St Paul’s Cathedral is in the heart of Melbourne and is one of the major landmarks in the city. The William Butterfield masterpiece has three belltowers designed by John Barr of Sydney; the tallest and most noticeable being the Moorhouse tower which rises out from the center of the nave. However, only the southeast tower (the one on the right) contains a set of 13 English change-ringing bells; a gift of Thomas Dyer Edwardes in 1889. They were the first set of 12 installed outside the British Isles and were the heaviest cast by the renowned Whitechapel Bell Foundry in the 19th century, with the largest weighing 29 cwt.
Since the bells were first installed in 1889, bellringing in St Paul’s proved to be an extremely popular secular activity, due to the fact that they are the heaviest and largest set of bells in Victoria. Although this activity became ingrained into the culture of Melbourne for locals and tourists, many people are unaware of the fact that they are still hand-rung. This results in the lack of new recruits and is ultimately threatening the continuation of this art.
As a 16 year old Australian adolescent of Singaporean descent, most people wonder why I enjoy participating in such an unusual “stuffy sounding” activity. As a Melbourne High School student, I spend many hours on my laptop doing homework and completing assignments during the week. Whilst most of my friends would use their free time to play Fortnite or watch anime, I decided to avoid the screen and enjoy a non-technological physical activity. Since I have absolutely no interest in most team sport (meet me and you will understand), I decided to revisit my childhood interest of ringing the loud cathedral bells. Initially expecting to tug on a rope and send the bells flying, I soon discovered the team effort and concentration which is the British art of change-ringing. As opposed to ringing music, this art requires those participating to memorize methods/ mathematical permutations. When ringing in a group of 6–12, ringers must concentrate on the path they take, working with the other ringers. Rather than talking during the ringing, each ringer stares at each other, which subtly indicates that you are the bell in front of them(or they think you look gorgeous). You must then remember the sequence and follow your “assigned” bell. The diagram below shows a 6 bell method. An easier way of ringing is call-changes, in which a conductor will call out different bells to swap positions.
Bellringing benefits people of all ages. Not only is it a great team sport, but it is also quite a physical activity. Whilst the bells do not require an immense amount of strength, the constant act of pulling does help give a good upper-body workout.
Bellringing is also a wonderful community activity. The ringers in Melbourne are a tight-knit group who not only ring but enjoy participating in other various activities.
Furthermore, bellringing gives ringers an activity to participate in overseas. While I was in England, I rang at a lovely local church named All Saints Fulham, which has a historic set of 10 bells and Liverpool Cathedral, which has the heaviest set of bells in the world. The ringers were extremely kind and welcoming, and I am even friends with one on Facebook!
Most people would argue that machines could easily replace the ringers and solve this issue. However, whilst innovation and constant change is driving the rapid evolution in our society, keeping cultural and age-old activities original is vital in order to maintain our cultural identity and the history of the city. Besides, an electronic ringer was added into St Patrick’s R.C Cathedral in East Melbourne in the 90’s. It is never used, as the sound produced is extremely unauthentic and somewhat shrill.
I would encourage everyone, no matter how old or young, to climb up our belltower, watch us ring and have a go. All the ringers, including myself, fell in love with ringing after visiting one. Even if you are not interested in learning after the visit, you still had the chance to experience and witness a wonderful art which has been practiced around the world since the 1600’s
Follow us on Facebook at “The Bellringers of St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne”, contact us at astpaulsringer@gmail.com today to tour our tower or visit https://anzab.org.au to visit the 2 other city towers or the 2 in Burnley and Heidelberg West
