On Valentine’s Day 2020, church bells once again pealed across Bedfordshire. The freshly restored belfry at St Lawrence Church, Steppingley, ensured that villagers heard their chimes for the first time in three decades.
At my own church, we don’t have any bells. Part of me would love to install some. They remind me of summer weddings and playing cricket in my youth. But the cost (a mere £15,000 per bell) prevented me from raising it at our church budget meeting.
Centuries ago, however, nearly every church had a bell. For church bells were used to pass on critical information. Before watches, smart phones, and Google reminder apps, bells were primarily used to remind people that church was about to begin. They were also tolled on special occasions. Recently, for example, the bells of Westminster Abbey controversially rang out to celebrate Prince Andrew’s 60th birthday. Another death knell in his public popularity reverberated around the capital. Further back, when Britain was troubled by frequent invasion, church bells were often used to warn villages and towns of an approaching enemy. Accordingly, throughout the Middle Ages you didn’t hear church bells and think
Last Word: wisdom
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