Fully muffled church bells rung for first time in 70 years
for the first time in 70 years, fully muffled church bells have been ringing out across the island.
Tower captain at the Town Church Duncan Loweth said the Town Church, and those in Vale, Forest and St Peter’s, all had the same bell ringing mechanisms, though not necessarily the same number of bells.
The bells swing two ways while the clapper is static.
It is usual practice to muffle one side of the clapper with a leather dome for occasions such as Remembrance Sunday, but both sides of the clapper were only ever muffled following the death of the monarch.
‘It gives a more mournful, reflective and sorrowful sound,’ he said.
Mr Loweth said he felt like he had spent much of his week climbing stairs. There are about 50 steps to the ringing room in the Town Church but the bells are two floors higher and it is necessary to climb down into each of the eight bell pits to fit the muffles.
On Friday 9 September, in line with protocol, the muffled bells were rung for an hour from noon at the Town Church. The muffles then had to be removed for Sunday’s ringing for about 30 minutes both prior to and after the Proclamation.
The muffles were then put on again for use in the days ahead. Mr Loweth said the bell ringers had not practised this week because people might wonder what was happening.
They did ring a full peal which lasted for two hours and 53 minutes on Tuesday evening in memory of the Queen.
He said Friday’s ringing had brought great anxiety to his team.
‘It was a very public thing and everybody wanted to process their thoughts,’ he said. ‘Some people told me they were coming to Town especially to listen to the church bells and the gun salute and we didn’t want to mess it up. Aside from that, none of us had heard a fully muffled ring before but it helped us to digest what was going on.’
There are about 12 bell ringers at the Town Church. Mr Loweth said he hoped that the bells could be rung prior to today’s memorial service but the team might be short on numbers, which means they may have to rely on assistance from ringers from other churches.
The bells will be rung for an hour on Monday prior to the start of the state funeral in London.
