Bell Ringing at Gloucester Cathedral, Glos

0:10 Test rounds and an excerpt from a quarter peal of Yorkshire Maximus
2:41 Bristol Major and downwards on the back 8
6:32 The front 4 lowering, showing the ringing room and ante chamber containing Great Peter
7:02 Great Peter, the three tonne medieval bourdon bell
The Cathedral at Gloucester is a magnificent building, rich in decoration and history. It has origins in the 7th century; the current building was begun in 1089, and started life as an Abbey (it became a Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Gloucester, in 1541). The nave is Norman, and the tower, rising to 225 feet (69m) high, dates from the 15th century. Gloucester Cathedral is the resting place of King Edward II, gruesomely murdered at nearby Berkeley Castle in 1327. The building was almost destroyed under Oliver Cromwell in the 1600s, and restored by Gilbert Scott in the late 19th century. In more recent times, the Cathedral has been well used for filming purposes, including Dr Who and Harry Potter.
In the bell ringing world, the city of Gloucester is best known for the Rudhall family of bellfounders, who cast over 5,000 bells in the city from 1684-1835. Ironically, only two Rudhall bells form part of the twelve change ringing bells in this tower (the tenor and eighth). The bells were a ten until 1978, when they were rehung, the front five recast, and two more added to make twelve, the work being done by Whitechapel. In 2007, the 11th bell cracked, and was welded.
The bells hang in a modern wooden frame, which doesn’t do them any good at all; they are not easy to ring accurately, and the “go” of some of the back bells (notably the 11th) is questionable for a relatively modern job. They sound pleasant enough, although the front ones are quite shrill and started to grate after a while, and acoustically the bells are not particularly good either. The 9th and 10th bells, dating from c1392, pre-date the present tower! The treble bell is also “listed” bell, as it has a facsimile of well-known bell historian Fred Sharpe inscribed on it.
The ringing chamber itself is a “box” within the tower, as can be seen at 6:32 (you can see the pipes the ropes travel up, from the ceiling of the ringing chamber to the bells themselves). In the ante chamber outside the ringing room sits Great Peter, the only surviving medieval bourdon bell in Britain, who was probably cast by the monks in the mid-1400s (possibly concurrent with the tower being built). He is swung (by motor) for services, weighs 59-3-14, and is “tuned” to C.
Tenor 23-3-14 in Eflat
www.ringing.dem...

[@deande-matteis3182]

Another lovely piece of ringing.

[@simonbellringer]

Thank you! Nice to have a bit of fanmail :-)

[@deande-matteis3182]

@@simonbellringer No thankyou for all the great ringing you post. I've followed your channel for years now. I used to follow you with my old account that I now no longer use. You'll find a comment from me a few years ago, when the young ringers competition was held in Oxford. Keep up the good ringing!

[@simonbellringer]

@@deande-matteis3182 I know the comment in question! Glad you enjoyed the videos, there's plenty more in the pipeline too, you'll be pleased to hear :-)

[@RingerPeter]

If great peter is next to the ringing room then it must be quite loud in the room. Unless its well sound insulated.

[@fredmills368]

Dont suspect its rung at the same time

[@jenlfpotter3870]

Not sure why I categorise bells either cold, warm or hot, but those bells are cold. This is probably because I have Synesthesia, where some or even, all of the senses you have use of, cross and the resulting clash can either be absolutely wonderful or absolutely horrible. In this case, even though I'm only hearing the bells, I'm feeling the pitch of the bells via my head and my ears when I wear a pair of decent headphones or listen through a decent speaker system.The higher the key, the colder they sound. They'd sound even better a semi tone or even a tone lower, but still, they are a very nice 10.

[@simonbellringer]

I kinda get where you're coming from - they're a bit shrill, they do go through you somewhat! They are pleasant enough, but a bit of "toning down" would make a lot of difference!

[@kubabryczynski6653]

But
8:06 Last One Tonight!

[@AshleyMonck]

They’re a 12

[@adamm2693]

I wonder why it's so hard to make a motor-rung bell strike correctly? Look at Great Paul too, they both strike very unevenly!

[@kubabryczynski6653]

7:38 Last One?

[@FrancescoBellringer]

Interesting ringing room lol 😂

[@BellringerBen]

They are only 23cwt?! Woah! That is the same weight as St Mary's in Calne! I thought Gloucester Cathedral was heavier than that!

[@michaelheintz8853]

I understand the principle of change ringing but still don't know how they do it.

[@kyletheringer]

When does great peter ring I just want to know so I can get a video of it ringing once

[@ringermikey]

It rings every hour

[@kyletheringer]

@@ringermikey that is chiming every hour I mean when it swings not at the hour

[@RingerThomas]

the front 4 sound very tingy

[@simonbellringer]

They are a bit shrill! I didn't mind them too much, but other band members found that the high-pitched trebles really grated on them after a while!

[@RingerThomas]

simonbellringer like st Martin in the fields you should of recorded them from the belfry

[@simonbellringer]

@@RingerThomas except we didn't have access to the Belfry here of at St Martin. St M are better than these. Much clearer inside and easier to ring!

[@RingerThomas]

@@simonbellringer the bells btw are where the circular windows are cause when i went there for the open day i was outside and i could see them

[@kyletheringersarcaderings7751]

When does great peter ring like swinging like at the end of the video

[@keepgoing1973]

Is there any team work to this or is everyone doing their own thing?