0:00:02 > 0:00:06BELLS RING
0:00:08 > 0:00:10It's beautiful...
0:00:10 > 0:00:15The sound of bells ringing is the sound of celebration -
0:00:15 > 0:00:17of momentous events.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20It can be the sound of grief, and sorrow.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It's a sound we've heard so many times,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25that we've almost stopped listening.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28But it's a sound with a story,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30and it's an extraordinary one.
0:00:32 > 0:00:38For 1,500 years, bells have provided the soundtrack to our finest,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40and our darkest hours.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46The story of bells is the story of greed - a story of magic,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48a story of invention.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50It's a story of war.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55It's a story of holy men and women, and some very unholy ones, too.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00The lives of people and the sound of bells have been so intertwined
0:01:00 > 0:01:04for so long, that the story of bells is the story of us.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13# I'm getting married in the morning
0:01:14 > 0:01:16# Ding-dong, the bells are gonna chime... #
0:01:18 > 0:01:22In April 2011, Westminster Abbey played host to a Royal Wedding.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27# But get me to the church on time... #
0:01:31 > 0:01:35When William and Kate were married here, in this extraordinary,
0:01:35 > 0:01:40vivid, grand, amazing space, you felt like all that was left
0:01:40 > 0:01:43was the need to be filled with something equally grand,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46vivid and extraordinary, although this time,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50not a feast for the eyes, but a feast for the ears.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53BELLS CHIME
0:01:55 > 0:01:59The bells sounded a timeless, historic and grand accompaniment.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07As the couple left the building, this sound engulfed everybody.
0:02:08 > 0:02:09It was almost physical.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13You felt you could scoop handfuls of it out of the air.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17There was no better expression of pure joy.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22And you wondered - why?! What is it about bells?
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Why do bells provide the soundtrack for our historic events?
0:02:32 > 0:02:36How did they become so rooted in our culture, and entwined
0:02:36 > 0:02:39with our national identity?
0:02:39 > 0:02:42The story of our relationship with bells has coloured
0:02:42 > 0:02:45more than a millennium of British history.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47And it all began in the 5th century,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49with the patron saint of Ireland.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55There are many miracles associated with Patrick -
0:02:55 > 0:02:58banishing snakes from Ireland, even raising people from the dead.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02But he's also credited with introducing handbells
0:03:02 > 0:03:03to these islands.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05For Patrick, the bell was an essential part
0:03:05 > 0:03:07of the missionary's toolkit,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and whenever he introduced one of his disciples
0:03:10 > 0:03:13to a new missionary area, he'd give them a bell.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15He even imported three blacksmiths
0:03:15 > 0:03:19to help craft these heralds of God's word.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27From the 6th century, Celtic missionaries crossed the Irish Sea
0:03:27 > 0:03:30to Britain, to spread the Christian message.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33They carried with them the tools of their trade.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Some sources say that when the Celtic missionaries
0:03:36 > 0:03:40roamed the British mainland, they carried with them a bag,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44in which were a copy of the Gospels, and a small bell,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47just like the one St Patrick had used in Ireland.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50They worked in tandem with the bell summoning the people
0:03:50 > 0:03:53to hear the word of God.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56It's just like a cowbell, really, a piece of metal bent around,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58another piece over the top,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and then the whole thing riveted together
0:04:01 > 0:04:03with a good space for your hand.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06It would have operated a bit like the chimes of an ice-cream van -
0:04:06 > 0:04:10when you heard this sound coming at you, across the hills,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13or through the valleys, or along a coastal path,
0:04:13 > 0:04:18you'd have known blessings, masses, maybe healings of the sick,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22were on their way. The man of God was coming.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36It was soon believed that these bells held special powers.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Sacred oaths were sworn upon them.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Bells which had belonged to holy men
0:04:42 > 0:04:46were carried into battle as a sign of God's protection.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50And most importantly, bells were believed to have the ability
0:04:50 > 0:04:52to banish storms and terrify demons.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11It wasn't long before these roaming missionaries and their bells
0:05:11 > 0:05:15settled in permanent communities, such as here at Whitby,
0:05:15 > 0:05:19where there's been an abbey since 657 AD.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23These spectacular religious buildings were filled
0:05:23 > 0:05:27with monks or nuns praying for the salvation of mankind,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29and bells took on a vital role,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32signalling the start of all their devotions.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38At monasteries like this one at Whitby,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41the bells would be sounded every three hours
0:05:41 > 0:05:43to mark the passage of the prayers during the day.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46It was the first sound the monks heard
0:05:46 > 0:05:51when they woke up at 3am to begin their devotional duties.
0:05:51 > 0:05:52The people around the monastery
0:05:52 > 0:05:54could hear the sound of the bells too,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58and so over time, it became a way of marking the passage of the day,
0:05:58 > 0:06:03both for religious people and laity alike.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06The Irish word for "bell" is "clog",
0:06:06 > 0:06:10from which we get the English word "clock".
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Our modern clocks linguistically derive
0:06:13 > 0:06:16from those ancient Celtic bells.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24The practical use of bells didn't diminish their magical qualities.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30St Hilda was the first abbess of Whitby Abbey,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34and she was one of the great strong women of the Anglo-Saxon era.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Kings would travel for miles to receive her advice,
0:06:38 > 0:06:42and she was so revered that local legend has it that the seagulls
0:06:42 > 0:06:46still dip their wings in her honour when they pass over the abbey.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51So, when she died, it was a momentous event.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55It happened in AD 680, and according to the Venerable Bede,
0:06:55 > 0:07:01the bell that tolled her passing could be heard over 13 miles away.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04A huge distance, even in the days before noise pollution.
0:07:04 > 0:07:11What Bede was suggesting was the supernatural power of the bell
0:07:11 > 0:07:13to be heard over such a great space.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18By the 10th century, British bells were no longer made of iron,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21but bronze, and they'd grown in size.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28Towers were specially built to house them, and in those towers,
0:07:28 > 0:07:32the bells were chimed by ropes attached to levers at their head.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37These towers spread, not least because a Saxon freeman
0:07:37 > 0:07:42could become a noble by building a chapel and a belltower on his 600 acres.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50BELLS CHIME
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Bells were crafted by specially trained monks in foundries,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53hence the term, "bell-founder".
0:07:53 > 0:07:56And the most famous of them all was based here, at Canterbury.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02Years before the Norman Conquest, in the late 10th century,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07England underwent a kind of cultural renaissance, and the man
0:08:07 > 0:08:11at the heart of it was the Archbishop here in Canterbury.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14His name was Dunstan.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21Dunstan was a diplomat, an illustrator, a silversmith,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23and a bell-founder.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27He's so important in English history that he's commemorated here,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29right next to the Archbishop's high seat.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And he's important to bell-founders, too,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35as he was named their patron saint.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Dunstan's influence can still be heard today.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46From the 14th century on, many churches had clock bells
0:08:46 > 0:08:48to chime out the hours of the day,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and when Canterbury hung a new one in 1762,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54they named it Great Dunstan.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57There's a legend about St Dunstan,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00that when he was working in his foundry,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02the Devil tried to sneak up behind him,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05and Dunstan whipped around with a pair of red-hot tongs,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and grabbed the Devil by the nose, and wouldn't let him go
0:09:08 > 0:09:12until the Devil ran shrieking out into the night.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Never mess with a man when he's making a bell!
0:09:19 > 0:09:21None of Dunstan's bells remain.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24They've all been melted down - recycled.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27But we've a fairly good idea of what they looked like.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Probably, Dunstan's bells would have looked like that. All one thickness,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34straight the way through, very tall, and...
0:09:34 > 0:09:35HE RINGS BELL
0:09:35 > 0:09:42Do we know whether Dunstan had an impact, a legacy on bells?
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Certainly, he did. His influence carried on,
0:09:45 > 0:09:51and not only were his successors casting bells, but they were casting
0:09:51 > 0:09:54better sounding bells, bigger bells.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It was a case of "make me mightier yet."
0:09:57 > 0:10:00So he's the father of the sound of England?
0:10:00 > 0:10:04I think so. I think so. That's how I'd see Dunstan.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Canterbury soon had six bells,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11the largest of which needed 32 men to ring it.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15David believes this means that the bells were rung
0:10:15 > 0:10:17in a rather unusual way.
0:10:17 > 0:10:23On the continent, great bells were often rung by treading the plank.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Instead of a lever, you had a great wooden plank
0:10:26 > 0:10:31and you could get ringers who would actually stand on the plank
0:10:31 > 0:10:32and press down with their feet
0:10:32 > 0:10:37while they held onto a rail and they would start the bell swinging.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42You would have had 32 men, 16 on each side, all lined up,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45pressing down on a plank and holding on the rail on the other side.
0:10:45 > 0:10:46That's right.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49And their friends on the other side would release
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- and they'd go down. - They'd go down. Yes.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53It would be something of a seesaw.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58But if you're ringing all of them you'd have had 105 men
0:10:58 > 0:11:02all pushing, pushing up and pushing down and ringing the bells that way.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05There were lots of pubs around as well, always have been.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07LAUGHTER
0:11:07 > 0:11:10So you'd have a few drinks and go, come on lads.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13I think you'd need them. I think you'd need them.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Some 200 years after Dunstan, Thomas a Becket became
0:11:21 > 0:11:22Archbishop of Canterbury.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27He had a stormy relationship with King Henry II
0:11:27 > 0:11:30which broke down completely in 1170
0:11:30 > 0:11:33when Becket excommunicated bishops loyal to the King.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36Henry is said to have cried,
0:11:36 > 0:11:39"Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?"
0:11:39 > 0:11:43which spurred four of his knights to take action.
0:11:43 > 0:11:49In December 1170, the four knights burst into Canterbury Cathedral
0:11:49 > 0:11:53and hemmed Thomas a Becket here where they hacked him to the ground.
0:11:53 > 0:11:59According to legend, the bells of Canterbury began to ring violently.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11The terrified knights fled the building
0:12:11 > 0:12:15when all at once the bells fell silent...
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and refused to be rung again for another year.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23There's actually some truth in the legend inasmuch as
0:12:23 > 0:12:26following the murder of Becket, the whole Cathedral and the bells
0:12:26 > 0:12:28had to be reconsecrated
0:12:28 > 0:12:32and they may not have been able to be used until they were.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Becket's murder and the posthumous miracles
0:12:40 > 0:12:43he is said to have performed, shown in these windows,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46make Canterbury Britain's most visited pilgrimage site.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52This is where the shrine of Thomas a Becket lay
0:12:52 > 0:12:56and here is where the pilgrims would kneel before it.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58You can still see the furrow in the stone,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01worn down by all those knees.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Just like tourists today, the pilgrims wanted
0:13:04 > 0:13:08mementos of their visit, which would often be small pewter badges.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Here at Canterbury, they would carry the image of Thomas a Becket
0:13:12 > 0:13:15or the image of one of the Canterbury bells.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19By the 11th and 12th centuries, alongside their religious uses,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23bells were starting to take on secular functions.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27Bells announced the big moments, like when the master's oven
0:13:27 > 0:13:30was hot enough to bake the village bread.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35From 1066 on, William the Conqueror used bells
0:13:35 > 0:13:37to control his new kingdom.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44Each evening, when the Norman bell rang, people had to cover the fires.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Or couvre feu, and get inside.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51And that's the origin of our word curfew.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Before the Normans, most churches were owned and run by local lords.
0:14:01 > 0:14:02But by the 13th century,
0:14:02 > 0:14:07they had become the focal point for everyone in the community.
0:14:07 > 0:14:08All Saints Leighton Buzzard
0:14:08 > 0:14:11was built at the end of the 13th century.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Before the 13th century, there actually hadn't been that much
0:14:14 > 0:14:17contact between ordinary men and women and the Church,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20apart from baptisms and funerals.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22There was a sort of division of labour.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25The workers looked after the community's physical needs
0:14:25 > 0:14:28while the Church looked after its spiritual needs
0:14:28 > 0:14:30with the prayers of the devout monks.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34But the fact that this parish building was erected
0:14:34 > 0:14:38shows that from now on, the Church and its bells would take on
0:14:38 > 0:14:40a far more central role.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46A surge in individual spirituality
0:14:46 > 0:14:50saw ordinary people praying for their own salvation.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54And it was the chiming bell which summoned them to church.
0:14:57 > 0:15:02Once there, other bells played a key role in the service.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Church bells in the Middle Ages were sacred objects.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11So much so, that they underwent a ceremony not unlike baptism.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Not at the font but usually at the base of the belfry.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19They were first washed in holy water in which salts had been dissolved
0:15:19 > 0:15:22to exorcise the devil. They were anointed with oil.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26The bells were put on a tripod and incense was lit underneath them
0:15:26 > 0:15:29to fill their mouths with sweet-smelling smoke.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33And finally, they were given a name, just like a person, before
0:15:33 > 0:15:38they were winched up into the tower to watch over the village below.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44Often, individual bells were named after individual saints.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47And the idea was that each chime of the bell was a request
0:15:47 > 0:15:49to that saint to pray for the village.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58One of the most important bells in the church was the Sanctus bell.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Sanctus from "Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus",
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Latin for "holy, holy, holy",
0:16:03 > 0:16:06which was sounded in greeting at the moment
0:16:06 > 0:16:09in the mass when the bread and the wine became the body
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and blood of Christ and Christ physically entered the church.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16And the bell told everyone, whether they were in the church
0:16:16 > 0:16:21or in the fields, to fall silent, to kneel or bow their heads,
0:16:21 > 0:16:25and at that moment, the entire community was bound together
0:16:25 > 0:16:29by the sound of the Sanctus bell.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32BELL CHIMES
0:16:35 > 0:16:42Fire ravaged this beautiful church in 1985, destroying ten bells.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46But incredibly, the Sanctus bell survived.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52And there she is. Golly, you're lovely.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Look at that.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01The smooth, elegant shape.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04You can immediately tell that it's a medieval bell
0:17:04 > 0:17:07because it's more Twiggy than Mae West -
0:17:07 > 0:17:12it's got this slender shape, rather than flaring out at the top.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14It's absolutely lovely.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Now, I've got a special privilege which is that this bell
0:17:18 > 0:17:23hasn't been lifted and hasn't been put in place where it can be rung
0:17:23 > 0:17:27since the fire in the church 25 years ago.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32And I'm going to ring the bell for the first time in 25 years.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41So let's see how you sound.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44BELL CHIMES
0:17:57 > 0:18:00That is the sound of the Middle Ages.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16'Bells sounded at baptism and death, the key moments of medieval life.'
0:18:17 > 0:18:20The death knell was particularly important
0:18:20 > 0:18:22and it's still powerful today.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26This is especially true in Royal Wootton Bassett,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28where the repatriation of fallen soldiers
0:18:28 > 0:18:33was marked by a tolling bell, rung by Roger Haydock.
0:18:43 > 0:18:49The initial reaction is silence. Hush falls over the crowd.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52BELL TOLLS
0:18:52 > 0:18:55The traffic is stopped.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59There is a big hush and the sound carries.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02More people hear it than they would normally,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05with the background noise of everyday life.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09I think the tolling bell has so much impact
0:19:09 > 0:19:12because it's going through that silence
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and reaching everybody.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19And it seems to me that it adds a whole extra layer
0:19:19 > 0:19:21to the solemnity of what happened here.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23I think it does too.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26I think the effect it had on the people of Wootton Bassett
0:19:26 > 0:19:29or whoever's here on the high street
0:19:29 > 0:19:30is probably very similar
0:19:30 > 0:19:34to the effect it's had on people over the centuries.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36That we've had the tolling of the bell as a,
0:19:36 > 0:19:41as a mark of respect for the people who have passed away.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43And there's something deep inside people
0:19:43 > 0:19:45that is responding to the sound.
0:19:45 > 0:19:46There must be something
0:19:46 > 0:19:49in the human psyche to keep it going that long,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52because it isn't just tradition, there is something people feel.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56And maybe it is the sombreness of it that helps people remain silent.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58BELL TOLLS
0:19:58 > 0:20:00'As John Donne wrote,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04'"Never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
0:20:04 > 0:20:06'"It tolls for thee."'
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Whether accompanying someone's final journey,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17starting their working day or providing chimes for city clocks,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19every aspect, religious and secular,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23of medieval life was governed by bells.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27They regulated lives as much as the sun and the moon,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30which meant plenty of work for bell makers.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Remarkably, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
0:20:35 > 0:20:38has been making bells for over 440 years.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42It's the oldest manufacturing facility in Britain.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46It looks more like a Dickensian shop front.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53Inside, it's a different, magical world, little changed in centuries.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Workers here still craft bells in much the same way
0:20:57 > 0:21:00as Dunstan did, back in the 10th century.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- Hello, I'm Richard. - Hello, Richard. Hi there.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Andy, tell me. How do you make a bell?
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Well, as you can see, we use these...
0:21:08 > 0:21:11'Andy Smith is going to take me through the start of this
0:21:11 > 0:21:13'ancient process, creating a bell mould
0:21:13 > 0:21:16'using a device called a strickle.'
0:21:16 > 0:21:20We use these moulding gauges, or strickles, as they're called.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- I've got one here. - Oh, OK.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26- So this is the line of the inside of the bell.- That's correct.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28And that's the line of the outside of the bell.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30This is the space where the metal goes.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32That is the shape of the bell
0:21:32 > 0:21:34and that is the thickness it will be on this one.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38It's quite thick up there and it becomes thinner
0:21:38 > 0:21:40and it becomes thicker down the bottom again.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42So that's the thickness of the bell.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46And what are you using to make the, to make the mould?
0:21:46 > 0:21:47Ah, we're using loam.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52We used sand, we use clay, we use horse manure.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55- Horse manure? - Yes. And we use goat's hair.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59- Goat's hair and horse manure. - That's an old tried and tested...
0:21:59 > 0:22:01On all bells? That's what they use?
0:22:01 > 0:22:03- Yes, we use this to make the loam. - Fantastic!
0:22:06 > 0:22:10So this is goat's hair. It's quite fine.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12It's quite nice, actually.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Yes, it is. And last but not least, manure.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18I don't think you want to put your hand in that. There we go.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21- It's pretty dry, actually. - You're very brave for touching that.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24There we go. And we mix all this together.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Then we put it in our milling machine
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and it mills it up to a fine paste and then it's ready for moulding.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- And what does the end product look like?- I'll show you.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35This is the product.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Quite dirty and it's very sticky, because you can...
0:22:39 > 0:22:42- Oh, OK. - Yes. So that is good for...
0:22:42 > 0:22:45- Can I have a go? - You can, yeah.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Oh well, there you go. That's why I'm not a bell founder.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51'The mould formed by the outside of the strickle
0:22:51 > 0:22:54'is baked hard inside these metal cases
0:22:54 > 0:22:59'and then the inner mould, also baked, is placed inside.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02'The two moulds are clamped tightly together
0:23:02 > 0:23:06'and the bell metal is poured into the space between.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11'The bell metal is made up of 77% copper and 23% tin,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15'more or less the same ratio that it's been for 1,000 years.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21'The metals melt at an incredible 1,170 degrees Celsius,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24'nearly the temperature of lava.'
0:23:46 > 0:23:48This is intense.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53The concentration of the men doing the foundering is absolute.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59It's dangerous, molten metal pouring into these moulds.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03How they did this in the Middle Ages, God only knows.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07'It will take three days for this golden liquid to cool and solidify,
0:24:07 > 0:24:12'and then the cases will the opened to release their newborn bells.'
0:24:15 > 0:24:19In the Middle Ages, bells weren't made in city foundries like this.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Itinerant bell makers travelled the country,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26set up their furnaces and cast the bell on the spot in the churchyard.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28It was a huge local event.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32People would throw in their copper and tin to make the village bell,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35which led to a really neat con.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39When a bell makes a nice sound, it is said to be silvery.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And so the bell makers would tell the lady of the manor
0:24:43 > 0:24:45that they needed silver to put in the mix.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Total moonshine! Silver doesn't help the sound.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52The silver would go in the back pocket and tin would go in the mix.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55In the early 16th century,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57bell founders travelled the country,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00crafting bells to chime out the daily hours,
0:25:00 > 0:25:06summon people to civic events or mass and call monks to prayer.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09They built their furnaces at the base of the bell tower,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12or just beside the church,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15and then cast and cooled the bells in pits.'
0:25:15 > 0:25:19When Henry VIII came to the throne in 1509,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21England boasted thousands of churches
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and probably more than 500 religious houses,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27of which this one, Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29is a spectacular example.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Most of the churches and religious houses
0:25:32 > 0:25:34would have regularly rung their own bells,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37and so wherever you went in the country,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40you'd have heard the sound of their music.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Golly!
0:25:57 > 0:26:00Fountains really is amazing.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02They have these great columns here,
0:26:02 > 0:26:07still standing, and those arches, from hundreds of years ago.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11And it's spaces within spaces within spaces.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14You feel like you can hear the sound of the monks
0:26:14 > 0:26:16and the chiming of the bells.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20CHANTING AND CHIMING
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Golly!
0:26:29 > 0:26:31It's like God's doorway.
0:26:33 > 0:26:40The bell tower at Fountains is one of the last parts of the Abbey to be completed.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42It is magnificent.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45It pushes 167 ft into the air.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51And it's striking that as a landmark for the Abbey
0:26:51 > 0:26:55and of all the means at their disposal for worshipping God,
0:26:55 > 0:27:00the monks chose to give greatest prominence to their bells.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12'The tower housed 10 bells, hung high in the belfry.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14'Time has destroyed the evidence,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16'but experts believe
0:27:16 > 0:27:20'that they were still being rung by the traditional lever and rope.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25'By now, bells was synonymous, internationally, with Christianity,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29'and England, the home of bells and monks,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32'seemed a devoutly Catholic land.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'But change was afoot.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37'King Henry VIII wanted a male heir
0:27:37 > 0:27:41'and fell for a younger woman in Anne Boleyn.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44'So, against the wishes of the Catholic Church,
0:27:44 > 0:27:48'he got rid of his first wife and married Boleyn.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50'The Pope wasn't best pleased
0:27:50 > 0:27:54'so Henry declared himself head of the Church in England.'
0:27:54 > 0:27:57MUSIC: "Personal Jesus" by Johnny Cash
0:27:57 > 0:28:01In 1534, when Henry became head of the Church,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03the royal finances were in a sorry state.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06In the wealthy monasteries and abbeys,
0:28:06 > 0:28:09the King saw a chance to get his hands on some money.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12So he dissolved all the religious houses in the country
0:28:12 > 0:28:16and appropriated their property to himself.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18A good day for the royal coffers,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22not so good for hundreds of monastic bells.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26'The nation's great monasteries were stripped bare,
0:28:26 > 0:28:28'the monks' prayers and their bells, silenced.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32'Archaeologist Mark Newman
0:28:32 > 0:28:37'is an expert on how the dissolution affected Fountains Abbey.'
0:28:37 > 0:28:41When you heard the sound of the bells outside the monastery,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44you would know that the monks were also praying for you,
0:28:44 > 0:28:45your soul and your salvation,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and suddenly you don't hear the sound of the bells any more.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Yes, that's really shocking.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53The idea that Henry's prayers will suffice
0:28:53 > 0:28:58in place of all of these monasteries was, you know, quite a leap of faith,
0:28:58 > 0:29:01literally, for contemporary communities to grapple with.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03So your soul was meant to simply be protected
0:29:03 > 0:29:04by the prayers of the King?
0:29:04 > 0:29:06I'm afraid so.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Here you have these wonderful institutions,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14factories for prayer, doing their very best for you and the world
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and they are substituted by the King saying his prayers
0:29:17 > 0:29:19as head of the Church of England.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22- A pretty poor substitute, I'd have thought.- Not the best.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Henry VIII praying for my soul would not be something
0:29:24 > 0:29:26I'd feel a great deal of comfort in!
0:29:26 > 0:29:31- Not a great substitute for 100 monks or so.- Yes. Quite, quite.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35'In 1540, Henry sold Fountains to a wealthy noble,
0:29:35 > 0:29:37'Sir Richard Gresham.'
0:29:37 > 0:29:40So what happened to Fountain's bells?
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Well, they are part of the assets that Gresham buys,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45along with the rest of the monastery, of course.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49We know that a number of them seem to end up in parish church towers
0:29:49 > 0:29:52and the tower at Ripon Minster.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57And the logic of it is he's either selling or giving bells locally
0:29:57 > 0:30:00to make them part of the religious life of the local communities.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03So the churches were getting some advantage
0:30:03 > 0:30:06from the dissolution by taking on a lot of their bells?
0:30:06 > 0:30:09People didn't like what the dissolution brought,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12the change to the new religion.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Whereas if their parish church benefits
0:30:14 > 0:30:16from receiving one of the bells,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19maybe there's some small compensation for the other changes taking place.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23So the bells actually could have smoothed the way
0:30:23 > 0:30:26for Henry taking over the English Church?
0:30:26 > 0:30:29There's certainly that aspect of bribery
0:30:29 > 0:30:31that you've had some direct gain.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34And also a feeling of involvement
0:30:34 > 0:30:38in the processes of change that had been sweeping the country.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43'The dissolution may have destroyed the monasteries,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46'but it opened up a new future for bells.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50'Indeed, it was the first step towards modern bell ringing.'
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Local churches ended up with more bells in their towers,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58which meant more young men had a chance to ring them
0:30:58 > 0:31:00on the new-style half wheels.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Because it took a lot of muscle to swing the heavy bell,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08there was no shortage of volunteers wanting this opportunity
0:31:08 > 0:31:10to display their strength...
0:31:10 > 0:31:13and no shortage of people outside
0:31:13 > 0:31:17to appreciate the man who rang the loudest.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23I have come to St Magnus' church in London to meet ringing expert
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Dickon Love and find out what it was like to ring bells
0:31:26 > 0:31:29in the 16th century.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32How hard could it be?
0:31:32 > 0:31:37OK. Do you actually want to see what it might have felt like? There we go.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41I have never actually done this before. This is my very first time.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43Really? Well, first time for everything.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45Hold your hand on that, I've coiled it for you.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Just start giving it a pull.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52Oh!
0:31:58 > 0:32:01It's...ooh, hold on!
0:32:04 > 0:32:06I'm sure I've heard this before...
0:32:09 > 0:32:12This thing is whipping around like a...
0:32:12 > 0:32:14crikey!
0:32:16 > 0:32:20- That's good! You see, the bell is... - You're just being nice!
0:32:20 > 0:32:24But the bell is, kind of, ringing itself in a way.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27- It's deciding when it's going to ring.- It is, isn't it?
0:32:27 > 0:32:31And that's exactly how it would have happened in the 16th century.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36'So in the 16th century,
0:32:36 > 0:32:38'if my efforts are anything to go by,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41'bells were impossible to control.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43'But by the mid 17th-century,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45'that had changed
0:32:45 > 0:32:49'and it's all down to the clever use of a rope and wheel.'
0:32:49 > 0:32:51So tell me how this does work.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55Well, let's use this model of a bell as it is hung these days.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59You'll see, in particular, it has a round wheel,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02and a rope that comes out to one side of it.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04And when a bell is rung,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08it starts by swinging higher and higher,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11with the clapper hitting both sides,
0:33:11 > 0:33:16until such point that if you really start pulling higher and higher,
0:33:16 > 0:33:18it will...
0:33:18 > 0:33:21actually get to that up position
0:33:21 > 0:33:25and that's known as a bell being up. And you see it stops,
0:33:25 > 0:33:26it is held there.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29The reason it's held there, if I just turn it round,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33you will see that there's a piece of wood
0:33:33 > 0:33:37that sticks out at the top of the headstock,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40which engages with the horizontal piece of wood
0:33:40 > 0:33:43and it engages on one side to allow
0:33:43 > 0:33:45the ringer to then turn it,
0:33:45 > 0:33:47360 degrees...
0:33:48 > 0:33:51round to the other side.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54- And it stops.- They can hold there for as long as they want?
0:33:54 > 0:33:59Yes. And that is the control that enables change ringing.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03- And you don't need to be so beefy and brawny to do it?- No.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06- It's a question of balance.- It is. - But that's beautiful.
0:34:06 > 0:34:07It's, balance and control,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10which is a bit more than the olden days,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14when it was just brawn and brawn.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16So this meant that
0:34:16 > 0:34:19if you've got 12 bells, as you do here,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22one of the 12 can stop.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25You've got an order of 12, someone can stop
0:34:25 > 0:34:28and move their chime
0:34:28 > 0:34:30to a different place in the order.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Yes, that's exactly what they do.
0:34:33 > 0:34:34They don't move by much,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38they'll only move the distance of one bell away,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41so you won't find somebody ringing at one point
0:34:41 > 0:34:44and then ringing five bells later.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47They will always only move by one point.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50It's a slow, subtle, way of ringing.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55Bells ring naturally from lightest to heaviest.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58The wheel let ringers control the bell's pace
0:34:58 > 0:35:01and change the order in which they rang.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04This skill became known as change ringing.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08The first change ringing rules were published in 1668
0:35:08 > 0:35:11and they're still followed today.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16Ringers can change position by one place in each sequence,
0:35:16 > 0:35:19achieved by balancing their bell.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Each change must create an unique new arrangement,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26so you can't have 1,2,3,4, twice.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31This transforms the ringing into mathematical permutations.
0:35:32 > 0:35:33On six bells,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37there are a maximum of 720 permutations,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40which would take about half an hour,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43but on eight, you're looking at about 22 hours
0:35:43 > 0:35:47to get through the 40,000 or so changes,
0:35:47 > 0:35:48and on 12,
0:35:48 > 0:35:50try 30 years!
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Most bellringers can't spare 30 years,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03so they strive to master shorter patterns, called methods,
0:36:03 > 0:36:06and although the bells still sound for church services,
0:36:06 > 0:36:08from the start,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11change ringing was considered a sport.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16Change ringing is a complex team effort.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19It's not just yanking on a rope to make the biggest racket
0:36:19 > 0:36:22you can, you're following a pattern, using your physical
0:36:22 > 0:36:27and mental agility to ring your bell at precisely the right moment,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30so that it flows through with your crew.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35The mathematics of change ringing
0:36:35 > 0:36:38might, on its face, seem to rob it of some of its joy,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41but it's really no different to a sport like rowing.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45It's the precision of the stroke that makes the difference between
0:36:45 > 0:36:48a bad boat and a good boat, and between a bad peal and a good peal.
0:36:48 > 0:36:53Since each bell has its own complex set of internal notes,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56like a chord, the shifting of those chords
0:36:56 > 0:36:59constantly engages the ear,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01as well as the mind.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07The 17th century craze for ringing
0:37:07 > 0:37:09spread across England's major cities,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12although not those of Scotland, Ireland, or Wales.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Indeed, around 95% of today's bellringers
0:37:15 > 0:37:18are still based in England.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21With its high number of churches, London was at the heart
0:37:21 > 0:37:23of this new ringing mania,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26with one important group pushing it forward.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29The gentry started ringing bells too.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32They regarded it as a sport, on a par with hunting or hawking,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35and with all classes of society now ringing,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39London was alive to the sound of the bells.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43London's 17th and 18th century ringers
0:37:43 > 0:37:46guilded themselves into sporting societies,
0:37:46 > 0:37:51practising their strenuous exercise in churches.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55The earliest one is the Ancient Society of College Youths,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58which formed in 1637 and still meets today.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Originally, you had to be a well-placed gentleman to join.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08Now, you just need to be an expert in the art of the bell ringing.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14It was the Ancient Society of Youths, these people here,
0:38:14 > 0:38:18way back when, who turned bellringing away from being
0:38:18 > 0:38:21a purely religious activity.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25It became something social, it became the exercise.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29And the team that plays together, stays together.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31For centuries, after they had rung the rounds,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34ringers have headed to the pub and bought them!
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Sweaty ringers and beer could be a hairy combination
0:38:37 > 0:38:40in the 18th and 19th centuries.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42People turning up drunk was a real problem?
0:38:42 > 0:38:44In the 18th century,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47when ringers were a law unto themselves,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51they'd have barrels of beer or cider in the tower to drink,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54they were just locked the door behind them, get up there
0:38:54 > 0:38:58and drink, and the vicar would have very little to do with it.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Where would they go to the loo?
0:39:00 > 0:39:02I dread to think!
0:39:02 > 0:39:05Oh...God, yes! So do I!
0:39:05 > 0:39:07That's why you've a sign saying,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10- "No urination on the church bell"! - I expect so.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12The bellringers would be going out the...
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Oh dear! They're kind of...hooligans!
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Ecclesiastical hooligans!
0:39:18 > 0:39:22There are stories of vicars being locked out of their own towers
0:39:22 > 0:39:25by the ringers, so they could ring to their heart's content.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29- They'd lock out the vicar? - Yes indeed!
0:39:29 > 0:39:33We've got the opposite as well, where vicars would lock the ringers out.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36There's a story in Leicestershire, where a church warden
0:39:36 > 0:39:39barricaded the door to stop the ringers getting in,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42because they want to ring for a local hunt meeting.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44The ringers broke the door down and rang anyway,
0:39:44 > 0:39:46were arrested and thrown in jail.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49They wouldn't pay the fine, so they stayed in jail for a month.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51A month?
0:39:51 > 0:39:53A month, until the vicar came and paid the fine
0:39:53 > 0:39:54to get them all out.
0:39:54 > 0:39:55I should think so, too!
0:39:55 > 0:39:58- He must have been embarrassed by that!- I expect so.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02I suppose by that point he wanted his bells rung again!
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Ringers versus clergy! The face-off!
0:40:10 > 0:40:13The church belfry was increasingly becoming
0:40:13 > 0:40:16the place were ringers went to get their exercise.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19That's where the belts were, so that's where they went,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22like going to the gym to use the equipment.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25There's no finer example of the separation of religion
0:40:25 > 0:40:27from bellringing, than here in Kent
0:40:27 > 0:40:29at Quex Park.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41When John Powell-Powell
0:40:41 > 0:40:45unexpectedly inherited a fortune in 1813,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47he decided to enjoy himself.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50He built the house he'd always dreamed of,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52and he indulged his hobbies,
0:40:52 > 0:40:54yachting, collecting cannon,
0:40:54 > 0:40:56but most of all, it seems,
0:40:56 > 0:40:58he loved bellringing.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01And so he fulfilled every ringer's dream,
0:41:01 > 0:41:03to build your own bell tower.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09You can't ring alone,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13and John Powell-Powell's purse bought the answer to that too.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17He had his staff trained to ring alongside him.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22This ready-made band practised their sport far from any church,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24in this unique building,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27which Powell-Powell named Waterloo Tower.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34HE CHUCKLES
0:41:36 > 0:41:37Now that's just silly.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43It's like the Eiffel Tower
0:41:43 > 0:41:48has been dropped on a mediaeval battlement made out of red brick
0:41:48 > 0:41:51in the middle of the English countryside.
0:41:51 > 0:41:52I also quite like the way
0:41:52 > 0:41:55it looks a bit like the RKO tower on those old newsreels,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59as if it's beaming out its sound to the countryside all around.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01But...
0:42:02 > 0:42:04Really, it's bizarre.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09'Hazel Basford is archivist at Quex Park,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12'and a keen bellringer too.'
0:42:12 > 0:42:14This is the tower that John Powell-Powell built.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18- This is the Waterloo Tower.- What's it like for you, ringing here?
0:42:18 > 0:42:21It's always been magical.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24It really is the most intriguing place to come and ring.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28There is nowhere else in the country for ringers to come that's like this.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31In winter, you walk across a field in the dark.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34There might be cattle, so you have to dodge the cow pats.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36And then when we arrive here,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39there's no electricity, there's no heating,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41so we ring by a light suspended from the middle,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44from the ceiling in the middle of the ringing room.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47And it's a bit chilly on occasions as well.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Hmm. And what does it feel like down here?
0:42:49 > 0:42:52I've got very used to it.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55Some people think it's haunted and a little bit spooky,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58but I've never had that problem.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01I've always felt that it's quite a friendly place,
0:43:01 > 0:43:03and John Powell-Powell is around somewhere
0:43:03 > 0:43:06and approving that we're still ringing his bells.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09- Well, I think I like John Powell-Powell.- Good.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11I'm glad you do. I like him too.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15Look to, treble's going, she's gone.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19BELLS RING
0:43:30 > 0:43:35From up here, all you can see is fields and trees.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37There's no-one around to hear the bells ring,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39but that's the point.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41They're not here to be heard.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44They're here for the pure pleasure of ringing.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48RINGING CONTINUES
0:44:02 > 0:44:04By the mid-19th century,
0:44:04 > 0:44:08churches had long lost their monopoly on bells.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Bells had become symbols of civic power,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14from the chimes of city halls
0:44:14 > 0:44:17to the ringing of town criers, so it was fitting
0:44:17 > 0:44:21that the heart of government should house Britain's most famous bell,
0:44:21 > 0:44:22Big Ben.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Westminster has had a chiming clock since the 1300s,
0:44:29 > 0:44:33and when the palace was rebuilt in the 19th century,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37this new clock bell became a symbol of Parliament.
0:44:40 > 0:44:45Big Ben weighs more than 13 and a half tonnes.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48It's hard enough hauling myself up here.
0:44:48 > 0:44:54It took teams of men 30 hours winching it up by hand
0:44:54 > 0:44:57before it finally settled into the belfry.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59HE PANTS
0:45:07 > 0:45:09HE CHUCKLES
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Oh, that's so cool.
0:45:12 > 0:45:17I'm behind the clock face of Big Ben. Amazing.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22It's beautiful.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27And it's just flooded with light. Look at all the light bulbs.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31That's how they light it up. They're gigantic.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37I feel like I want to turn all the light bulbs on
0:45:37 > 0:45:41then start casting shapes down for people below.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43The great bell of Westminster
0:45:43 > 0:45:48rang out for the first time on 11th July 1859.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Things didn't go that smoothly for Big Ben.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56After just a few months, the bell started to crack.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59It fell silent and they had to ring the chimes out
0:45:59 > 0:46:03from this larger of the four bells here.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05It took a while for them to find the solution.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08They turned the bell around, put in a smaller hammer
0:46:08 > 0:46:11and they had to cut a small piece out of the bell
0:46:11 > 0:46:14to stop the crack running any higher.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17You can see the bit that they cut out just down there.
0:46:17 > 0:46:22And that's why Big Ben doesn't ring true and clear.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25It's slightly discordant, like hitting on a dustbin lid.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28And it's slightly flat.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35It takes five bells to ring the famous Westminster chimes,
0:46:35 > 0:46:41although they were originally composed for a church in Cambridge.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43BELLS CHIME THE HOUR
0:47:02 > 0:47:04BONG!
0:47:07 > 0:47:09BONG!
0:47:10 > 0:47:13BONG!
0:47:15 > 0:47:17BONG!
0:47:19 > 0:47:22BONG!
0:47:22 > 0:47:28Big Ben's bongs sound out at a massive 118 decibels.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31That's a loud as a jet plane taking off.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33Or sticking your head in the speakers at a rock concert.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37BONG!
0:47:39 > 0:47:41BONG!
0:47:52 > 0:47:54Fantastic!
0:48:01 > 0:48:04That's an incredible feeling.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08You can feel the vibration in the pit of your stomach.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12And it's such a thumping great piece of Victorian engineering.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14You really see it here.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19Just this big clump of metal that's thwacking the side of the bell.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26I feel like I'm listening to every New Year's Eve party
0:48:26 > 0:48:28that I've ever been to.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32'The reason why these chimes are so well known worldwide
0:48:32 > 0:48:34'lies upstairs from Big Ben.'
0:48:36 > 0:48:39These are the slightly grubby microphones
0:48:39 > 0:48:44that the BBC World Service uses to broadcast the sound of Big Ben
0:48:44 > 0:48:48to the world, live, every day at midnight and six.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51The first broadcast was in 1923
0:48:51 > 0:48:55and they used to broadcast them more often than twice a day.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57The story goes that a sound engineer one day
0:48:57 > 0:49:00forgot that the microphones were on.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03And what the world heard was language
0:49:03 > 0:49:07not quite suitable for the World Service.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10So, from that moment on, they trimmed it back.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14By the end of Queen Victoria's reign,
0:49:14 > 0:49:16England was alive with bells,
0:49:16 > 0:49:20perhaps more than at any other time in her history.
0:49:20 > 0:49:25Tower bells and hand bells rang out in pleasure across hill and dale.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31They called people to work, schools and meetings.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34And bells still called Christians to worship.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37But World War I brought a more sombre sound...
0:49:37 > 0:49:41the widespread tolling of the death knell.
0:49:43 > 0:49:44Here in Loughborough,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47the town erected a very special memorial to its dead.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51Inside this tower is a grand musical instrument -
0:49:51 > 0:49:53the Loughborough Carillon.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56It's based on instruments from Flanders,
0:49:56 > 0:50:00where so many of the town's 478 dead had fallen.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10Carillons hold at least 23 tuned bronze bells,
0:50:10 > 0:50:13making them the world's heaviest musical instrument.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16Unlike church bells, the bells remain stationary.
0:50:16 > 0:50:21Only the clappers move, and these are operated manually.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26The Loughborough carillon is the result of a great
0:50:26 > 0:50:29pulling together of the town to commemorate its fallen.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Most of the £19,000 that it cost was collected in pennies
0:50:33 > 0:50:38in classrooms and factories, but the largest and saddest donation
0:50:38 > 0:50:42was £2,000 from John Taylor, owner of the Loughborough bell foundry,
0:50:42 > 0:50:45who dedicated the largest bell
0:50:45 > 0:50:47to the memory of his three sons,
0:50:47 > 0:50:49all of them fallen in battle.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53- Hello, I'm Richard.- Hello, Caroline.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57- HE LAUGHS:- Caroline, you're not quite what I was expecting!
0:50:57 > 0:50:59It's funny you should say that. A lot of people say that.
0:50:59 > 0:51:00In fact, people come up here
0:51:00 > 0:51:03and don't expect to see a person here at all.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06- They think that it's all automatic. - Oh, fully mechanised.- Yes.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09- I can see that. Well, it clearly isn't.- No.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13How does it work? This is how you operate it - how's this working?
0:51:13 > 0:51:17Right, these keys - or batons, as they're called -
0:51:17 > 0:51:19you depress them with your clenched fist.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21They come down, they pull the wire,
0:51:21 > 0:51:26which is attached to the clapper in the bell in the bell chamber.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28OK, so you're not turning the bell?
0:51:28 > 0:51:30Nope, the bells are static.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33- Right, clapper gets pulled - yank, bang.- Yes.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36- And there's how many of them 40... - 47.- 47.
0:51:36 > 0:51:41I'm not a musician, but is there anything which a complete duffer...
0:51:41 > 0:51:43- Of course. - Chopsticks, for example.
0:51:43 > 0:51:44Come and sit down.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56- Right...- OK.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02All I need you to do is to make a fist...
0:52:02 > 0:52:03BELL CHIMES
0:52:03 > 0:52:04..and press that.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07- And press that one? - Yep.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09Right and let's do it quite slowly,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12rhythmically...dah...dah...and just keep doing it.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20BELLS CHIME: "The Skye Boat Song"
0:52:36 > 0:52:37Fantastic!
0:52:37 > 0:52:39I just played the carillon!
0:52:39 > 0:52:40You're a carillonneur!
0:52:40 > 0:52:44A carillonneur! I don't think I'll take that title very easily.
0:52:44 > 0:52:45Thank you, that was terrific.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49The Loughborough carillon was
0:52:49 > 0:52:52and still is a source of huge civic pride.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56Its great height meant that in the days before amplification,
0:52:56 > 0:53:00the music could be heard far and wide and as time passed,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03it became a site for free concerts,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06rather than a focus for grief.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09BELLS CHIME "EASTENDERS" THEME
0:53:15 > 0:53:18The peace lasted barely 20 years.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21World War Two erupted in 1939
0:53:21 > 0:53:23and by early June 1940,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27most of mainland Europe was under Nazi control.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29The German invasion of Britain seemed inevitable.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36When you think of the early years of the Second World War,
0:53:36 > 0:53:40you tend to think of frenzied activity, of planes flying
0:53:40 > 0:53:43and bombs dropping and sirens wailing...
0:53:43 > 0:53:48but what you don't tend to think about is silence.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52But that's exactly what happened to Britain's bells.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56On 13th June 1940, the Government issued
0:53:56 > 0:53:58the Control of Noise Defence Order -
0:53:58 > 0:54:04an immediate and total ban on the ringing of church bells.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07Bells were to be rung on one occasion only -
0:54:07 > 0:54:10in the event of a German invasion.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13This silence was devastating.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17As one newspaper reported, for the first time in over 1,000 years,
0:54:17 > 0:54:21not a single church bell was heard anywhere in the land.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25I was only 12 when bans were put in
0:54:25 > 0:54:27and I did miss the sound of the bells.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31Peter and Gill Staniforth remember the silence clearly.
0:54:33 > 0:54:39The idea of the silence descending on a Sunday...sounds horrible.
0:54:39 > 0:54:40Yes, it was.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45It was the same as the school bells at that time.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49We had a lovely bell, on a wheel, properly hung
0:54:49 > 0:54:53and that of course also was silenced.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55The nation was hushed, waiting for the invasion.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00On the 17 September 1940, the British military chiefs issued
0:55:00 > 0:55:04the code to get ready - Cromwell.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Codeword Cromwell meant that there was an imminent risk of invasion
0:55:08 > 0:55:12but some in the home guard made a mistake and began ringing
0:55:12 > 0:55:16the church bells which meant that the invasion had actually started.
0:55:16 > 0:55:21In the few towns where this happened, the effect was immediate.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Some people responded by destroying equipment,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28disabling cars and the like, and it took a little bit of time
0:55:28 > 0:55:31for people to work out that they'd made a mistake.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35The bells remained silent for two long years
0:55:35 > 0:55:39until a great Allied victory in North Africa in November 1942.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44The victory at El Alamein was the major turning point in the war
0:55:44 > 0:55:48and Churchill wanted to celebrate in style.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51He ordered that all the church bells in England
0:55:51 > 0:55:55which had been silent for two years should ring out.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57The people loved it.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04BELLS CHIME
0:56:04 > 0:56:09I think it was quite a cacophony of sound.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13But at least the villagers knew that we were ringing for a very,
0:56:13 > 0:56:15very special occasion.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19I suppose it was a bit of a thrill, really.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24By 1945, Britain and her bells were finally safe from the Nazis.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29During the war, all sorts of metals
0:56:29 > 0:56:33were melted down for use in armaments - railings, scrap,
0:56:33 > 0:56:39even people's teapots...but they never touched the bells.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42Contrast that with what happened on the continent
0:56:42 > 0:56:48because in Nazi-occupied Europe, almost 150,000 bells
0:56:48 > 0:56:52were melted down for the Nazi war effort.
0:56:52 > 0:56:57It's almost as if British bells were an untouchable symbol of hope.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Britain has changed a great deal since the end of the war.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09It seems a long time since only church spires commanded our skyline.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12Today offices, apartments and tower blocks
0:57:12 > 0:57:16all stretch upwards to join and dwarf them.
0:57:16 > 0:57:21We live in a 24/7 consumerist digital superhighway
0:57:21 > 0:57:24rolling-news world nowadays,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28so is the story of bells coming to an end?
0:57:28 > 0:57:29I don't think so.
0:57:32 > 0:57:3740,000 enthusiasts still ring regularly up and down the country
0:57:37 > 0:57:42and there's a drive to engage the next generation of ringers.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46At eight o'clock on the first morning of the Olympics,
0:57:46 > 0:57:48people of every faith and no faith
0:57:48 > 0:57:52will have gone out to churches, to schools, to town halls,
0:57:52 > 0:57:56and for three minutes they'll be ringing on the bells.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58It'll be a cacophony of sound,
0:57:58 > 0:58:02celebrating in the way we've always celebrated momentous events.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05Designed to unite and cover the entire country,
0:58:05 > 0:58:10we'll be welcoming the world with the sound of our bells.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13And is there really any sound more fitting?
0:58:19 > 0:58:22There something about the sound of bells that's lodged
0:58:22 > 0:58:24deep within the British soul.
0:58:24 > 0:58:25When you hear that sound -
0:58:25 > 0:58:30whether its a peal of joy, a sound of grief, a ring of alarm
0:58:30 > 0:58:33or just for fun - you know what it means
0:58:33 > 0:58:36and you know how to respond to it.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39It's the sound of our past, it's the sound of our present
0:58:39 > 0:58:42and it's the sound of our future too.
0:58:50 > 0:58:52WEDDING BELLS RING
0:59:03 > 0:59:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:07 > 0:59:10E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk