Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers

03/04/2025

4 members of the Dove Team attended the 2025 DAC Bell Advisors' Conference in Leeds. It included a presentation concerning Dove and proposals for a review of bells listed for preservation.

10/02/2025

Did you know Dove's Guide records overhaul events where a ring of bells have been restored, recast, or augmented? Capturing this information helps describe the changes to a ring over time. If your tower is missing information on overhaul events please send them to [email protected]

02/01/2025

Here (below) are the changes that have been notified during the past three months

Rings of Four and Above
Marshchapel, Lincs: Now 6
Barton u Needwood, Staffs: 8 -> 10
Walsden, W Yorks: Now UR
Porthmadog, Wales: Deleted (bells removed into storage)

Rings of Three
Huntshaw, Devon: Re-listed 3
Chalton, Hants: No longer UR
Marshchapel, Lincs: Now 6
Cavenham, Suffolk: Newly listed UR 3
Osmotherley, N Yorks: Deleted (augmented to 4; rehung dead)

Churches notified as closed during the past three months:
Brighton, Kemp Town, E Sussex
Hightown, W Yorks

Projects notified as in progress during the past three months:

Bath Abbey, Som (Whites of Appleton)
General overhaul.

Braughing, Herts (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Corby, Northants (O'Shea Engineering)
Bells to be rehung with mainly new fittings in the existing frame.

Frampton, Dorset (John Taylor & Co)
Bells to be tuned and rehung with all new fittings in the existing, but strengthened, frame.

Great Comberton, Worcs (Whites of Appleton)
General overhaul.

Great Mitton, Lancs (John Taylor & Co)
Rope guide to be installed.

Greetham, Rutland (John Taylor & Co)
Bells to be rehung with the existing fittings in the existing, but rebuilt, frame.

Lichfield, S Mary, Staffs (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Upton upon Severn, Worcs (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Wheathampstead, Herts (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Worthing, W Sussex (O'Shea Engineering)
Headstocks for bells 4/8 and 5/8 to be replaced.

Projects notified as completed during the past three months:

Ardleigh, Essex (John Taylor & Co)
Two bells cast to augment the ring from eight to ten bells.

Barton u Needwood, Staffs (John Taylor & Co)
Ring augmented from eight to ten bells; bells tuned and re-hung with all new fittings in a new frame.

Bideford, Devon (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Bishop Auckland, Durham (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Croome D'Abitot, Worcs (Matthew Higby & Co)
Bells rehung with all new fittings in the existing frame.

Devizes, S John, Wilts (Whites of Appleton)
General overhaul.

Dymock, Glos (John Taylor & Co)
Bells rehung with mainly new fittings in the existing frame.

Gedney, Lincs (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Great Barrington, Glos (Whites of Appleton)
General overhaul.

Great Wymondley, Herts (Whites of Appleton)
Bell 5/6 replaced; bells tuned and rehung with all new fittings in the existing frame.

Hugglescote, Leics (John Taylor & Co)
Headstock for bell 2/8 replaced.

Huntshaw, Devon (John Taylor & Co)
Phase two: bells restored to a fully ringable condition.

Kings Langley, Herts (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Kirtlington, Oxon (Whites of Appleton)
Gudgeons on bell 5/8 replaced.

Lydney, Glos (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Manchester Cath, Gr Man (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Marshchapel, Lincs (Blyth & Co)
Ring augmented from three to six bells; bells tuned and re-hung with all new fittings in a new frame.

Melbourn, Cambs (Matthew Higby & Co)
Bells 1/8 and 2/8 rehung with all new fittings in the existing frame.

North Tamerton, Cornwall (John Taylor & Co)
Bells tuned and rehung with all new fittings in the existing frame.

Ombersley, Worcs (Whites of Appleton)
Bell 6/6 recast.

Osmotherley, N Yorks (Nicholson Engineering Ltd)
Ring augmented from three to four bells; bells re-hung dead in the existing frame.

Oundle, Northants (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Porthmadog, Wales (Blyth & Co)
Bells removed into storage.

Portishead, Som (Matthew Higby & Co)
Bell 6/8 replaced.

Powerstock, Dorset (John Taylor & Co)
Bells lightly tuned and rehung with all new fittings in the existing, but strengthened, frame.

Rickmansworth, Herts (Whites of Appleton)
Gudgeons on bell 10/10 replaced.

Scarborough, N Yorks (Blyth & Co)
General overhaul.

St Mawgan in Pydar, Cornwall (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Stillington, N Yorks (John Taylor & Co)
Bells rehung with all new fittings in the existing, but strengthened, frame.

Stottesdon, Shrops (John Taylor & Co)
Bell 1/4 rehung with mainly new fittings in its existing, but strengthened, pit.

Stratton St Margaret, Wilts (John Taylor & Co)
Bells tuned and rehung with mainly new fittings in the existing frame.

Tawstock, Devon (Nicholson Engineering Ltd)
General overhaul.

Teversal, Notts (John Taylor & Co)
General overhaul.

Tilton on the Hill, Leics (John Taylor & Co)
Bells rehung with the existing fittings in the existing frame, rebuilt lower in the tower.

Watlington, Oxon (Whites of Appleton)
Bell 5/8 welded; bells tuned and rehung with all new fittings in the existing, but strengthened, frame.

Worth Matravers, Dorset (Nicholson Engineering Ltd)
Bells rehung on new ball bearings.

29/12/2024

REVISION TO THE DATING OF UNDATED BELLS

Dove has improved the way it displays the date of a bell and we are asking contributors to be mindful of how to submit estimated dates. Where a bell is undated, Dove now gives the understood founder's period of activity. Therefore, when submitting an estimated date for a bell, please don't provide anything outside the given founder's period of activity, or at least specifically alert us if you believe the period needs correcting.

24/12/2024

Merry Christmas from all of us in the Dove's Guide team! 🔔🎄☃️❄️🎁🎉
Thank you to all our contributors this year.

08/12/2024

LIGHTWEIGHT FULL-CIRCLE RINGS

We are pleased to announce the inclusion of lightweight full-circle rings of bells in Dove, most of which are in private ownership. We are grateful to all those who have assisted in providing data, either directly or via the Mini Ring Directory. We have chosen a definition for this category of ring based on weight alone (hence our decision to refer to lightweight rings rather than mini rings). For rings of 3 to 8, lightweight rings have a tenor of 1 cwt or less. For rings of 10 this rises to 2 cwt and for rings of 12, to 3 cwt. To safeguard the privacy of private residences, we do not give the map co-ordinates for the location of these rings.

01/12/2024

We are pleased to welcome Ryan Faulkner-Hatt to the Dove Team. Ryan is a young ringer from Prittlewell in Essex and for some years a member of the Essex Young Eagles team in the Ringing World National Youth Contest. He has a particular interest in engineering and bell history and has been a regular contributor to Dove. He has joined the team to work on a new project, more of which will be announced in due course.

07/09/2024

Four members of the Dove Team at today's annual meeting of the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers in Exeter: Neal Dodge, Dickon Love, Richard Smith and Tim Pett.

14/08/2024

Another great project facilitated by the Keltek Trust.

Subject to fund-raising the ring of eight bells from the closed church of St John, Porthmadog is to be transferred to St Mary, Betws-y-Coed. The Keltek Trust is financing the removal and we are pleased the ring is to remain in the same geographic area.

08/08/2024

Did you know we list when bells have individual names? This can be viewed by hovering your cursor over the dotted line under the bell number on the entry page. If your tower has bells with names that we don't currently have listed please email us, along with any other changes to [email protected]

07/07/2024

GREAT BELLS OF THE BRITISH ISLES
We are pleased to announce an addition to the scope of the towers listed in Dove. Readers of the printed version will be familiar with the list of "Notable Bells of the British Isles" in the appendices, specifically all those over 40 cwt. The towers that hold these bells have now been incorporated into the web version and can be found here: https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/bells?geo_region=1&bell_weight=40&bell_weight_cmp=%3E%3D&pagesize=200&order=weight&order_dir=desc . There are currently 150 bells given in this list, headed up by the Olympic Bell in Queen Elizabeth Park, Stratford at almost 451 cwt. From this list, readers will also be able to see what other bells accompany these significant bourdons, such as quarter bells in clock chimes, or lighter bells in diatonic chimes, or whether the bells are simply hanging alone.

05/07/2024

Subject to faculty and fund-raising it is hoped to improve and augment the ring of eight bells at Bingham, Nottinghamshire. We are donating four bells to replace the poor sounding17th & 18th Century tenor bells.