The project

 

It is part of the history of bells and bell ringing in England that from time to time, and for many reasons, the bells, the frame and the fittings need attention. This can range from general maintenance and replacement of small things that wear out, such as bell ropes, wooden stays and such like, to replacement of everything. The bells themselves seldom change much throughout their lives, they are after all, cast bronze, and so long as they do not crack, they continue to make essentially the same sound as they did when cast.

One of our old bells was cast between 1499 and 1523. We know this because the maker's mark, that of Seliok of Nottingham, is cast onto the surface of the bell. We do not know which of Richard Seliok I or his son also Richard Seliok II actually cast the bell as they used the same mark. The latter's son Seliok III used a different maker's mark, so we know it has to be one of the earlier two.

This means that when we hear the sound of this old bell we are hearing exactly what our forbears in Richmond heard, over 500 years ago! There are very few ways by which we can experience what it was like 500 years ago in Richmond; listening to our old bell being chimed is one of them. There is another bell of similar age and by the same founder in the tower of Holy Trinity Chapel, housing the Green Howards Museum, in the market square. Whether or not these two bells ever hung in the same tower is an open question.

What does change in a ring of bells is that the frame becomes unsuitable through deterioration in the metals or wood used to construct it. Also as time goes by it is clearer that the notes emanating from the bells are not exactly as intended. This happens because, over time, the casting processes have improved immensely and the control now applied to the whole process of making and tuning a modern bell have changed beyond recognition.

Both of these had happened in the tower of St Mary's Richmond. The frame needed replacing, the bells needed to be hung on one level, not two, and the bells themselves had reached the point where they could never sound like a 'true' octave as they were too far out of tune.

In this section of our website we describe the activities and the process by which we raised the money, ordered a set of new bells and a new frame which would secure the future of bell ringing in Richmond for many years to come. We also preserved the five old bells and they now hang in an exhibition, in the tower, above the new bells.

The idea

The project we finally embarked upon grew from the realisation that our current bells and more particularly the frame they hung in had reached the end of their life and needed major work to enable ringing to continue at Richmond. We had been training new ringers for many years but it was obvious that the state of the frame and the bells themselves were an obstacle to improving the ringing and its appreciation by the people of Richmond and visitors to the tower and the town.

The three part project we took on consisted of:

• • Replacing the Frame
  • Replacing the Bells
  • Engaging in communication and workshops with local people and schools and researching the history of the bells and the ringers

Old Bells and an Old Frame

The two tier frame, made of wood, had been commented upon by several bell founders over the years as a poorly designed frame with significant weaknesses (J Taylor's 1921, 1951, Eare and Smith, 1983). We were starting to think we needed to do something about it as it was moving and stressing the 14th century  Grade II* listed Church tower and making it difficult to ring the bells. This led us to conclude that at the very least we needed to replace the frame, ideally on a single level to aid maintenance and safe access. However the bells were too large for their weight to be re-hung in a new, single level frame. In addition, reports from all the bell founders who had examined them indicated very clearly that each bell was neither in tune with itself nor each other. We concluded that to continue change-ringing in Richmond we must install a new peal of bells in a purpose-made single tier frame.  This would provide a high quality, tuned musical instrument for the benefit of the people of Richmond, now and into the next century.

However some of the bells are quite old, the oldest being made by Seliok of Nottingham in around 1499/1523, three cast by Samuel Smith of York in 1697 and one by Sellers of York in 1739. None of these bells can be melted down to make new bells as they are covered by a preservation order because of their age. Rather than sell them at scrap metal value to the Kelteck Trust who would have tried to find new homes for them, we preferred to keep them in the tower at the same time as installing a new set of bells.

In addition to the five historic bells our heritage included papers and artefacts in the tower dating from the early 1800s to the present day which we wanted to catalogue, interpret and conserve. There were also a large number of records related to Richmond Bells in the North Yorkshire County Record Office in Northallerton to help us understand the history of our tower, its bells and its bellringers.. We also needed to build awareness of the heritage activity of bell ringing and its importance in the life of communities both to ensure it was not lost and to create new ringers for the future.

The First Meeting

The project started in June 2013 with a meeting of the bell ringers of St Mary's Richmond to consider reports on the condition of the bells and frame and to make recommendations to the PCC on how best to proceed.

Following a lot of discussion it was agreed that, given the reports from the bell hangers and founders, we would embark upon a project to replace our bells with a new set on a single level in a new frame. This would ensure that the tower was not unduly stressed and maintenance and access to the bells and fittings would be considerably improved. The resulting improved ease of ringing would also allow us to greatly expand our training of new ringers of all ages.

At this first meeting the idea of hanging the old bells above the new bells and accessible to interested members of the public with the stamina to climb the tower and look at them was formed. This idea resulted in a successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to ensure that all of the heritage surrounding the bells, including books, peal boards, and the lives of past ringers could be researched and presented for viewing.

Subsequent Activities

After several other meetings and some initial discussions with bell founders and hangers the cost was estimated to be around £160,000, ex VAT, and after some discussion in the PCC the parish agreed that the project could go ahead - so long as the ringers raised the money!

We then engaged in a period of fundraising with many events and activities. We obtained many grants and donations, both small and large, from a variety of public and private donors. The ringers raised large sums themselves including around £10,000 through a sponsored ride; cycling from Richmond Surrey to Richmond North Yorkshire ringing at many churches on the way.

The Yorkshire Association Bell Fund had also allocated us a substantial grant from the Colin Ashworth memorial bell fund of £10,000 towards a bell and a further £11,000 towards the general work required to finish the project. The Local Authority Community Fund donated a sum to provide us with an excellent, modern, sound proofing system, operated from the ringing chamber by the touch of a button, giving us the ability to host many more events at Richmond Tower.

Heritage and Bell ringing in Richmond North Yorkshire

The project has benefited with a large grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for some aspects of its work (click the icon for more details of our application to HLF). In particular the Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled us to preserve the five ancient bells and provide a new frame for our new bells, to safeguard the tower.

The grant has enabled us to provide a viewing platform in the Tower of St Mary's from which to appreciate the ancient bells close up, see the new bells in action and gain an understanding of the process of carrying out our project including the workshops we are holding in local schools, and the outcomes of the history group who have been studying the records and gathering memories from people in Richmond on anything related to the bells and bellringing in Richmond.

After the fund raising comes what we are actually doing!

School Workshops

We ran workshops on the heritage of Richmond bells and bellringing with Richmond School, Richmond CofE primary school and with Richmond Methodist primary school. We also extended our workshops to Moorside Infant and Junior Schools in Ripon. The workshops were managed and led by Ele Slade who recruited 3 other experienced workshop facilitators. Bellringers were asked to support the facilitators in understanding ringing prior to them planning the workshops. The workshops were delivered in July 2017.

Workshops had four underpinning themes:

• • Bells and their Buildings (subject links: art, design, drama)
  • Bells in Society ( subject links: English, history, writing and speaking)
  • Scientific Ringing  (subject links: Mathematics, Dance & movement using the basis of Scientific ringing as an inspiration.
  • Bells as Musical Instruments (subject links: music, sound technology)

We produced support packs for teachers and design and mount temporary exhibitions of pupils’ work in The Station, schools, and Georgian Theatre Royal. 

Film and sound records of ‘Richmond Bells 2016’

Filming:

We generated various film footage for documentary and creative purposes. Several aspects of the project were filmed including:

• • The old bells being rung
  • The removal of the old bells and the installation of the new
  • The Victorian bellfoundry in Loughborough and the manufacturing processes of casting, tuning, hanging, frame building and rope making
  • Phases and activities in the project e.g. workshops in schools, events and exhibitions, community engagement, oral history interviews.

We produced a series of 30 second - 1 minute short films about all aspects of the project. The main purpose for these films is to be part of the online archive / learning resource, and to be used in exhibitions, though they may also be shared on social media and blogs. These encompass subjects such as ‘ the rope making process in the foundry’, or ’the community engagement workshops’, ‘the belfry community’, ‘how a bell works’.

We also created an ‘art’ film of approximately 3 minutes that is available on the website and for the permanent exhibition.

Sound Recording:

We secured technically strong / accurate recordings, for documentation and demonstration purposes, of the old and new bells rung as a set of eight, individually, and in other arrangements. In particular we created a lasting record of the old bells because they will never be rung together again. We recorded the sound from a variety of locations and matched these to films and photographs.

There are also many exciting sounds from the Foundry during the casting processes which we recorded, with appropriate permissions from John Taylor bellfounders.

We will be offering the 'raw material' produced to university and school staff and students to develop sound art that may be used in school workshops, in the physical exhibitions, and on our website /online exhibition of archival material and outputs. 

Exhibitions

We have permanent exhibition. This is the installation of the ‘historic bells’ (dated ca.1500 to 1739) in the Bellchamber above the new ring of eight bells. It includes the installation of a webcam to live-stream ringing on the new bells, and we have a computer-linked chiming apparatus on the new eight for which tunes may be composed by school students and others interested in composing for eight notes. These compositions may be sounded on the bells by arrangement.

The permanent installation includes interpretative boards. It is publicly accessible (by arrangement and subject to the limited access in a Church Tower). It has links to secure on-line access so that visitors to the church can view it from a computer screen in the church or on the website.

We have temporary exhibitions planned for work arising from the school workshops and for the Richmondshire Museum in April 2018, 2019 and for the foreseeable future. They will incorporate materials from all project activities including the Local History workshops. 

Belfry open days, events to publicise ringing, ringer training.

We provid a range of opportunities to enable non-ringers and ringers to engage with Richmond bells (old and new), to learn to ring, learn about ringing, and improve their ringing. Specific provisions were to:

• • Run 4 ‘Introduction to Ringing’ open days; use the ‘Wombell’ (or similar) twice for public to ‘try-out’ ringing
    
  • Contribute bellringing themes to young peoples’ church services (2 per year)
  • Create and distribute information on how people can participate in the project, or learn to ring.
  • Ring at least 4 quarter peals annually and publicise (Parish Magazine, Ringing World, local press?)
  • Host at least 1 Ringing Association day after the installation of the permanent exhibition to enable ringers across Yorkshire to visit
  • Invite learner ringers from nearby bands
  • Provide 12 specialised training days for new learners
  • Increase the number of available opportunities for visiting ringers to use the bells
  • Facilitate extended ringing for ringers to gain greater skill levels at recognised ‘performance’ levels such as peals and quarter peals.

In addition, because we intend that the permanent exhibition should be a significant (though always small) addition to St Mary’s and Richmond’s tourist attractions, we are training church volunteer guides to interpret and demonstrate the historic bells exhibition.

Community outreach

• • Station and Civic Society talks.
  • Other talks as additional ‘extras’
  • 2 Visits to Loughborough bell foundry to view the casting of our new bells

Local History workshops

The Local History workshops will build on our existing artefacts and archive and encourage new research into Richmond bellringers and bellringing. Activities and objectives include:

• • Helping to secure the archive of materials related to Richmond ringing. 
  • Extending our knowledge of the people who rang at Richmond and their links to the town and community 
  • Undertaking oral history research 
  • Writing short articles for a range of different audiences
  • Recording and investigating history of bells and bellringing in St Mary's Church and Richmond more generally

Bellringing - The Start

The 17th century was a period of great expansion in bellringing and Richmond appears to have been part of that growth. Our three ancient bells were augmented to five by Samuel Smith of York in 1697 and our ringers of that time may well have looked like those in the woodcut below. Our research starts from the 17th century expansion in bellringing and goes through to the present day.

Photo: The Stapleton Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library