Peals and Quarter Peals

A peal is a change ringing method rung to 5000 or more changes.  At Ecclesfield the average time it takes to ring 5000 changes on all 8 bells is about 3 hours.  It is possible to ring a Peal on 6 instead of 8 bells and this has taken place sometimes.  On 6 bells the maximum number of changes possible is 720 so the extent of 720 must be rung 7 times to give 5040 changes.  On 7 bells the maximum number of changes possible is 5040, on 8 bells the maximum number of changes possible is 40,320

St Mary's from the Lych Gate       

The rules for a Peal include; no change must be repeated, each ringer must ring the same bell continuously all the way through, no help to be given to the ringers by anyone not ringing, no use of memory aids is permitted, it will start and end in rounds and not have stopped at any point.

The earliest record of a peal at Ecclesfield is one rung on 6 bells on 15th May 1843.

The second earliest recorded peal was rung on 8 bells on 28th May 1845.  The number of bells in the tower was increased from 6 to 8 in 1845 and this is probably the first peal on the bells we still ring today.

A carved stone tablet on the wall of the ringing chamber records a peal rung in 1850.  The Tenor weight shown is wrong, the tenor actually weighs 14.3.16.

The carved stone on the ringing chamber wall.

The total number of peals rung on the bells at Ecclesfield now stands at 87.  Most of these have been rung by members of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers (YACR).  The Ringers at St Mary's are members of the Sheffield Branch of the YACR.

Peals have been rung to celebrate the following events:

• Royal Occasions
• Celebrations
• Ringers first peal
• Visiting ringers on tour
• In memory of
• To celebrate the life of

Ringers also ring peals as a personal and team challenge to test their mental and physical powers by ringing methods to at least 5000 changes.  A peal cannot be counted if something happens that causes it to stop, go badly wrong, a change is repeated, or the ringers loose their place in the method.  Some other reasons for 'loosing' a peal are, illness, ropes breaking, faults with the bells, conducting faults, everyone goes wrong, the method is false and there are many others. Peals have occasionally  been lost through someone coming in to the tower, talking to and distracting the ringers.  For this reason, ringers will sometimes lock themselves into the tower for the duration of the peal attempt.

A comprehensive database of peals rung at Ecclesfield can be viewed by using this link to the Felstead Peal Database.

Recent Peals

The latest peal rung at Ecclesfield was successfully completed by members of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers on Saturday 17th November 2007.  In 2 hours and 56 minutes the team rang 5024 changes of Yorkshire Surprise Major.  For full details of this peal use this link.

Quarter Peals

As the name suggest a quarter peal must be at least 1250 changes.  Quarters are rung to mark special occasions or personal acheivements of ringers, for example a ringer could ring a quarter peal to qualify as a member of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers.  A quarter peal takes about 45 minutes to ring and we sometimes ring them before the Sunday service.

Quarter Peals have been rung for the following reasons:

• Remembrance Sunday
• Weddings
• Birthday Compliments
• In remembrance of people who have passed away
• Royal occasions
• Visits by a dignitary
• Dedication of parts of the Church
• New Vicars
• Ash Wednesday
• Palm Sunday
• Easter Sunday
• Epiphany
• Christmas services
• Evensong

Both peals and quarter peals are published in the weekly ringers magazine - 'The Ringing World'.  This is a national publication that has news about all things bell ringing.  It is taken by many ringers and a copy can be found in most towers.  The Ringing World lists the tower at which the peal or quarter or peal was rung, who rang the bells and the reason for doing it.  It is a way of recording your achievement for posterity.

We don't have to ring all 8 bells for a quarter peal.   6 bell quarter peals can be rung on either the front 6 bells (1 to 6) or the back 6 bells (3 to 8).  The front 6 bells are lighter and easier to ring but do not sound as good as the back 6, which are heavier and take longer to swing full circle.  As a result, back 6 quarters sometimes take a few more minutes to ring and always require more effort by the ringers.

Recent Quarter Peals

These are the quarter peals rung at St Mary's Ecclesfield since this web site was created:

Click on the date link to find full details of the quarter peal.

FS= Front Six.  BS= Back Six. VT= visiting Team.  LSSB= Local Sunday Service Band

We welcome any requests from visiting bands of ringers who want to ring peals or quarter peals at St Mary's.  Please contact us by e-mail at: ecclesfieldtower@hotmail.co.uk to make a booking.