[Bell Historians] Curfew (was Re: The Tellers)

[sem at u...]

Until very recently Godmanchester, Hunts (19cwt 8)rang for five minutes at
8pm from Michaelmas to Lady Day. I believe that for the last year or 2 this
has been reduced to just ringing on these 2 days only due to the dificulty
of geting ringing to do it. For this the tower usedto receive £6. This
would have been a sum worth having when it was first set up. At the moment
the bells are not ringable due to problems with the ringing room floor.
More details from the tower captain, Ruth Ball: ruth.ball at n...
Sue Marsden

Original Message:
-----------------
From: Peter Whisker peter at w...
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 07:24:15 +0100
To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Bell Historians] Curfew (was Re: The Tellers)


I am still trying to get an estimate of the number of church towers which
still *manually* ring a curfew. I suspect that it must be less than a dozen?

We continue to ring one at Chertsey between Michaelmas and Lady Day, every
week-night at 8pm. (http://www.stpeterschertsey.org.uk/bells). The practice
is unchanged probably since the 14th Century at a guess - Manning and Bray's
history of Surrey in 1808 records it as a very old custom then and their
description matches what we do today. Our "Curfew Bell" or "Chertsey Abbey
bell" (the 5) is a 1380 recast of a 1310 bell but we now ring on the 4 which
is not so old (1756).

I am aware of Morpeth town hall which I think still pays a small sum to a
ringer to ring the curfew (and presumably the town gates to be closed in the
face of marauding Scots!).

Thanks
Peter


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Cawley" <dave at d...>
To: <bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 7:32 PM
Subject: [Bell Historians] The Tellers


... Bell Harry only weighs about 8-cwt, note Bb and is (I believe) still
reserved for this use, also for the Curfew and as a Sanctus bell on
appropriate occasions. ...



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