Campanologist - A person who rings bells at a Church either as a profession or as a hobby - Cambridge English Dictionary
We had the unique opportunity to have a go at bell ringing the other night at St Lawrence Church in Alton. Our visit included a tour of the tower, a walk around the bells. All of which was followed by a live bell ringing session with the regular group who walked us through the theory behind the whole process.
We got to learn about the different types of bell, the patterns that the people learn to follow, how the bell ringers are conducted by a conductor plus the fluffy stripey parts of the bell ropes are called “Sallys” which we believe stems from terminology such as “to sally forth”, the sudden rush of movement as the ropes rocket up into the ceiling of the church and back down again with each toll of the bell.
The recording was made on my iPhone using Ferrite. You can hear the sound of the ropes rushing through the apertures in the wooden ceiling and obvs. the bells ringing in the belfry.
Bells began to be mounted in churches in Roman times. Paulinus of Nola in Campania, Italy, was reputed to be the first to have mounted bells on a church in the 5th century. Hence the origin of Campanology as the study of bell ringing.
We ended up having a go, joining in with the seasoned bell ringers, with a lot of help from a tutor each. The recording above was taken whilst my wife and a couple of friends were having a go.
It was an amazing evening and we went for a curry afterwards!
Sources
All diagrams were borrowed from the excellent article by James Bryant Ph. D.
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