Click on the picture above to hear the bells.
There are fourteen bells hung for ringing in the south tower, including a tenor of 72 cwt. (over 3.5 tons), which makes them the second heaviest peal in the world, after Liverpool Cathedral.
Ringing takes place monthly on the first Monday (7-9 p.m.), the third Saturday (6-8 p.m.), and the Sunday after the third Saturday (3.45-5.00 p.m.). The bells are also rung for special services and often on other Sundays either by the local band or by visiting ringers.
About four times a year the Cathedral Bellringers or visiting teams attempt a full peal, which can take between four and five hours. The bells are rung in the early morning in celebration of the three Great Festivals: Christmas Day, Easter Day and Pentecost.
The Cathedral band of ringers currently has around twenty four members. Experienced bellringers interested in joining them should contact:
Ringing Master: Dr Ian Campbell, Email: I.L.C.Campbell@exeter.ac.uk
Click here for more about the ringers and contacts.
'Grandison' in full cry.
The bells themselves have a very long history, and are all named; they were cast by several different founders between 1616 and 1979, but many of them have been recast from much earlier bells and have a continuous history from medieval times. They now form a ring of twelve in B flat major, and there are two extra bells which allow other keys to be obtained and make it possible to ring eight or ten of the lighter bells if desired; the very heavy bells at Exeter demand skills and experience which not all ringers possess.
The principal rings which can be obtained are:
As one walks round the frame clockwise, one can see each of the bells in order, starting with the newest, the 'Sharp Treble'.
Sharp Treble: 'Jubilee', 6cwt. 20lb in G.
QUEEN ELIZABETH SILVER JUBILEE
1977
JOHN TAYLOR & CO
1979
This was added to create a ring of ten in E flat major or a twelve in C minor. The bell was cast in 1979 to commemorate the Jubilee two years earlier; hence the two dates.
Treble: 'Thomas I', 6cwt. 2qr. 16lb in F.
A THANK-OFFERING FROM
AN EXETER CITIZEN *1922*
IN TERRA PAX
2nd: 'Thomas II', 6cwt. 3qr. 2lb in E flat.
A THANK-OFFERING FROM
AN EXETER CITIZEN *1922*
HOMINIBUS BONAE VOLUNTATIS
These two bells were given by A. C. Thomas, and hung in 1923 to make a ring of twelve. These three bells were all cast at Loughborough by John Taylor & Son.
3rd: 'Little Nine O'Clock' or 'Earle', 7cwt. 22lb in D.
RECAST 1729 W (bell) E
RECAST IN WAR, I HOPE TO HERALD PEACE
WHEN ALL SHALL LOVE, AND
'HYMNS OF HATRED' CEASE
A. M. DEAN.
William Evans of Chepstow recast this bell, formerly in the north tower, to make the treble for a ring of ten. It was accidentally broken in 1915, and recast by Taylor's under the Dean, Alfred Earle, Bishop of Marlborough. (Three other bells in the north tower disappeared, apparently disposed of by the sub-dean, during the l7th century.)
4th: 'Birdall', 8cwt. 3qr. 10lb in C.
Anno Domini 1616 I B
A new bell in 1616, providing a ring of six in E flat major. Some of the lettering used by John Birdall was inherited from the medieval Exeter foundry, but his own initials are in a later highly decorated lettering. Birdall's foundry was on the St Thomas side of Exe Bridge.
5th: 'Pennington', 8cwt. 2qr. in B flat.
IOHN PENNINGTON OF EXON NEW CAST ME
ANNO DOMINI 1658
Recast by John Pennington, whose foundry was in Paul Street, from a bell called 'The Eight' in 1553. It was recast during the Commonwealth, but bears impressions of coins of Charles I.
6th: 'Purdue', 10cwt. 1qr. 2lb in A.
THO PERDVE ME FECIT ANNO DOMINI 1676
EX IMPENSIS DECANI ET CAPITVLI EXON
A new bell in 1676, to be used instead of the flat 6th to make a ring of eight in B flat major, cast by Thomas Purdue of Closworth.
Flat 6th: 'Pongamouth', 11cwt. 1qr. 8lb in A flat.
THO PENNINGTON NEW CAST ME ANNO DOMINI 1630
RENOVAT EX IMPENSIS DECANI ET CAPITVLI EXON
Called 'The Major' in 1553, and recast by John Pennington's elder brother. The name is a mystery, but a pongo is a species of ape with a large mouth; 'Pongamouth' may be a nickname, as ringers call a bell 'wide-mouthed' if she speaks slowly.
7th: 'Fox' or 'Mary', 18cwt. 4lb in G.
W (bell) E RECAST 1729
RECAST AT EXPENSE OF A.M. DEAN IN 1902
EX IMIS FUIMUS * SIDERA SCANDIMUS
Named after Richard Fox, Bishop 1487-1491, and recast from an earlier bell named 'Mary'. Again recast by William Evans in 1729, and in 1902 by Taylor's.
8th: 'Doom', 19cwt. 19lb in F.
RENOVAT EX IMPENSIS DECANI ET CAPITVLI
EXON ANNO DOMINI 1693: TP:
The name, which dates from before 1553, probably derives from the bell's use at executions. Recast by Thomas Purdue and his partner Thomas Knight after Thomas Pennington III had failed to recast her satisfactorily.
9th: 'Cobthorne' or 'Trinity', 28cwt. 4lb in E flat.
EX DONO IOHANNIS COBTHORNI QVONDAM
DECANI EXON TH PVRDVE FECIT
RENOVAT EX IMPENSIS DECANI ET
CAPITVLI EXON ANNO DOMINI 1676
John Cobthorne was Dean 1419-1457. Purdue hung the bell by bolts through the crown as the cannons were defective, and had to sign a bond guaranteeing the bell for twenty years. Over three hundred years later she is still hung from bolts, and so, today, are all the others.
10th: 'Oldham', 'Trinity' or 'Old Nine o'Clock' 33cwt. 2qr. 11lb in D.
Wm EVANS FECIT RECAST 1729
There was a 'Trinity' in the 15th century, so Bishop Hugh Oldham who died in 1519 must have paid for her recasting. William Evans of Chepstow recast this bell, the 3rd, 'Fox' and 'Grandison' in 1729; he failed twice with 'Oldham' before casting her successfully, but she is now the only one of his bells surviving in the ring, and a noble bell.
11th: 'Stafford', 40cwt. 3qr. 19lb in C.
EX DONO EDMVNDI STAFFORD EPISCOPI EXON
RENOVAT EX IMPENSIS DECANI ET CAPITVLI
EXON ANNO DOMINI 1676 PER THO PERDVE
Edmund Stafford was bishop 1395-1419. This is one of the finest bells in Britain, with a noble and very powerful tone, and finely decorated.
Tenor: 'Grandison', 72cwt. 2qr. 2lb in B flat.
EX DONO IOHANNIS GRANDISON EPISCOPI
EXON GVLIEMLVS EVANS FECIT 1729
RECAST 1902
JOHN TAYLOR & CO.
Evans's bell of 1729 was probably the third since the original bell was given by John Grandisson in the l4th century; she was certainly recast by Purdue in 1676. When the bells were restored in 1902, 'Grandison' was thought to be insufficiently powerful to cover 'Stafford', and was again recast with half a ton of additional metal. The bell bears a medallion of the head of Archbishop Laud, She is normally rung by two ringers but can be handled by one. Grandison in full cry is pictured above.
The Clock and Curfew Bell: PETER (in the North Tower) estimated 4 tons, in A flat.
The full inscription on 'Peter' (shown here) is as follows:
EX DONO PETRI COVRTENAY EPISCOPI EXON
ANNO DOM 1484 PLEBS PATRIAE PLAVDIT
DVM PETRVM PLENIVS AVDIT
RENOVAT EX IMPENSIS DECANI ET CAPITVLI
EXON ANNO DOMINI 1676 PER THO PVRDVE
('Renovat' should read 'Renovata ...' to translate, 'Recast at the expense of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter'. Presumably one bell-founder left out the final 'a' of 'renovata', and all later founders copied his version.)
The bells are chimed for the daily services in the cathedral in accordance with the principles laid down in the Middle Ages. On Sundays and for twice-monthly practices they are rung by a band of members of the Guild of Devonshire Ringers drawn from parishes in the area. On the Church's great festivals they are rung at 6.00 a.m. The 'Little Nine o'Clock' bell is rung every morning for the daily eucharist in the cathedral, as it was for the chapter's daily mass before the Reformation.
This description of the bells has been reproduced from
'Exeter Cathedral - A Celebration'
by kind permission of The Reverend Prebendary John G. M. Scott,
the author of the chapter on The Bells and Clock.