the bells are actually from the Whitechapel Foundry. The bells were sent to Whitechapel in 1983 for evaluation and 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 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 eight bells to the Wellington Ringers for renovation, which was intended 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 was identified that would make a pocket set. These were renovated in 2014, and a new tenor bell (C6) was 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)
St. Peter's (currently not part of W.C.S.B)
8 bells, 15-2-27 (800kg) tuned to F.
There is a ring of 8 bells, cast in 1879 by John Warner & Sons, installed at St Peter's. They are unringable due to the tower being too weak to support full circle ringing. With some remedial work to the frame and fittings, the smallest four bells could be rung full circle again before a complete restoration takes place in the future.
The history of the bells can be found on the St Peter's website.
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