The Nine Bells

Two rings of eight or a ring of nine?
by Adam Greenley

All Saints', Basingstoke has always been something of an anomaly in the ringing community. They are regarded as something of a curiosity, and have certainly been a source of controversy in their century-plus history. As part of the planned augmentation of the bells to celebrate their centenary, the local ringers did a great deal of research into how and why the ring came about, and to try to solve the reasons, now buried in history, of why All Saints', Basingstoke came to have nine bells hung for ringing.

Indeed the idea of two rings of eight is followed through in the parish magazine of October 1917:

“The Bells, nine in number, are the gift of Colonel John May. When rung as a peal of eight they will sound the usual major scale, when the tenor (lowest) bell is omited (sic) and the treble (the 9th, highest) bell is added, leaving a peal of eight, the minor scale with its more severe and penetential (sic) sound will be heard.”

This shows almost without a doubt that the intention had always been to provide two rings of eight in both the Aeolian (major) and Dorian mode: A tradition still maintained by the local band. The front eight being rung during lent, often with a quarter peal being rung on them for the Ash Wednesday Eucharist.

It is certainly the case that no record of the ringing of all nine bells can be found until 1946 when two peals were rung on all nine bells. These were Kent Treble Bob Major, rung with a cover and Grandsire Caters. Both peals were organised by Charles Kippin and rung for the Winchester and Portsmouth Diocesan Guild. Both peals, whilst rejected by the Central Council are now recorded on the peal board in the tower as part of the redecoration of the ringing chamber in 2005. It must be remembered that peal ringing was not as frequent in the early 1900’s as it is today, and the first four peals on the bells at All Saints are recorded as being rung on the back eight. 

After the first peal on all nine bells in February 1946, the tower captain, Mr Austin, enquired at Whitechapel about the details of the bells. These were set to the vicar, Rev. Ronald Wynne in August of that year. It is interesting that the details were requested from the foundry, as this would suggest that the ringers were not aware, and wanted official confirmation that the bells were indeed the largest nine bells of a ring of ten.

The peals were subject to a great deal of controversy, as they did not meet the decisions of the Central Council on peal ringing. The peal of Kent was debated at length at the Central Council meeting in Exeter in 1947. Charles Kippin, the organiser of both of the first peals on nine bells is quoted at the Central Council of Church Bell ringers AGM in Exeter in 1947 as saying: 

“I do not wish to popularise seven-bell ringing or nine-bell ringing; I am merely pleading for justice for both these peals.”  

And later:

“I know a lot of people will say it is only a stunt (hear, hear). Well, a good many peals were rung as stunts.”

Later on in the meeting Mr Harold Poole (of the Leicester Diocesan Guild) “pointed out the irregularity of the Basingstoke peals, as the bells were not a ring of nine, but two rings of eight.” Once again adding credence to the fact that the bells were still widely regarded as two rings of eight in 1947. The meeting went on at length with a great deal of debate about the worthiness of what had been rung. This provoked strong feeling. Mr P J Johnson asking:

 “Are we going to permit anybody to come along and present the same horror on different bells and acknowledge this abortion of our art?”

The ringers were surprised in 2011 when asking the Whitechapel Bellfoundry to quote for the possible augmentation to a ring of ten, that they used their proposal from the augmentation scheme in 1950 to base a modern quote on the work (without, unfortunately holding the 1950 price of £206.0.0!) Following this through with long standing members of the congregation, it seems the scheme only failed at this time due to lack of funding during the post war austerity, and the fact the money couldn’t be raised at the time.

The only reference to the nine bells being installed as a unique ring is in Arthur Attwood’s “The Illustrated History of Basingstoke” published in 2001. He says about Lieu. Col. John May 

“One gift he made during his last few years in Basingstoke was to donate the bells to All Saints Church, which was built during WW1.  He wanted his gift to be unique so he donated nine bells instead of the customary eight”.  

No source is given for this statement, and after quite extensive research, it can only be assumed that he based his assumptions on conjecture and folklore. It is difficult to understand how May found out that the bells were to be unique. Until Ronald Dove published his first book “A Bellringer’s Guide to the Church Bells of Britain” in 1950 there had never been a complete register of all rings of bells across the country, so it would have been quite impossible to say that the bells installed at All Saints were, in fact, unique. 

From the evidence available it seems that the bells at All Saints', Basingstoke were indeed installed as two rings of eight bells, giving the lighter ring in the Dorian mode for use during Lent, and the major eight for use at other times. Nine bell ringing seems to have started as a “stunt” in 1946, and never intended by the organisers for it to be repeated on a regular basis. The local band are still using the bells in this way today, and are looking forward to a new chapter in the tower’s history as the Basingstoke district’s first ring of ten.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Whitechapel Bellfoundry for their help in finding the archived material. Also to Andy Macqueen for his work in the Hampshire Records Office to uncover the parish magazines with relevant details about the bells.

Sources:

1947 Central Council of Church Bell Ringers minutes http://www.methods.org.uk/archive/ccmr1947.htm

1917 Basingstoke Parish Magazine – February and October editions.

Whitechapel Bellfoundry archives.

Attwood, Arthur – The Illustrated History of Basingstoke (2001)