History

Before the completion of the main bell 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 finish building the bell tower. The Dean at the time, The Reverend James Thomas, was very enthusiastic about bells and decided that fourteen were needed, making it the biggest set of swinging bells in New Zealand! 

Eight of our 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 re-tuned 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. The tower they are hung in was named the James Thomas Bell Tower, in honour of the Reverend Dean James Thomas, who was instrumental in getting the tower completed and installing the new bells. 

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" in the Flag Tower at the front of the cathedral. 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 find out 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. 

Dove's Guide Details