[Bell Historians] re: what are these bells called

[John Camp]

At 13:40 on 11 October 2011, John David wrote:

> I asked our former rector, now retired. This is his answer
>  
> "The single bell on the wall by the sacristy/vestry is called the
> Sacristy Bell, and is rung as the priest enters to celebrate the Mass
> or to officiate at Evensong.

At 12:44 on 10 October 2011, John Camp wrote:

> St Mary Mag's, Oxford, has such a bell outside the vestry.  I used to
> say mass there quite often, but I never heard it called anything in
> particular.  It wasn't the sanctus bell (or bells), which was a set of
> small jangly things.

At 13:55 on 11 October 2011, Dickon Love wrote:

> I asked our Cardinal Rector and Chief Sacristan at St Magnus ...

> "If you mean the Sacristan's bell that hangs at the door of the
> Sacristy, I don't think it has or has ever had a name."

All of which suggests that it is one of those made-up traditions, much
beloved of the Catholic wing of the C of E.  Why should it have a name?
I suppose that, if you have a bell hanging outside the vestry or
sacristy, then you can call it a vestry bell or sacristy bell.  But
those names are descriptive rather than prescriptive.

John Camp