Ringing Great Peter at York Minster

Описание: A big tick off my "want" list! Swinging Great Peter on Sunday, 8th June 2025, for Pentecost.

Hanging in the North-West tower of York Minster sits the magnificent bourdon bell, Great Peter (so named for the Minster's dedication to St Peter). Weighing 216-2-22 (just shy of 11 tonnes), he is tuned to E-flat (to be in perfect harmony with the twelve ringing bells in the South West tower). Great Peter was recast in 1927 by Taylors of Loughborough to mark the 1,300th anniversary of York Minster's founding. The appeal for this work was led by Canon Nolloth, who had spearheaded the recasting of the ring of twelve just two years prior. The bell has a diameter of 2.64m!

The original Great Peter weighed 200-0-14 (ten tonnes), and was tuned to F. He was cast on 18th January 1845 by Charles & George Mears of Whitechapel, who had installed a new 12 at the Minster the previous year, to replace the ten bells lost to a devastating fire in May 1840. The money for Great Peter was raised by public subscription. However, owing to a faulty casting, the bell proved to be a huge disappointment, and almost impossible to swing (even with thirty men pulling on four ropes attached to the wheel!), so was only rarely ever sounded. (The rope guides, visible at 3:17, give a clue as to where these ropes fell).

The Queen Mother's Clock Chime, heard from 3:38, was installed in 2000. Despite an appeal being launched in 1845 to buy clock mechanism and quarter-hour bells, this work never came to fruition. The project finally saw the light of day at the turn of the Millennium, dedicated to HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's 100th birthday. Six new clock bells were cast by Taylors, with the heaviest weighing 60cwt in Bflat; the hours are of course struck on Great Peter. The chime, composed especially for the Minster by John Knox, is an arrangement of the hymn tune "York" from the Scottish Psalter of 1615. They form the deepest toned clock chime in Great Britain.

Great Peter of York: 216-2-22 in Eflat

https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/11340


Some photos, taken 14th October 2025, can also be found on the Post Your Church Bell pics Facebook group:
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