The clock and bells are housed in the bell tower (belfry), above the baptistry and below the spire. Church bells are rung either to tell the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service. The windows in the tower do not have glass but openings or louvres in the stonework so that the sound of the bells can travel.

The Bells

The Ringing board

There are six bells which are fixed to wooden beams, so do not move and cannot be rung by swinging them on their axles. They are chimed manually by one ringer pulling sideways on ropes which hang vertically side by side. The four bells on one beam have two sets of clappers which strike the bells: an outer set operated by wires from the clock and an inner set operated by ropes from the ringing board below. Ropes also operate the two bells on the other beam. The separate systems save disengaging the clock for chime peals and the obvious difficulties in re-setting. The driving spindles to the four clock dial faces are operated by the vertical rod through a differential rising from the clock below. The four bells that are also connected electrically to the clock automatically chime the hours and the quarters. These bells are inscribed "Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving and into His courts with Praise", "Glory to God in the Highest", "On earth Peace", and "Goodwill to Men", respectively. The bells are arranged as shown below. Number 6 is the largest (lowest note) and bells 3 to 6 are used for automatic chiming, with clappers at the back. The front clappers are for manual ringing.

The ringing or chiming board or frame is where the manual ringing is done. See the picture on the right. There is room for eight ropes, but only six bells were ever installed and only one person rings at a time. The company that made the original bells no longer exists, therefore new matching bells cannot be acquired. The notes span an octave, with the missing notes between 5 and 6. The numbering of the bells corresponds to the order of pitch, the highest bell numbered 1, and the lowest, 6. The highest bell-pull rope is on the right. Bells 1 and 6 are tuned to C. Ringers follow set traditional patterns but new patterns are occasionally developed.

The hole in the floor of the clock level of the tower, through which the bells were originally lifted, can be seen. The chalk tallies are from the ringing in of the New Year. The old year is tolled out before midnight and after midnight, the New Year is tolled in. The rope to the single tolling bell (no. 6) is in the baptistry in the base of the tower. This is used as the service bell, when the whole peal of bells is not being used. This rope used to go down the stairs, through the hole currently used for seeing if the stair-light is on. At the top of the stairs, the pulley still exists. To find out about ringing the bells look at the page Bell-Ringing.

The bells are inscribed as follows: 1. CORONATION OF KING EDWARD VII JUNE 26th 1902 FEAR GOD HONOUR THE KING (1 Peter 2 v17) 2. JUNE 26th 1902 HONOUR ALL MEN, LOVE THE BROTHERHOOD (1 Peter 2 v17) 3. GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST (Luke 2 v14) 4. ON EARTH PEACE (Luke 2 v14) 5. GOODWILL TO ALL MEN (Luke 2 v14) 6. ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE (Psalms 100 v4)

Bell maker's plaque

3 4 5 6   2         1 Stairs   Bell arrangement

The Clock
The clock, with four dials, is a simple pendulum wall clock. The rear of the clock faces can be seen at bell level in the tower, one in each wall being connected via the central rod to the clock mechanism below.

The clock has a simple pendulum action, powered by three falling weights. These pull wires over pulleys which unwind three spindles, provided with ratchets, which run down in just over three days. Originally these had to be raised by hand winding every three days using a large crankhandle. Even though the plate says "steam clock manufacturers", the clock was hand-wound. The old winding handle is kept in the cupboard under the clock. In 1974 the mechanism was rebuilt with an electric automatic re-winding mechanism, so the clock is now wound by the motor on top of the cabinet (visible from the stairs leading to the belfry).

The clock utilises four of the six bells, the chime consisting of five notes with two notes from bell 6. There are three mechanisms. The quarter chiming (left), the clock (centre), and the hour striking (right). Originally, each had its own weight - all three were larger than the present single one (to the right of the clock cabinet). This raises the weight approximately three times an hour. The pendulum keeps the mechanism turning. The ticking sound of the clock is used for timing the pre-service tolling. A single bell (usually no. 5) is rung on every second loud tick - every 23-seconds. The vertical post going up from the clock mechanism controls the clock faces. The mini clock face in the cabinet showing the minutes of the hour is used by the bell ringers to avoid ringing over the automatic chimes. The two motors on either side of the clock mechanism control the automatic ringing; the left motor controls the quarter-hour chimes and the right motor controls the hour striking.

Historical Background to the Clock and Bells
A clock with four dials and four bells for chiming were fixed in the tower in December 1893. The clock was manufactured in 1893 by J Smith & Sons of Derby, the builders of the great clock of St. Paul’s. It was dedicated at a special service on December 20th 1893, and set in motion by the former vicar, Revd. Bligh. The bells were cast by Warners, a London firm which has long gone out of existence, and a further two bells were added in 1902 at a cost of £100, thus completing a peal of six.

In 1921 an apparatus was invented and installed by which the bell could be rung on week-days from the baptistry, instead of from the belfry. The church clock was repaired in 1924 and again in 1934. It had to be stopped in 1970 when it was found that the bottom pulley anchorages of the driving weights (which total nearly half a ton) were affected by dry rot. The hands from the north dial of the clock were stolen in 1974 but later returned, left on the church door-step in a brown paper parcel one night, but were too damaged to be of any use. The intricate drive-mechanism of the whole clock had been damaged so the opportunity was taken to convert the winding mechanism from manual to electric operation. The clock and chimes were again out of action for a few months in 2008 with a problem with the rewinding mechanism, which needed a special part making.

For a more detailed account, read the page The History of the Clock and Bells.