Jump to content

Church bell: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Aspdin (talk | contribs)
241 edits
No edit summary
m Disambiguating links to Service (link changed to Church service; link changed to Church service) using DisamAssist.
 
(334 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Bell in a church}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
[[Image:Church bell cutaway.png|thumb|Cutaway drawing of a church bell, showing construction.]]
[[Image:Church bell cutaway.png|thumb|Cutaway drawing of a church bell, showing construction.]]
[[File:Geluid van de kerkklok van Aldeboarn - Church bell ringing in Aldeboarn, the Netherlands, 4 June 2022.oga|thumb|Church bell ringing in [[Aldeboarn]], [[Friesland]] (Frisia), the Netherlands, June 2022.]]


A '''church bell''' is a [[bell (instrument)|bell]] in a [[church (building)|church]] building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a communal [[Church service|service]], but are also rung on special occasions such as a [[wedding]], or a [[funeral]] service. In some Christian traditions they signify to people outside that a particular part of the service has been reached.<ref name="Church Words: Origins and Meanings">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher=Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote=There are two sorts of liturgical bells in the history of the Christian Church-church bells in spires or towers used to call the faithful to worship, and sanctuary bells used to call attention to the coming of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref>
A '''church bell''' is a [[bell (instrument)|bell]] which is rung in a (especially [[Christian]]) [[church (building)|church]] either to signify the [[hour]] or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a [[wedding]], [[funeral]], or other [[Service of worship|service]]. Before mass communication they were the only way to gather a village together, so they also served [[secular]] functions.


European Christian church bells typically have the form of a cup-shaped cast metal resonator with a flared thickened rim, and a pivoted metal striker or ''clapper'' hanging from its center inside. It is usually mounted high in a [[bell tower]] on top of the [[church (building)|church]], so it can be heard by the surrounding community. The bell is suspended at its apex from a horizontal axle, so it can swing from side to side. A rope is tied to a pulley or lever on the axle, and hangs down to ground level. To ring the bell, the ''[[bell-ringer]]'' pulls on the rope, swinging the bell. The motion causes the clapper to hit the inside rim of the bell as it swings, making the sound. Alternatively, the bell may be suspended from a stationary support, and the bell rung by pulling a rope attached to the clapper to one side.
The traditional European church bell ''(see cutaway drawing)'' used in Christian churches worldwide consists of a cup-shaped metal resonator with a pivoted clapper hanging inside which strikes the sides when the bell is swung. It is hung within a [[steeple]] or [[belltower]] of a church or religious building,<ref name="AdatoJudy">{{cite book|last1=Adato|first1=Joseph|last2=Judy|first2=George|title=The Percussionist's Dictionary|publisher=Alfred Music|language=en |isbn=9781457493829|page=11}}</ref> so the sound can reach a wide area. Such bells are either fixed in position ("hung dead") or hung from a pivoted beam (the "headstock") so they can swing to and fro. A rope hangs from a lever or wheel attached to the headstock, and when the bell ringer pulls on the rope the bell swings back and forth and the clapper hits the inside, sounding the bell. Bells that are hung dead are normally sounded by hitting the sound bow with a hammer or occasionally by a rope which pulls the internal clapper against the bell.


A church may have a single bell, or a collection of bells which are tuned to a common scale. They may be stationary and chimed, rung randomly by swinging through a small arc, or swung through a full circle to enable the high degree of control of English [[change ringing]].
[[Image:Saleby_kyrkklocka,_Västergötland.png|thumb|'''Church bell''' from Saleby, [[Västergötland]], Sweden containing an inscription from [[1228]] in the [[Runic alphabet]]]]


Before modern communications, church bells were a common way to call the community together for all purposes, both sacred and secular. In some Christian traditions bell ringing was believed to [[exorcism in Christianity|drive out]] demons.<ref name="Booth2014">{{cite book|last=Booth|first=Mark|title=The Sacred History: How Angels, Mystics and Higher Intelligence Made Our World|date=February 11, 2014|publisher=Simon and Schuster|language=en|isbn=9781451698589|page=274|quote=Church bells would be rung to drive away demons.}}</ref><ref name="Cohen1990">{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=I. Bernard|title=Benjamin Franklin's Science|url=https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00iber|url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=Harvard University Press|language=en|isbn=9780674066595|page=[https://archive.org/details/benjaminfranklin00iber/page/119 119]|quote=The practice of ringing church bells to dissipate lightning storms and prevent their deleterious effects had a long tradition in Europe and had been a concomitant to the general belief in the diabolical agency manifested in storms. ... Typical inscriptions on church bells described their power to "ward off lightning and malignant demons"; stated that "the sound of this bell vanquishes tempests, repels demons, and summons men," or exhorted it to "praise God, put to flight the coulds, affright the demons, and call the people"; or noted that "it is I who dissipate the thunders."}}</ref><ref name="Lewis2001">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=James R. |title=Satanism Today |date=2001 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781576072929 |language=en}}</ref>
==Types==
In the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and some [[Lutheran]], [[Anglican]], and [[Methodist]] churches, a small hand bell or set of such bells (called [[altar bell]]s, or sanctus bells) is rung shortly before the [[consecration]] of the bread and wine into the [[Body and Blood of Christ]] and again when the consecrated elements are shown to the people.<ref>General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 150</ref>


==Uses and traditions==
The term [[Sanctus bell]] traditionally referred to a bell suspended in a [[bell-cot]] at the apex of the nave roof, over the chancel arch, or hung in the church tower, in [[medieval]] churches. This bell was rung at the singing of the [[Sanctus]] and again at the [[elevation (liturgy)]] of the elements, to indicate to those not present in the building that the moment of consecration had been reached. The practice and the term remain in common use in many Anglican churches.
===Call to prayer===
[[File:JEAN-FRANÇOIS MILLET - El Ángelus (Museo de Orsay, 1857-1859. Óleo sobre lienzo, 55.5 x 66 cm).jpg|thumb|[[The Angelus (painting)|The Angelus]], depicting prayer at the sound of the bell (in the steeple on the horizon) ringing a canonical hour.]]
[[Oriental Orthodox Christian]]s, such as [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Copts]] and [[Indian Orthodox Church|Indians]], use a [[breviary]] such as the [[Agpeya]] and [[Shehimo]] to [[Christian prayer|pray]] the [[canonical hours]] seven times a day while facing in the [[ad orientem|eastward direction]]; church bells are tolled, especially in monasteries, to mark these [[Fixed prayer times#Christianity|seven fixed prayer times]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the relationship between bells and the church? When and where did the tradition begin? Should bells ring in every church? |url=https://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=1484&catid=386 |publisher=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States |access-date=August 8, 2020 |language=en |date=2020}}</ref><ref name="Amherst1906">{{cite book |author1=Mary Cecil |author-link=Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney |title=A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |date=1906 |publisher=Methuen |page=399 |language=en |quote=Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.}}</ref>


In Christianity, some churches ring their church bells from [[belltower]]s three times a day, at 9 am, noon and 3 pm to summon the Christian faithful to recite the [[Lord's Prayer]];<ref name=Dryer>{{cite book |author= George Herbert Dryer|title=History of the Christian Church|publisher=Curts & Jennings|year=1897|quote= …every church-bell in Christendom to be tolled three times a day, and all Christians to repeat Pater Nosters (The Lord's Prayer)}}</ref><ref name=Honig>{{cite web |author= Joan Huyser-Honig|title=Uncovering the Blessing of Fixed-Hour Prayer|url=https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/uncovering-the-blessing-of-fixed-hour-prayer|publisher=Calvin Institute of Christian Worship|year=2006|quote=Early Christians prayed the Lord's Prayer three times a day. Medieval church bells called people to common prayer.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Church bells |url=https://wels.net/faq/church-bells/ |publisher=[[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] |access-date=August 8, 2020 |language=en |date=July 25, 2017}}</ref> the injunction to pray the Lord's prayer thrice daily was given in ''[[Didache]]'' 8, 2 f.,<ref name=KF>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqnmVGo6jA8C&pg=PA225 |title=Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 8|author=Gerhard Kittel|author2=Gerhard Friedrich|page=224|publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]]|year=1972|access-date=October 26, 2012|quote=The praying of the Lord's Prayer three times a day in Did., 8, 2 f. is connected with the Jewish practice --> 218, 3 ff.; II, 801, 16 ff.; the altering of other Jewish customs is demanded in the context.|isbn=9780802822505}}</ref><ref name=Beckwith>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PVCUZ7BTD2gC&pg=PA193 |title=Calendar, Chronology, and Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity|author=Roger T. Beckwith|page=193|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=2005|access-date=October 26, 2012|quote=The Church had now two hours of prayer, observed individually on weekdays and corporately on Sundays – yet the Old Testament spoke of three daily hours of prayer, and the Church itself had been saying the Lord's Prayer three times a day.|isbn=9004146032}}</ref><ref name=Standing>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_OShrBh0I0C&pg=PA91 |title=Matthew: A Shorter Commentary|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2005|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= Moreover, the central portion of the Eighteen Benedictions, just like the Lord's Prayer, falls into two distinct parts (in the first half the petitions are for the individuals, in the second half for the nation); and early Christian tradition instructs believers to say the Lord's Prayer three times a day (''Did''. 8.3) while standing (''Apost''. ''const''. 7.24), which precisely parallels what the rabbis demanded for the Eighteen Benedictions.|isbn=9780567082497}}</ref> which, in turn, was influenced by the Jewish practice of praying thrice daily found in the [[Old Testament]], specifically in {{bibleverse||Psalm|55:17|KJV}}, which suggests "morning and evening plus at noon", and {{bibleverse||Daniel|6:10|KJV}}, in which the prophet [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] prays thrice a day.<ref name="KF"/><ref name="Beckwith"/><ref name=White>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MURUzRlz-hoC&pg=PT104 |title=Introduction to Christian Worship 3rd Edition: Revised and Enlarged|author=James F White|publisher=[[Abingdon Press]]|date=September 1, 2010|access-date=October 12, 2012|quote=Late in the first century or early in the second, the ''Didache'' advised Christians to pray the Lord's prayer three times a day. Others sought disciplines in the Bible itself as ways to make the scriptural injunction to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) practical. Psalm 55:17 suggested "evening and morning and at noon," and Daniel prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10).|isbn=9781426722851}}</ref><ref name=CCC>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cymM4xEM76wC&pg=PA588 |title=Catechism Of The Catholic Church |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]]|year=1999|access-date=September 2, 2014|isbn=0-860-12324-3|quote=Late in the first century or early in the second, the ''Didache'' advised Christians to pray the Lord's prayer three times a day. Others sought disciplines in the Bible itself as ways to make the scriptural injunction to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) practical. Psalm 55:17 suggested "evening and morning and at noon," and Daniel prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10).}}</ref> The early Christians thus came to pray the Lord's Prayer at 9 am, noon and 3 pm.<ref name="Beckwith2005">{{cite book |last1=Beckwith |first1=Roger T. |title=Calendar, Chronology And Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism And Early Christianity |date=2005 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-14603-7 |language=en |quote=So three minor hours of prayer were developed, at the third, sixth and ninth hours, which, as Dugmore points out, were ordinary divisions of the day for worldly affairs, and the Lord's Prayer was transferred to those hours.}}</ref>
Some church bells are electronically timed to chime automatically. Clocks generally automatically strike, but in the [[United Kingdom]], bells for services, etc., are still almost always rung by people (see [[bell ringing]] and [[carillon]]). Some churches use recorded or digitally synthesised bells.
[[File:Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris nef nouvelles cloches.jpg|thumbnail|The [[Bells of Notre-Dame de Paris#21st century bells|new bells]] of [[Notre Dame de Paris]] on display in the nave in February 2013 before being hung in the towers of the cathedral.]]


Many Catholic Christian churches ring their bells thrice a day, at 6 am, noon, and 6 pm to call the faithful to recite the [[Angelus]], a prayer recited in honour of the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation of God]].<ref name=Anderson>{{cite book|author=John P. Anderson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVktuDe1aHUC&pg=PA93 |title=Joyce's Finnegans Wake: The Curse of Kabbalah, Volume 2 |publisher=Universal Publishers|year=2009|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= The Angelus is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. Its name is derived from the opening words, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ. It consists of three Biblical verses describing the mystery, recited as versicle and response, alternating with the salutation "Hail Mary!" and traditionally is recited in Catholic churches, convents and monasteries three times daily, 6 am, noon and 6 pm, accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell. Some High Church Anglican and Lutheran churches also use the devotion.|isbn = 9781599429014}}</ref><ref name=Anglican>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jN4wspXqHBkC&pg=PA728 |title=The Anglican Service Book: A Traditional Language Adaptation of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Together with the Psalter Or Psalms of David and Additional Devotions|publisher=Good Shepherd Press|date=September 1, 1991|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= The Angelus: In many churches the bell is run morning, noon, and evening in memory of the Incarnation of God, and the faithful say the following prayers, except during Eastertide, when the Regina coeli is said.|isbn=9780962995507}}</ref>
==History==
Church bells became common in Europe in the [[early Middle Ages]].<ref name="CE">"Bells." Catholic Encyclopedia. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02418b.htm read online]</ref> They were first common in northern Europe, reflecting [[Celt]]ic influence, especially that of [[Ireland|Irish]] missionaries.<ref name="CE"/> Before the use of church bells, Greek monasteries would ring a flat metal plate (see ''[[semantron]]'') to announce services.<ref name="CE"/> The ''signa'' and ''companae'' used to announce services before Irish influence may have been flat plates like the ''semantron'' rather than bells.<ref name="CE"/> The oldest surviving circle of bells in Great Britain is housed in [[St Lawrence Church, Ipswich]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Oldest ring of bells played again |date=10 September 2009 |agency=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8247631.stm |last=Worthington |first=Mark |accessdate=2009-09-10}}</ref> The oldest church bell in the world is one donated by [[Despot]] [[Alexius Slav]] to the metropolitan church in [[Melnik]], Bulgaria, and dated to 1211-1216. It is now kept at the [[National Museum of History]] in [[Sofia]].


Some [[Protestant]] Christian Churches ring church bells during the congregational recitation of the Lord's Prayer, after the [[sermon]], in order to alert those who are unable to be present to "unite themselves in spirit with the congregation".<ref name=Protestant>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/NewSchaffHerzogEncyclopediaOfReligiousKnowledgeVolumeIAachenBasiliansPhilipSchaff/New%20Schaff-Herzog%20Encyclopedia%20of%20Religious%20Knowledge%20Volume%20II%20-%20Basilica%20-%20Chambers%20%28Philip%20Schaff%29#page/n119/mode/2up/search/bell |title=The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Thought: Basilica-Chambers, Volume 2 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing|date=1952 |quote=The main use of bells has always been to announce the time of public worship. It is also a common Roman Catholic practise to ring the church bell at the consecration in the mass, as in some Protestant localities at the Lord's Prayer after the sermon, that those who are absent may unite themselves in spirit with the congregation.|page=117}}</ref><ref name=Reformed>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAdFFePWliUC&pg=PA223 |title=The Valley's Legends & Legacies IV|publisher=Quill Driver Books|date=May 30, 2002|access-date=October 26, 2012|quote=At the end of the sermon, both bells began to ring and continued ringing through the Lord's Prayer.|page=223|isbn=9781884995217}}</ref>
In [[World War II]] in [[Great Britain]], all church bells were silenced, to ring only to inform of an invasion by enemy troops.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/19/a4036619.shtml WW2 People's War - Recollections of a Wartime Childhood]</ref> The episode "[[The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage]]" of the BBC [[sitcom]] ''[[Dad's Army]]'' included a scene where the church bells rang by mistake, leading the [[British Home Guard|Home Guard]] to believe that an invasion was taking place. The same event occurs in Dad's Army the movie - just after workmen come to apparently "take away" the bells, which is a misrepresentation.


In many historic Christian Churches, church bells are also rung on [[All Hallows' Eve]],<ref name="Bannatyne1998">{{cite book|last=Bannatyne|first=Lesley|title=Halloween |date=August 31, 1998|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|language=en |isbn=9781455605538|page=22|quote=Priests in tiny Spanish villages still ring their church bells to remind parishioners to honor the dead on All Hallows Eve.}}</ref> as well as during the [[Procession#Christian processions|processions]] of [[Candlemas]] and [[Palm Sunday]];<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= It is also traditional that the church bells ring during the processions of Candlemas (the Feast of the Purification) and Palm Sunday.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref> the only time of the [[Christian Year]] when church bells are not rung include [[Maundy Thursday]] through the [[Easter Vigil]].<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= It is traditional that no bells be rung from the last service on Maundy Thursday until the Great Vigil of Easter.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref> The Christian tradition of the ringing of church bells from a belltower is analogous to the [[Islamic]] tradition of the [[adhan]] from a [[minaret]].<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Psychology Press|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= But even for Muslims who pray infrequently, the adhan marks the passage of time through the day (in much the same way as church bells do in many Christian communities) and serves as a constant reminder that they are living in a Muslim community.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761479260 |url-access= registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761479260/page/77 77] |title= Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures|publisher= Marshal Cavendish|date=September 1, 2010|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= Muslims living in predominantly Islamic lands, however, have the benefit of the call to prayer (adhan). In the same way that much of the Christian world traditionally used bells to summon the faithful to church services, so the early Muslim community developed its own method of informing the community that the time for prayer had arrived.|isbn= 9780761479260}}</ref>
==Blessing==
In some [[Christian liturgy|liturgical]] churches, bells are blessed before they are hung.


1st prayer is at 12am.
In the [[Roman Catholic Church]] the name ''Baptism of Bells'' has been given to the ceremonial blessing of church bells, at least in France, since the eleventh century. It is derived from the washing of the bell with [[holy water]] by the [[bishop]], before he anoints it with the [[oil of the infirm]] without and with [[chrism]] within; a fuming [[thurible|censer]] is placed under it and the bishop prays that these [[sacramentals]] of the Church may, at the sound of the bell, put the demons to flight, protect from storms, and call the faithful to prayer.


2nd prayer is at 6am.
In the [[Orthodox Church]] the ceremony is even more elaborate.


3rd prayer is at 9am.
==Ringing==
{{listen|filename=Churchbells.ogg|title=Church bells ringing in Leverkusen, Germany|format=[[Ogg]]}}
In many Catholic churches, the ringing of a church bell for the [[Angelus]] prayer, in the morning, at midday and in the evening, is called the Angelus bell.


4th prayer is at 12pm.
The [[noon bell]] was ordered by [[Pope Callixtus III]] in 1456, as a support for the Hungarian defenders of [[Belgrade]] to encourage their fight against the Ottoman Islamic expansion. The practice of Noon bell is traditionally attributed to the international conmemoration of [[John Hunyadi]]'s victory at Belgrade.


5th prayer is at 3pm.
The practice and hobby of bell-ringing is sometimes known to non-ringers as [[campanology]]. [[Change ringing]] is a particular facet of English bellringing where bells are rung in mathematical sequence. Wedding cards commonly show bells: this is founded on the tradition of ringing changes as the wedding couple leave the church.


6th prayer is at 6pm.
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] there is a long and complex history of bell ringing, with particular bells being rung in particular ways to signify different parts of the [[Divine Service (Eastern Orthodoxy)|divine service]]s, [[Funeral]] [[Funeral toll|toll]]s, etc. This custom is particularly sophisticated in the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Russian bells are usually fixed, and are tolled by pulling on a rope that is attached to the clapper so that it will strike the side of the bell.


7th prayer is at 9pm.
In many churches the ringing of bells is suspended during [[Holy Week]], to be resumed only at the [[Paschal Vigil]].


===Call to worship===
The ringing of a church bell to announce a death is called a [[death knell]]. The type of death knell sometimes depended on the person who had dies; for example in the counties of Kent and Surrey in England it was customary to ring three times three strokes for a man and three times two for a woman.
Most [[Christian denomination]]s ring church bells to call the faithful to worship, signalling the start of a [[mass (liturgy)|mass]] or [[Church service|service of worship]].<ref name="Protestant"/><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XSOyfy061SQC&pg=PA76 |title= Church Words: Origins and Meanings|publisher= Forward Movement|date=August 1, 1996|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote= It became customary to ring the church bells to call the faithful to worship and on other important occasions, such as the death of a parishioner.|isbn= 9780880281720}}</ref>
[[File:St Bees bells in up position.jpg|thumb|Example of [[full circle ringing|full-circle]] bells in England in the "up" position.]]
In the [[United Kingdom]] predominantly in the Anglican church, there is a strong tradition of [[change ringing]] on [[full circle ringing|full-circle]] tower bells for about half an hour before a service. This originated from the early 17th century when bell ringers found that swinging a bell through a large arc gave more control over the time between successive strikes of the clapper. This culminated in ringing bells through a full circle, which let ringers easily produce different striking sequences; known as ''changes''.


===Exorcism of demons===
In Christianity, the ringing of church bells is traditionally believed to [[exorcism in Christianity|drive out]] demons and other [[unclean spirit]]s.<ref name="Booth2014"/><ref name="Fanthorpe2002"/><ref name="Lewis2001"/> Inscriptions on church bells relating to this purpose of church bells, as well as the purpose of serving as a call to prayer and worship, were customary, for example "the sound of this bell vanquishes tempests, repels demons, and summons men".<ref name="Cohen1990"/> Some [[church (building)|churches]] have several bells with the justification that "the more bells a church had, the more loudly they rang, and the greater the distance over which they could be heard, the less likely it was that evil forces would trouble the parish."<ref name="Fanthorpe2002">{{cite book|last1=Fanthorpe|first1=Lionel |last2=Fanthorpe|first2=Patricia|title=The World's Most Mysterious Objects|date=October 1, 2002|publisher=Dundurn|language=en|isbn=9781770707580|page=100}}</ref>

===Funeral and memorial ringing===
[[File:Half muffled bell.jpg|thumb|English style full circle bell with clapper half-muffled. A leather muffle is put over one side only of the clapper ball. This gives a loud strike, then a muffled strike alternately.]]The ringing of a church bell in the English tradition to announce a death is called a [[death knell]]. The pattern of striking depended on the person who had died; for example in the counties of Kent and Surrey in England it was customary to ring three times three strokes for a man and three times two for a woman, with a varying usage for children.<ref>{{Cite book |last = Stahlschmidt | first = J. C. L. | url = https://archive.org/details/churchbellsofken00stah | title = The Church Bells of Kent: Their Inscriptions, Founders, Uses and Traditions | page = [https://archive.org/details/churchbellsofken00stah/page/126 126] | location = London | publisher = Elliot Stock | date = 1887}}</ref> The age of the deceased was then rung out. In small settlements this could effectively identify who had just died.<ref name="B Walters pp156-160">H B Walters, The Church bells of England. published 1912 and republished 1977 by Oxford University Press. pp156-160</ref>

There were three occasions surrounding a death when bells could be rung. There was the "Passing Bell" to warn of impending death, the second the Death Knell to announce the death, and the last was the "Lych Bell", or "Corpse Bell" which was rung at the funeral as the procession approached the church.<ref name="B Walters pp156-160"/> This latter is known today as the [[Funeral toll]].

A more modern tradition where there are full-circle bells is to use "half-muffles" when sounding one bell as a tolled bell, or all the bells in change-ringing. This means a leather muffle is placed on the clapper of each bell so that there is a loud "open" strike followed by a muffled strike, which has a very sonorous and mournful effect. The tradition in the United Kingdom is that bells are only fully muffled for the death of a sovereign. A slight variant on this rule occurred in 2015 when the bones of [[Richard III of England]] were interred in [[Leicester Cathedral]] 532 years after his death.<ref>{{YouTube|bC_hFZPVVEQ|Bob Triples, fully muffled bells}}</ref>

===Sanctus bells===
[[File:Sacring ring of St. Jude Thaddeus Church in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija.jpg|thumb|The sacring ring or Gloria wheels used at the St. Jude Thaddeus Church in the former Spanish colony of the Philippines.]]
The term "Sanctus bell" traditionally referred to a bell suspended in a [[bell-cot]] at the apex of the nave roof, over the chancel arch, or hung in the church tower, in [[medieval]] churches. This bell was rung at the singing of the [[Sanctus]] and again at the [[elevation (liturgy)|elevation]] of the consecrated elements, to indicate to those not present in the building that the moment of consecration had been reached. The practice and the term remain in common use in many Anglican churches.

Within the body of a church the function of a sanctus bell can also be performed by a small hand bell or set of such bells (called [[altar bell]]s) rung shortly before the [[consecration]] of the bread and wine into the [[Eucharist|Body and Blood of Christ]] and again when the consecrated elements are shown to the people.<ref>General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 150</ref> Sacring rings or "Gloria wheels" are commonly used in Catholic churches in Spain and its former colonies for this purpose.<ref>Herrera, Matthew D. (2005). [http://www.adoremus.org/0305SantusBells.html ''Sanctus Bells. Their History and Use in the Catholic Church''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308014749/http://www.adoremus.org/0305SantusBells.html |date=March 8, 2012 }}. Adoremus Bulletin. Retrieved on November 11, 2014.</ref>

===Orthodox Church===
[[File:Tampereen ortodoksinen kirkko 4 ulkoseinän ikoni ja kello.jpg|thumb|upright|A church bell of the [[Alexander Nevsky and the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church]] in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]]]
In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] there is a long and complex history of bell ringing, with particular bells being rung in particular ways to signify different parts of the [[Divine Service (Eastern Orthodoxy)|divine service]]s, [[Funeral toll]]s, etc. This custom is particularly sophisticated in the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. Russian bells are usually stationary, and are sounded by pulling on a rope that is attached to the clapper so that it will strike the inside of the bell.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

===Victory Celebration===
{{refimprove section|date=March 2024}}
The noon church bell tolling in Europe has a specific historical significance that has its roots in the [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|Siege of Belgrade]] by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in 1456. Initially, the bell ringing was intended as a call to prayer for the victory of the defenders of Belgrade. However, because in many European countries the news of victory arrived before the order for prayer, the ringing of the church bells was believed to be in celebration of the victory. As a result, the significance of noon bell ringing is now a commemoration of [[John Hunyadi]]'s victory against the Turks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-06-12 |title=Ottoman-Hungarian Wars: Siege of Belgrade in 1456 |url=https://www.historynet.com/ottoman-hungarian-wars-siege-of-belgrade-in-1456/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=HistoryNet |language=en-US}}</ref>{{dubious|reason=see canonical hours, above; the custom of ringing church bells at noon predates these events by well over a millenium|date=March 2024}}

===Other uses===
====Clock chimes====
Some churches have a [[clock chime]] which uses a [[turret clock]] to broadcast the time by striking the hours and sometimes the quarters. A well-known musical striking pattern is the [[Westminster Quarters]]. This is only done when the bells are stationary, and the clock mechanism actuates hammers striking on the outside of the sound-bows of the bells. In the cases of bells which are normally swung for other ringing, there is a manual lock-out mechanism which prevents the hammers from operating whilst the bells are being rung.

====Warning====
In World War II in Great Britain, all church bells were silenced, to ring only to inform of an invasion by enemy troops.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/19/a4036619.shtml |title=Recollections of a Wartime Childhood |work=WW2 People's War |author=[[Age Concern|Age Concern Shropshire]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=9 May 2005}}</ref> However this ban was lifted temporarily in 1942 by order of Winston Churchill. Starting with Easter Sunday, April 25, 1943, the Control of Noise (Defence) (No. 2) Order, 1943, allowed that church bells could be rung to summon worshippers to church on Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.<ref>{{Hansard|url=1943/apr/20/ringing-of-church-bells |house=lords |access-date=July 2, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ringbell.co.uk/info/WarBells.htm |title=Ban on Ringing of Church Bells during WW2}}</ref> On May 27, 1943, all restrictions were removed.<ref>{{Hansard|url=1943/may/27/church-bell-ringing-removal-of |title=Church Bell Ringing (Removal of Restrictions) |access-date=July 2, 2021}}</ref>

In the [[2021 German floods]] it was reported that church bells were rung to warn inhabitants of coming floods.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-floods-acd9448c228ed0c457597937f3b69366 |title = Residents say flood-hit German towns got little warning {{!}} AP News|website = [[Associated Press]]|date = July 24, 2021}}</ref> In Beyenburg in [[Wuppertal]] the last friar of [[:de:Kloster Steinhaus|Steinhaus Abbey]] rang the storm bells after other systems failed.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/left-to-their-own-defenses-catastrophic-flooding-spotlights-germany-s-poor-disaster-preparedness-a-b3821147-97d2-4f23-951c-0206bd9ff9b2|title=Catastrophic Flooding Spotlights Germany's Poor Disaster Preparedness|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=July 23, 2021|last1=Gathmann|first1=Florian}}</ref> Some church bells are being used in England for similar purposes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-47350638 |title = Starcross SOS church bells to warn of flood - BBC News|work = BBC News|date = February 24, 2019}}</ref>

==Design and ringing technique==
{{Infobox Instrument
|name=Bell
|image=Parts of a Bell.svg
|image_capt=Parts of a typical tower bell hung for swinging: {{nowrap|1. yoke, or headstock}} {{nowrap|2. canons,}} {{nowrap|3. crown,}} {{nowrap|4. shoulder,}} {{nowrap|5. waist,}} {{nowrap|6. sound bow,}} {{nowrap|7. lip,}} {{nowrap|8. mouth,}} {{nowrap|9. clapper,}} {{nowrap|10. bead line}}}}
{{main|Bell#Styles of ringing}}
{{See also|Bell-founding}}
[[File:English full circle bell mechanism.png|thumb|Mechanism of a bell hung for English full-circle ringing. The bell can swing through just over a full circle in alternate directions.]]
Christian church bells have the form of a cup-shaped cast metal resonator with a flared thickened rim, and a pivoted ''clapper'' hanging from its centre inside. It is usually mounted high in a [[bell tower]] on top of the [[church (building)|church]], so it can be heard by the surrounding community. The bell is suspended from a headstock which can swing on bearings. A rope is tied to a wheel or lever on the headstock, and hangs down to the [[bell ringer]]. To ring the bell, the ringer pulls on the rope, swinging the bell. The motion causes the clapper to strike the inside of the bell rim as it swings, thereby sounding the bell. Some bells have full-circle wheels, which is used to swing the bell through a larger arc, such as in the [[United Kingdom]] where full- circle ringing is practised.

Bells which are not swung are "chimed", which means they are struck by an external hammer, or by a rope attached to the internal clapper, which is the tradition in Russia.

==Blessing of bells==
[[File:Vinko Puljić u Podmilačju 5838.JPG|thumb|right|Ceremony of blessing of the bell in Hungary]]
In some churches, bells are often blessed before they are hung.

In the [[Roman Catholic Church]] the name ''Baptism of Bells'' has been given to the ceremonial blessing of church bells, at least in France, since the eleventh century. It is derived from the washing of the bell with [[holy water]] by the [[bishop]], before he anoints it with the "oil of the infirm" without and with [[chrism]] within; a fuming [[thurible|censer]] is placed under it and the bishop prays that these [[sacramentals]] of the Church may, at the sound of the bell, put the demons to flight, protect from storms, and call the faithful to prayer.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

==History==
Before the introduction of church bells into the [[Christian Church]], different methods were used to call the worshippers: playing [[trumpet]]s, hitting wooden planks, shouting, or using a [[courier]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Buse |first=Adolf |title=S. Paulin évêque de Nole et son siècle (350-450) |publisher=H. Casterman |year=1858 |location=Paris |pages=415–418 |language=fr |translator-last=Dancoisne |translator-first=L.}}</ref> In AD 604, [[Pope Sabinian]] officially sanctioned the usage of bells.<ref name="Roger J. Smith 1997">{{Cite web |last=Roger J. Smith |year=1997 |title=Church Bells |url=http://www.awakentoprayer.org/church_bells.htm |publisher=Sacred Heart Catholic Church and St. Yves Mission |quote=Bells came into use in our churches as early as the year 400, and their introduction is ascribed to [[Paulinus of Nola|Paulinus]], bishop of Nola, a town of [[Campania]], in Italy. Their use spread rapidly, as in those unsettled times the church-bell was useful not only for summoning the faithful to religious services, but also for giving an alarm when danger threatened. Their use was sanctioned in 604 by Pope Sabinian, and a ceremony for blessing them was established a little later. Very large bells, for church towers, were probably not in common use until the eleventh century. |access-date=October 26, 2012 |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207150201/http://www.awakentoprayer.org/church_bells.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Henry Beauchamp Walters |url=https://archive.org/details/churchbells00waltgoog |title=Church Bells |publisher=A. R. Mowbray & Company |year=1908 |page=[https://archive.org/details/churchbells00waltgoog/page/n20 4]}}</ref> These ''tintinnabula'' were made from [[Forging|forged metal]] and did not have large dimensions.<ref name=":0" /> Larger bells were made at the end of the 7th and during the 8th century by [[Casting (metalworking)|casting metal]] originating from [[Campania]]. The bells consequently took the name of ''campana'' and ''nola'' from the [[Nola|eponymous city]] in the region.<ref name=":0" /> This would explain the apparently erroneous attribution of the origin of church bells to [[Paulinus of Nola]] in AD 400.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Roger J. Smith 1997" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kathy Luty |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j-nmAinYFJ0C&pg=PT133 |title=Clip Notes for Church Bulletins - Volume 1 |last2=David Philippart |year=1997 | publisher=LiturgyTrainingPublications |isbn=9781568541693 |quote=The first known use of bells in churches was by a bishop named Paulinus in the year 400.}}</ref> By the [[early Middle Ages]], church bells became common in Europe.<ref name="CE">{{Cite web |title=The Catholic Encyclopedia: Bells |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02418b.htm | website =New Advent}}</ref> They were first common in northern Europe, reflecting [[Celt]]ic influence, especially that of Irish missionaries.<ref name="CE" /> Before the use of church bells, Greek monasteries would ring a flat metal plate (see ''[[semantron]]'') to announce services.<ref name="CE" /> The ''signa'' and ''campanae'' used to announce services before Irish influence may have been flat plates like the ''semantron'' rather than bells.<ref name="CE" /> The oldest surviving circle of bells in Great Britain is housed in [[St Lawrence Church, Ipswich]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Worthington |first=Mark |date=September 10, 2009 |title=Oldest ring of bells played again |agency=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8247631.stm |access-date=September 10, 2009}}</ref>

==In literature==
The evocative sound of church bells has inspired many writers, both in poetry and prose. One example is an early poem by the English poet [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]] entitled simply, {{ws|[[s:Landon in The Literary Gazette 1821/Bells|Bells]]}}<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Literary Gazette, 1821|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=bmkyAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA600|year=1821|section=Original poetry|page=601|publisher=The Proprietors, Wellington Street, Strand.}}</ref> She returned to the subject towards the end of her life in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839 with {{ws|[[s:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839/The Village Bells|The Village Bells]]}}, a poetical illustration to a picture by J. Franklin.<ref>{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ufpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA76|section=picture|year=1838|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ufpcAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PA54|section=poetical illustration|year=1838|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref> ''How Soft the Music of those Village Bells.''

== Controversies about noise ==
{{See also|Loudspeakers in mosques#Opposition|Shabbat siren#Criticism}}
The sound of church bells is capable of causing noise that [[sleep deprivation|interrupts or prevents people from sleeping]]. A 2013 study from the [[ETH Zurich|Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich]] found that "An estimated 2.5-3.5 percent of the population in the [[Canton of Zurich]] experiences at least one additional awakening per night due to church bell noise." It concluded that "The number of awakenings could be reduced by more than 99 percent by, for example, suspending church bell ringing between midnight and 06 h in the morning", or by "about 75 percent (...) by reducing the sound-pressure levels of bells by 5 [[decibel|dB]]."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Omlin |first1=S. |last2=Brink |first2=M. |date=October 2013 |title=Awakening effects of church bell noise: geographical extrapolation of the results of a polysomnographic field study 1. |journal=[[Noise & Health]] |publisher=Medknow Publications |volume=15 |issue=66 |pages=332–41 |doi=10.4103/1463-1741.116582 |pmid=23955130 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In the [[Netherlands]], there have been lawsuits about church bell [[noise pollution]] experienced by nearby residents.<ref name="RTL Nieuws">{{Cite news |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/editienl/laatste-videos-editienl/video/4801871/kerkklok-op-mute |title=Kerkklok op mute |work=RTL Nieuws |date=August 2, 2019 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> The complaints are usually, but not always, raised by new local residents (or tourists who spend the night in the neighbourhood<ref name="Bruinisse">{{Cite news |url=https://www.hartvannederland.nl/nieuws/2018/kerkklok-beiert-hotelgasten-wakker/ |title=Kerkklok beiert hotelgasten wakker |work=Hart van Nederland |date=May 12, 2018 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref>) who are not used to the noise at night or during the day.<ref name="Bruinisse"/> Local residents who had been used to it for longer usually retort that the newcomers "should have known this before they moved here" and that the ringing bells "belong to the local tradition", which sometimes goes back more than a hundred years.<ref name="Dekker">{{Cite news |url=https://www.ad.nl/dordrecht/klokgelui-van-de-kerken-een-zegen-of-een-vloek~a829e236/ |title=Klokgelui van de kerken, een zegen of een vloek? |author=Niels Dekker |work=Algemeen Dagblad |date=July 26, 2015 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Metselaar">{{Cite news |url=https://www.ad.nl/den-haag/geluid-van-carillon-drijft-omwonende-tot-wanhoop~a559b8cf0/ |title=Geluid van carillon drijft omwonende tot wanhoop |author=Geraldina Metselaar |work=Algemeen Dagblad |date=February 25, 2018 |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref>

==Image gallery==
<gallery>
<gallery>
Image:Lullusglocke.jpg|[[Lullusglocke]], cast in 1038, in monastery of [[Bad Hersfeld]] in Hesse, Germany
File:St Xaviers church peyad Belgium bell.jpg|Belgium made bell of [[St._Xavier's_Church,_Peyad|St. Xavier's Church, Peyad,]] Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Image:Torun Tuba Dei 02.JPG|[[Tuba Dei]] bell in [[Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, Toruń|Cathedral]] in Toruń, Poland, cast in 1500
File:ChurchBell.jpg|Bell in the [[Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew, Dallas, Texas]]
Image:Kraków, Dzwon Zygmunta - fotopolska.eu (227571).jpg|[[Sigismund Bell]] in Kraków, Poland, cast in 1520 by Hans Beham
File:CathedralCologneBell.jpg|Bell in [[Cologne Cathedral]]
Image:Pummerin Stephansdom Vienna July 2008 (14).JPG|[[Pummerin]] in Stephansdom, Vienna
File:Ipatios monastery Kostroma 19.jpg|Ringing the bells at [[Ipatiev Monastery]] in [[Kostroma]], Russia.
Image:Tsar Kolokol with humans for perspective.JPG|[[Tsar Bell]] in Moscow, Russia, the heaviest existing bell in the world (over 196 tons)
File:StHelenWittonBelfry1.JPG|A bell hung for full-circle ringing
Image:St Xaviers church peyad Belgium bell.jpg|Belgian-made bell of [[St. Xavier's Church, Peyad]], Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Image:Church bell of the Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew at Dallas.jpg|Bell in the [[Cathedral Church of Saint Matthew, Dallas, Texas]]
Image:CathedralCologneBell.jpg|Bell in [[Cologne Cathedral]]
File:Suomenlinna Church bell.jpg|Bell in [[Suomenlinna Church]]
Image:16 21 2668 san miguel.jpg|Bell for [[San Miguel Mission]]
Image:Ipatios monastery Kostroma 19.jpg|Ringing the bells at [[Ipatiev Monastery]] in [[Kostroma]], Russia.
Image:Bells in the tower - geograph.org.uk - 1369287.jpg|Ring of eight bells in the tower of St Michael and All Angels' parish church, [[Blewbury]], [[Oxfordshire]]
Cloche dans l'église Saint-Jacques de Tournai (DSCF8555).jpg|Bell in the Saint-Jacques church of [[Tournai]]
File:Church bells of Ulm Minster (2019).jpg|Church bells of [[Ulm Minster]] seen from above (2019)
</gallery>
</gallery>


== See also ==
==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
{{commonscat|Church bells}}

* [[Bell (instrument)|Bell]]s
* [[Bellfounding]]
* [[Bellfounding]]
* [[Bolognese bell ringing art]]
* [[Campanology]]
* [[Campanology]]
* [[Central Council of Church Bell Ringers]]
* [[Change ringing]]
* [[Change ringing]]
* [[Handbells]]
* [[Loudspeakers in mosques]]
* [[Loudspeakers in mosques]]
* [[Russian Orthodox bell ringing]]
* [[Bolognese bell ringing art]]
* [[Ring of bells]]
* [[Ring of bells]]
* [[Russian Orthodox bell ringing]]
* [[Veronese bellringing art]]


== References ==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.hibberts.co.uk/ Sound of Bells - An Investigation]
* [https://washingtonringingsociety.org/galleries/animations Animation of English Full-circle church bell ringing]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KYWtFeQzyw Video of English full circle-ringing, 8 bells half muffled and one bell tolling]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlxfmA7FJ9E Video of English full circle-ringing, 8 bells ringing "open"]
* [http://www.hibberts.co.uk/ Sound of Bells - An Investigation into their tuning]
* [http://www.math.bas.bg/bells/belleng.html Research and Identification of Valuable Bells of the Historic and Culture Heritage of Bulgaria and Development of Audio and Video Archive with Advanced Technologies]
* [http://www.math.bas.bg/bells/belleng.html Research and Identification of Valuable Bells of the Historic and Culture Heritage of Bulgaria and Development of Audio and Video Archive with Advanced Technologies]
* [http://www.bellringingcentral.co.uk Bell-Ringing Central]
* [http://www.bellringingcentral.co.uk Bell-Ringing Central]
* [http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/?Mode=ShowImg&Img=/cityark/Scans/Unofficial_or_Privately_Originated_Collections/DE0402_Couchman_ephemera_and_MSS_/DE0402_16.html/DE402_16_44L.jpg Old archive image of church bells in Chatham, Kent, England, ca.1900]
* [http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/?Mode=ShowImg&Img=/cityark/Scans/Unofficial_or_Privately_Originated_Collections/DE0402_Couchman_ephemera_and_MSS_/DE0402_16.html/DE402_16_44L.jpg Old archive image of church bells in Chatham, Kent, England, ca.1900]
*[https://sites.google.com/site/allsaintsbells/ All Saints Bell Tower]


{{Bells}}
{{Bells}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Bells]]
[[Category:Bells (percussion)]]
[[Category:Bell ringing]]
[[Category:Campanology]]

[[da:Kirkeklokke]]
[[no:Kirkeklokke]]
[[pl:Dzwon kościelny]]
[[fi:Kirkonkello]]
[[sv:Kyrkklocka]]

Latest revision as of 09:47, 1 November 2024

Cutaway drawing of a church bell, showing construction.
Church bell ringing in Aldeboarn, Friesland (Frisia), the Netherlands, June 2022.

A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, but are also rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In some Christian traditions they signify to people outside that a particular part of the service has been reached.[1]

The traditional European church bell (see cutaway drawing) used in Christian churches worldwide consists of a cup-shaped metal resonator with a pivoted clapper hanging inside which strikes the sides when the bell is swung. It is hung within a steeple or belltower of a church or religious building,[2] so the sound can reach a wide area. Such bells are either fixed in position ("hung dead") or hung from a pivoted beam (the "headstock") so they can swing to and fro. A rope hangs from a lever or wheel attached to the headstock, and when the bell ringer pulls on the rope the bell swings back and forth and the clapper hits the inside, sounding the bell. Bells that are hung dead are normally sounded by hitting the sound bow with a hammer or occasionally by a rope which pulls the internal clapper against the bell.

A church may have a single bell, or a collection of bells which are tuned to a common scale. They may be stationary and chimed, rung randomly by swinging through a small arc, or swung through a full circle to enable the high degree of control of English change ringing.

Before modern communications, church bells were a common way to call the community together for all purposes, both sacred and secular. In some Christian traditions bell ringing was believed to drive out demons.[3][4][5]

Uses and traditions

[edit]

Call to prayer

[edit]
The Angelus, depicting prayer at the sound of the bell (in the steeple on the horizon) ringing a canonical hour.

Oriental Orthodox Christians, such as Copts and Indians, use a breviary such as the Agpeya and Shehimo to pray the canonical hours seven times a day while facing in the eastward direction; church bells are tolled, especially in monasteries, to mark these seven fixed prayer times.[6][7]

In Christianity, some churches ring their church bells from belltowers three times a day, at 9 am, noon and 3 pm to summon the Christian faithful to recite the Lord's Prayer;[8][9][10] the injunction to pray the Lord's prayer thrice daily was given in Didache 8, 2 f.,[11][12][13] which, in turn, was influenced by the Jewish practice of praying thrice daily found in the Old Testament, specifically in Psalm 55:17, which suggests "morning and evening plus at noon", and Daniel 6:10, in which the prophet Daniel prays thrice a day.[11][12][14][15] The early Christians thus came to pray the Lord's Prayer at 9 am, noon and 3 pm.[16]

The new bells of Notre Dame de Paris on display in the nave in February 2013 before being hung in the towers of the cathedral.

Many Catholic Christian churches ring their bells thrice a day, at 6 am, noon, and 6 pm to call the faithful to recite the Angelus, a prayer recited in honour of the Incarnation of God.[17][18]

Some Protestant Christian Churches ring church bells during the congregational recitation of the Lord's Prayer, after the sermon, in order to alert those who are unable to be present to "unite themselves in spirit with the congregation".[19][20]

In many historic Christian Churches, church bells are also rung on All Hallows' Eve,[21] as well as during the processions of Candlemas and Palm Sunday;[22] the only time of the Christian Year when church bells are not rung include Maundy Thursday through the Easter Vigil.[23] The Christian tradition of the ringing of church bells from a belltower is analogous to the Islamic tradition of the adhan from a minaret.[24][25]

1st prayer is at 12am.

2nd prayer is at 6am.

3rd prayer is at 9am.

4th prayer is at 12pm.

5th prayer is at 3pm.

6th prayer is at 6pm.

7th prayer is at 9pm.

Call to worship

[edit]

Most Christian denominations ring church bells to call the faithful to worship, signalling the start of a mass or service of worship.[19][26]

Example of full-circle bells in England in the "up" position.

In the United Kingdom predominantly in the Anglican church, there is a strong tradition of change ringing on full-circle tower bells for about half an hour before a service. This originated from the early 17th century when bell ringers found that swinging a bell through a large arc gave more control over the time between successive strikes of the clapper. This culminated in ringing bells through a full circle, which let ringers easily produce different striking sequences; known as changes.

Exorcism of demons

[edit]

In Christianity, the ringing of church bells is traditionally believed to drive out demons and other unclean spirits.[3][27][5] Inscriptions on church bells relating to this purpose of church bells, as well as the purpose of serving as a call to prayer and worship, were customary, for example "the sound of this bell vanquishes tempests, repels demons, and summons men".[4] Some churches have several bells with the justification that "the more bells a church had, the more loudly they rang, and the greater the distance over which they could be heard, the less likely it was that evil forces would trouble the parish."[27]

Funeral and memorial ringing

[edit]
English style full circle bell with clapper half-muffled. A leather muffle is put over one side only of the clapper ball. This gives a loud strike, then a muffled strike alternately.

The ringing of a church bell in the English tradition to announce a death is called a death knell. The pattern of striking depended on the person who had died; for example in the counties of Kent and Surrey in England it was customary to ring three times three strokes for a man and three times two for a woman, with a varying usage for children.[28] The age of the deceased was then rung out. In small settlements this could effectively identify who had just died.[29]

There were three occasions surrounding a death when bells could be rung. There was the "Passing Bell" to warn of impending death, the second the Death Knell to announce the death, and the last was the "Lych Bell", or "Corpse Bell" which was rung at the funeral as the procession approached the church.[29] This latter is known today as the Funeral toll.

A more modern tradition where there are full-circle bells is to use "half-muffles" when sounding one bell as a tolled bell, or all the bells in change-ringing. This means a leather muffle is placed on the clapper of each bell so that there is a loud "open" strike followed by a muffled strike, which has a very sonorous and mournful effect. The tradition in the United Kingdom is that bells are only fully muffled for the death of a sovereign. A slight variant on this rule occurred in 2015 when the bones of Richard III of England were interred in Leicester Cathedral 532 years after his death.[30]

Sanctus bells

[edit]
The sacring ring or Gloria wheels used at the St. Jude Thaddeus Church in the former Spanish colony of the Philippines.

The term "Sanctus bell" traditionally referred to a bell suspended in a bell-cot at the apex of the nave roof, over the chancel arch, or hung in the church tower, in medieval churches. This bell was rung at the singing of the Sanctus and again at the elevation of the consecrated elements, to indicate to those not present in the building that the moment of consecration had been reached. The practice and the term remain in common use in many Anglican churches.

Within the body of a church the function of a sanctus bell can also be performed by a small hand bell or set of such bells (called altar bells) rung shortly before the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ and again when the consecrated elements are shown to the people.[31] Sacring rings or "Gloria wheels" are commonly used in Catholic churches in Spain and its former colonies for this purpose.[32]

Orthodox Church

[edit]
A church bell of the Alexander Nevsky and the Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church in Tampere, Finland

In the Eastern Orthodox Church there is a long and complex history of bell ringing, with particular bells being rung in particular ways to signify different parts of the divine services, Funeral tolls, etc. This custom is particularly sophisticated in the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian bells are usually stationary, and are sounded by pulling on a rope that is attached to the clapper so that it will strike the inside of the bell.[citation needed]

Victory Celebration

[edit]

The noon church bell tolling in Europe has a specific historical significance that has its roots in the Siege of Belgrade by the Ottomans in 1456. Initially, the bell ringing was intended as a call to prayer for the victory of the defenders of Belgrade. However, because in many European countries the news of victory arrived before the order for prayer, the ringing of the church bells was believed to be in celebration of the victory. As a result, the significance of noon bell ringing is now a commemoration of John Hunyadi's victory against the Turks.[33][dubious – discuss]

Other uses

[edit]

Clock chimes

[edit]

Some churches have a clock chime which uses a turret clock to broadcast the time by striking the hours and sometimes the quarters. A well-known musical striking pattern is the Westminster Quarters. This is only done when the bells are stationary, and the clock mechanism actuates hammers striking on the outside of the sound-bows of the bells. In the cases of bells which are normally swung for other ringing, there is a manual lock-out mechanism which prevents the hammers from operating whilst the bells are being rung.

Warning

[edit]

In World War II in Great Britain, all church bells were silenced, to ring only to inform of an invasion by enemy troops.[34] However this ban was lifted temporarily in 1942 by order of Winston Churchill. Starting with Easter Sunday, April 25, 1943, the Control of Noise (Defence) (No. 2) Order, 1943, allowed that church bells could be rung to summon worshippers to church on Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.[35][36] On May 27, 1943, all restrictions were removed.[37]

In the 2021 German floods it was reported that church bells were rung to warn inhabitants of coming floods.[38] In Beyenburg in Wuppertal the last friar of Steinhaus Abbey rang the storm bells after other systems failed.[39] Some church bells are being used in England for similar purposes.[40]

Design and ringing technique

[edit]
Bell
Parts of a typical tower bell hung for swinging: 1. yoke, or headstock 2. canons, 3. crown, 4. shoulder, 5. waist, 6. sound bow, 7. lip, 8. mouth, 9. clapper, 10. bead line
Main article: Bell § Styles of ringing
See also: Bell-founding
Mechanism of a bell hung for English full-circle ringing. The bell can swing through just over a full circle in alternate directions.

Christian church bells have the form of a cup-shaped cast metal resonator with a flared thickened rim, and a pivoted clapper hanging from its centre inside. It is usually mounted high in a bell tower on top of the church, so it can be heard by the surrounding community. The bell is suspended from a headstock which can swing on bearings. A rope is tied to a wheel or lever on the headstock, and hangs down to the bell ringer. To ring the bell, the ringer pulls on the rope, swinging the bell. The motion causes the clapper to strike the inside of the bell rim as it swings, thereby sounding the bell. Some bells have full-circle wheels, which is used to swing the bell through a larger arc, such as in the United Kingdom where full- circle ringing is practised.

Bells which are not swung are "chimed", which means they are struck by an external hammer, or by a rope attached to the internal clapper, which is the tradition in Russia.

Blessing of bells

[edit]
Ceremony of blessing of the bell in Hungary

In some churches, bells are often blessed before they are hung.

In the Roman Catholic Church the name Baptism of Bells has been given to the ceremonial blessing of church bells, at least in France, since the eleventh century. It is derived from the washing of the bell with holy water by the bishop, before he anoints it with the "oil of the infirm" without and with chrism within; a fuming censer is placed under it and the bishop prays that these sacramentals of the Church may, at the sound of the bell, put the demons to flight, protect from storms, and call the faithful to prayer.[citation needed]

History

[edit]

Before the introduction of church bells into the Christian Church, different methods were used to call the worshippers: playing trumpets, hitting wooden planks, shouting, or using a courier.[41] In AD 604, Pope Sabinian officially sanctioned the usage of bells.[42][43] These tintinnabula were made from forged metal and did not have large dimensions.[41] Larger bells were made at the end of the 7th and during the 8th century by casting metal originating from Campania. The bells consequently took the name of campana and nola from the eponymous city in the region.[41] This would explain the apparently erroneous attribution of the origin of church bells to Paulinus of Nola in AD 400.[41][42][44] By the early Middle Ages, church bells became common in Europe.[45] They were first common in northern Europe, reflecting Celtic influence, especially that of Irish missionaries.[45] Before the use of church bells, Greek monasteries would ring a flat metal plate (see semantron) to announce services.[45] The signa and campanae used to announce services before Irish influence may have been flat plates like the semantron rather than bells.[45] The oldest surviving circle of bells in Great Britain is housed in St Lawrence Church, Ipswich.[46]

In literature

[edit]

The evocative sound of church bells has inspired many writers, both in poetry and prose. One example is an early poem by the English poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon entitled simply, Bells.[47] She returned to the subject towards the end of her life in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839 with The Village Bells., a poetical illustration to a picture by J. Franklin.[48] How Soft the Music of those Village Bells.

Controversies about noise

[edit]
See also: Loudspeakers in mosques § Opposition, and Shabbat siren § Criticism

The sound of church bells is capable of causing noise that interrupts or prevents people from sleeping. A 2013 study from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich found that "An estimated 2.5-3.5 percent of the population in the Canton of Zurich experiences at least one additional awakening per night due to church bell noise." It concluded that "The number of awakenings could be reduced by more than 99 percent by, for example, suspending church bell ringing between midnight and 06 h in the morning", or by "about 75 percent (...) by reducing the sound-pressure levels of bells by 5 dB."[49]

In the Netherlands, there have been lawsuits about church bell noise pollution experienced by nearby residents.[50] The complaints are usually, but not always, raised by new local residents (or tourists who spend the night in the neighbourhood[51]) who are not used to the noise at night or during the day.[51] Local residents who had been used to it for longer usually retort that the newcomers "should have known this before they moved here" and that the ringing bells "belong to the local tradition", which sometimes goes back more than a hundred years.[52][53]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Church Words: Origins and Meanings. Forward Movement. August 1, 1996. ISBN 9780880281720. Retrieved August 16, 2012. There are two sorts of liturgical bells in the history of the Christian Church-church bells in spires or towers used to call the faithful to worship, and sanctuary bells used to call attention to the coming of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
  2. ^ Adato, Joseph; Judy, George. The Percussionist's Dictionary. Alfred Music. p. 11. ISBN 9781457493829.
  3. ^ a b Booth, Mark (February 11, 2014). The Sacred History: How Angels, Mystics and Higher Intelligence Made Our World. Simon and Schuster. p. 274. ISBN 9781451698589. Church bells would be rung to drive away demons.
  4. ^ a b Cohen, I. Bernard (1990). Benjamin Franklin's Science. Harvard University Press. p. 119. ISBN 9780674066595. The practice of ringing church bells to dissipate lightning storms and prevent their deleterious effects had a long tradition in Europe and had been a concomitant to the general belief in the diabolical agency manifested in storms. ... Typical inscriptions on church bells described their power to "ward off lightning and malignant demons"; stated that "the sound of this bell vanquishes tempests, repels demons, and summons men," or exhorted it to "praise God, put to flight the coulds, affright the demons, and call the people"; or noted that "it is I who dissipate the thunders."
  5. ^ a b Lewis, James R. (2001). Satanism Today. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576072929.
  6. ^ "What is the relationship between bells and the church? When and where did the tradition begin? Should bells ring in every church?". Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  7. ^ Mary Cecil (1906). A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Methuen. p. 399. Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.
  8. ^ George Herbert Dryer (1897). History of the Christian Church. Curts & Jennings. …every church-bell in Christendom to be tolled three times a day, and all Christians to repeat Pater Nosters (The Lord's Prayer)
  9. ^ Joan Huyser-Honig (2006). "Uncovering the Blessing of Fixed-Hour Prayer". Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Early Christians prayed the Lord's Prayer three times a day. Medieval church bells called people to common prayer.
  10. ^ "Church bells". Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. July 25, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Gerhard Kittel; Gerhard Friedrich (1972). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume 8. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 224. ISBN 9780802822505. Retrieved October 26, 2012. The praying of the Lord's Prayer three times a day in Did., 8, 2 f. is connected with the Jewish practice --> 218, 3 ff.; II, 801, 16 ff.; the altering of other Jewish customs is demanded in the context.
  12. ^ a b Roger T. Beckwith (2005). Calendar, Chronology, and Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity. Brill Publishers. p. 193. ISBN 9004146032. Retrieved October 26, 2012. The Church had now two hours of prayer, observed individually on weekdays and corporately on Sundays – yet the Old Testament spoke of three daily hours of prayer, and the Church itself had been saying the Lord's Prayer three times a day.
  13. ^ Matthew: A Shorter Commentary. Continuum International Publishing Group. 2005. ISBN 9780567082497. Retrieved August 16, 2012. Moreover, the central portion of the Eighteen Benedictions, just like the Lord's Prayer, falls into two distinct parts (in the first half the petitions are for the individuals, in the second half for the nation); and early Christian tradition instructs believers to say the Lord's Prayer three times a day (Did. 8.3) while standing (Apost. const. 7.24), which precisely parallels what the rabbis demanded for the Eighteen Benedictions.
  14. ^ James F White (September 1, 2010). Introduction to Christian Worship 3rd Edition: Revised and Enlarged. Abingdon Press. ISBN 9781426722851. Retrieved October 12, 2012. Late in the first century or early in the second, the Didache advised Christians to pray the Lord's prayer three times a day. Others sought disciplines in the Bible itself as ways to make the scriptural injunction to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) practical. Psalm 55:17 suggested "evening and morning and at noon," and Daniel prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10).
  15. ^ Catechism Of The Catholic Church. Continuum International Publishing Group. 1999. ISBN 0-860-12324-3. Retrieved September 2, 2014. Late in the first century or early in the second, the Didache advised Christians to pray the Lord's prayer three times a day. Others sought disciplines in the Bible itself as ways to make the scriptural injunction to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) practical. Psalm 55:17 suggested "evening and morning and at noon," and Daniel prayed three times a day (Dan. 6:10).
  16. ^ Beckwith, Roger T. (2005). Calendar, Chronology And Worship: Studies in Ancient Judaism And Early Christianity. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-14603-7. So three minor hours of prayer were developed, at the third, sixth and ninth hours, which, as Dugmore points out, were ordinary divisions of the day for worldly affairs, and the Lord's Prayer was transferred to those hours.
  17. ^ John P. Anderson (2009). Joyce's Finnegans Wake: The Curse of Kabbalah, Volume 2. Universal Publishers. ISBN 9781599429014. Retrieved August 16, 2012. The Angelus is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. Its name is derived from the opening words, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ. It consists of three Biblical verses describing the mystery, recited as versicle and response, alternating with the salutation "Hail Mary!" and traditionally is recited in Catholic churches, convents and monasteries three times daily, 6 am, noon and 6 pm, accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell. Some High Church Anglican and Lutheran churches also use the devotion.
  18. ^ The Anglican Service Book: A Traditional Language Adaptation of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Together with the Psalter Or Psalms of David and Additional Devotions. Good Shepherd Press. September 1, 1991. ISBN 9780962995507. Retrieved August 16, 2012. The Angelus: In many churches the bell is run morning, noon, and evening in memory of the Incarnation of God, and the faithful say the following prayers, except during Eastertide, when the Regina coeli is said.
  19. ^ a b The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Thought: Basilica-Chambers, Volume 2. Kessinger Publishing. 1952. p. 117. The main use of bells has always been to announce the time of public worship. It is also a common Roman Catholic practise to ring the church bell at the consecration in the mass, as in some Protestant localities at the Lord's Prayer after the sermon, that those who are absent may unite themselves in spirit with the congregation.
  20. ^ The Valley's Legends & Legacies IV. Quill Driver Books. May 30, 2002. p. 223. ISBN 9781884995217. Retrieved October 26, 2012. At the end of the sermon, both bells began to ring and continued ringing through the Lord's Prayer.
  21. ^ Bannatyne, Lesley (August 31, 1998). Halloween. Pelican Publishing Company. p. 22. ISBN 9781455605538. Priests in tiny Spanish villages still ring their church bells to remind parishioners to honor the dead on All Hallows Eve.
  22. ^ Church Words: Origins and Meanings. Forward Movement. August 1, 1996. ISBN 9780880281720. Retrieved August 16, 2012. It is also traditional that the church bells ring during the processions of Candlemas (the Feast of the Purification) and Palm Sunday.
  23. ^ Church Words: Origins and Meanings. Forward Movement. August 1, 1996. ISBN 9780880281720. Retrieved August 16, 2012. It is traditional that no bells be rung from the last service on Maundy Thursday until the Great Vigil of Easter.
  24. ^ Church Words: Origins and Meanings. Psychology Press. August 1, 1996. ISBN 9780880281720. Retrieved August 16, 2012. But even for Muslims who pray infrequently, the adhan marks the passage of time through the day (in much the same way as church bells do in many Christian communities) and serves as a constant reminder that they are living in a Muslim community.
  25. ^ Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures. Marshal Cavendish. September 1, 2010. p. 77. ISBN 9780761479260. Retrieved August 16, 2012. Muslims living in predominantly Islamic lands, however, have the benefit of the call to prayer (adhan). In the same way that much of the Christian world traditionally used bells to summon the faithful to church services, so the early Muslim community developed its own method of informing the community that the time for prayer had arrived.
  26. ^ Church Words: Origins and Meanings. Forward Movement. August 1, 1996. ISBN 9780880281720. Retrieved August 16, 2012. It became customary to ring the church bells to call the faithful to worship and on other important occasions, such as the death of a parishioner.
  27. ^ a b Fanthorpe, Lionel; Fanthorpe, Patricia (October 1, 2002). The World's Most Mysterious Objects. Dundurn. p. 100. ISBN 9781770707580.
  28. ^ Stahlschmidt, J. C. L. (1887). The Church Bells of Kent: Their Inscriptions, Founders, Uses and Traditions. London: Elliot Stock. p. 126.
  29. ^ a b H B Walters, The Church bells of England. published 1912 and republished 1977 by Oxford University Press. pp156-160
  30. ^ Bob Triples, fully muffled bells on YouTube
  31. ^ General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 150
  32. ^ Herrera, Matthew D. (2005). Sanctus Bells. Their History and Use in the Catholic Church Archived March 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Adoremus Bulletin. Retrieved on November 11, 2014.
  33. ^ "Ottoman-Hungarian Wars: Siege of Belgrade in 1456". HistoryNet. June 12, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  34. ^ Age Concern Shropshire (May 9, 2005). "Recollections of a Wartime Childhood". WW2 People's War. BBC.
  35. ^ "Ringing of Church Bells (1943)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. April 20, 1943. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  36. ^ "Ban on Ringing of Church Bells during WW2".
  37. ^ "Church Bell Ringing (Removal of Restrictions)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. May 27, 1943. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  38. ^ "Residents say flood-hit German towns got little warning | AP News". Associated Press. July 24, 2021.
  39. ^ Gathmann, Florian (July 23, 2021). "Catastrophic Flooding Spotlights Germany's Poor Disaster Preparedness". Der Spiegel.
  40. ^ "Starcross SOS church bells to warn of flood - BBC News". BBC News. February 24, 2019.
  41. ^ a b c d Buse, Adolf (1858). S. Paulin évêque de Nole et son siècle (350-450) (in French). Translated by Dancoisne, L. Paris: H. Casterman. pp. 415–418.
  42. ^ a b Roger J. Smith (1997). "Church Bells". Sacred Heart Catholic Church and St. Yves Mission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2012. Bells came into use in our churches as early as the year 400, and their introduction is ascribed to Paulinus, bishop of Nola, a town of Campania, in Italy. Their use spread rapidly, as in those unsettled times the church-bell was useful not only for summoning the faithful to religious services, but also for giving an alarm when danger threatened. Their use was sanctioned in 604 by Pope Sabinian, and a ceremony for blessing them was established a little later. Very large bells, for church towers, were probably not in common use until the eleventh century.
  43. ^ Henry Beauchamp Walters (1908). Church Bells. A. R. Mowbray & Company. p. 4.
  44. ^ Kathy Luty; David Philippart (1997). Clip Notes for Church Bulletins - Volume 1. LiturgyTrainingPublications. ISBN 9781568541693. The first known use of bells in churches was by a bishop named Paulinus in the year 400.
  45. ^ a b c d "The Catholic Encyclopedia: Bells". New Advent.
  46. ^ Worthington, Mark (September 10, 2009). "Oldest ring of bells played again". BBC News. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
  47. ^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1821). "Original poetry". Literary Gazette, 1821. The Proprietors, Wellington Street, Strand. p. 601.
  48. ^ Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1838). "picture". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839. Fisher, Son & Co.Landon, Letitia Elizabeth (1838). "poetical illustration". Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839. Fisher, Son & Co.
  49. ^ Omlin, S.; Brink, M. (October 2013). "Awakening effects of church bell noise: geographical extrapolation of the results of a polysomnographic field study 1". Noise & Health. 15 (66). Medknow Publications: 332–41. doi:10.4103/1463-1741.116582. PMID 23955130.
  50. ^ "Kerkklok op mute". RTL Nieuws. August 2, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  51. ^ a b "Kerkklok beiert hotelgasten wakker". Hart van Nederland. May 12, 2018. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  52. ^ Niels Dekker (July 26, 2015). "Klokgelui van de kerken, een zegen of een vloek?". Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  53. ^ Geraldina Metselaar (February 25, 2018). "Geluid van carillon drijft omwonende tot wanhoop". Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Church_bell&oldid=1254717365"