|
Here are the details of the bells of Saint Mary the Virgin, Bridgwater No. | Note | Diameter | Weight Cwt.qt.lbs | Inscription | | Treble | D | 30" | 6.0.12 | Glory to God in the Highest. Cast T. Bayley 1745. Recast John Taylor & Co, Loughborough 1899. | | 2 | C# | 31" | 6.0.26 | And on earth peace, Goodwill toward men. T.B. 1745 | | 3 | B | 34 1/2" | 8.1.0 | 1650. N.C. | | 4 | A | 37 3/4" | 10.3.7 | W.P. G.P. Anno Domini 1617 | | 5 | G | 39 1/2" | 11.0.24 | Sanctae Maria. Anno Domini 1634. Recast 1899. In the mayoralty of Thomas Good Esquire. Henry Bircham M.A. Vicar. H.C Salmon, Francis Brice, JP, F.J.C. Parsons JP, E.H. Hooper - Wardens | | 6 | F# | 41 3/4" | 12.1.0 | From Lightning and Tempest Good Lord Deliver us.A.R. 1721. | | 7 | E | 46 1/2" | 16.0.0 | Wm. Methwin, Wm. Bryant, Churchwardens. A.R 1721. | | Tenor | D | 53 3/4" | 25.1.11 | Recast by subscriptions. Obtained 1867 John Taylor & Co. Founders. Loughborough, 1868. John B. Hammill, Mayor. I call the living, mourn the dead; I tell how days and years are fled; For Joy, for grief, for prayer and praise, My tuneful voice to heaven I raise. |
Method Ringing 
A ringing method, known as 'Plain Hunt' A theoretical system of producing changes to the bell position, in the peal, or a different sequence of ringing; all methods have names. Not all towers have 8 bells.
The method however is not one you would recognise, the ringers are ringing their bell to either progress down to the front of the peal, up to the back, or stay where they are, and, during this process the ringers are following a path through the other bells, who, at the same time are doing exactly the same thing. Confused?….. Well if you look at the Plain Hunt method attached you will see that the No2 bell goes down to the front while the No1 (Treble) on each successive blow works up to the back to become 7th position, after another pull in 7th the bell then returns one blow at a time to the front and that is a plain course completed. All the other bells, with the exception of the 8th (Tenor) do exactly the same work but are starting from a different position within the method; even bells go in (down), and odd bells go out (up). The tenor provides the timing for the method and the other bells will also ‘Lead’ from this bell when it is their turn to ring first in the peal. Ringers learn new methods, of which there are hundreds, by learning the blue line from a book and eventually committing the work to memory, then surrounded by similarly knowledgeable ringers can happily spend many hours entertaining both themselves and the public outside.
Note; the Treble is the lightest, and, the Tenor the heaviest of the peal. You can listen to the bells in MP3 format by clicking one of the links below. Broadband users 932k Dial-up users 232k Excerpt taken from 'Bells of Somerset', a Compact Disc published by the Bath & Wells Diocesan Association of Change Ringers, (c)1998. Reproduced by kind permission. Here are some pictures of the bells taken from inside the tower.  

|