Bell Ringing at St Lawrence – Part 9
In 17th Century church bell ringing (or "the Exercise" as it was
known) became a popular pastime for gentlemen. Ringing societies, based on
medieval guilds, were established. The members of such societies were all
men, mostly aristocrats, wealthy professionals or students. Some societies
still exist, the oldest being The Ancient Society of College Youths, whose
members ring the bells of St Paul's Cathedral.
In May the Newbury Branch of the Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers
(of which Hungerford is a member) will host the Guild's AGM at Speen Church.
This will follow a familiar format: a church service, the meeting itself
and a ringer's tea (provided by the host branch). I like to think that this
format is a remnant of the annual meetings of the earliest ringing societies
which would have included a church service followed by a feast (although
the feasts would undoubtedly have involved more drinking of alcohol than
tea).
By the late 17th century bell ringers were widely regarded as having a greater
affinity with the tavern than the Church. Notorious for drunken and rowdy
behaviour they also defied the authority of the clergy, considering that
they had the right to ring whenever they chose. It was not unknown for ringers
to change the lock on a belfry to keep the parson out. Conversely, in Thurby,
Leicestershire a churchwarden nailed up the belfry door to prevent ringing
in honour of a meet of the local hunt. The ringers broke in to ring, were
arrested and fined. They refused to pay the fine so were sent to jail. There
they remained for five weeks until the fine was eventually paid - by the
parson himself!
It would be unfair to brand all bell ringers of those times as antisocial
delinquents and it must be stated that I can find no evidence of any such
conflicts in Hungerford. Perusal of the Constable's Accounts between 1658
and 1699 www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/ shows
that ringers were called upon to ring for many occasions (and paid quite
well for it). Most often
their services were required when a member of royalty passed through the
town en route to Bath (and again on their return journey to London) or to
mark to important events such as the coronation of William of Orange.
However, by the second half of the 19th century the relationship between
ringers and the clergy had generally deteriorated to such an extent that
the situation was intolerable. Great efforts were made by churchmen to improve
this relationship and restore the reputation of bell ringing as a pursuit
worthy of the support of the Church. In.1891 the Central Council of Church
Bell Ringers was established.
Today the CCCBR’s 40,000 members comprise not only men but women and
children
too. It took a number of social changes, including two world wars
to make this possible. More about that in the next issue, where, incidentally,
if you thought that no bells were rung during WWII, you will learn otherwise...
Sarah Chatters