The current ring of 10 bell hung in the south west tower form a magnificent musical instrument of which we are very proud. Whilst these bells are relatively young, being cast in 1932, the history of bells at the Cathedral may be traced right back to the 14th century and it is probable that bells were hung in the towers of the Cathedral before this time.

The earliest recorded references to bells in Ripon dates from the 14th century. In "Memorials of Ripon" Volume 3 it mentions a new hearth was made for casting a bell. Another reference states that "Diverse expenses" were incurred in conveying a bell from York to Ripon in 1379. It appears that this bell was removed from Fountains Abbey to York to be re-cast with additional metal, on arrival at Ripon it was hung in the North West tower, at a cost of £4-9s-0d . The bell was given the unique name of "Klank Knoll" and was used for tolling for the dead.

A reference in the Ripon Millennary Book seems to indicate that there were at least 3 bells at the Cathedral by 1540. The wording is "A new third bell was cast in this year for the Minster, the cost of which was eight pounds".

By 1733 the bells had increased to six in number. Thomas Gent in his "History of Ripon" (1733) reports that five bells were hung in the south west tower for service ringing. In addition the north west tower contained a large bell said to have been brought from Fountains Abbey and referred to as the "Mary Bell", whilst the central tower had a small bell hung in the cupola on the roof in north west corner. Gent also gives the inscription and diameters of these bells.

In 1762 the 5 bells in the south west tower and "Mary Bell" in the north west tower were sold for £355 as part payment for a brand new ring of 8 bells. The new bells, cast by Lester and Pack of London, wered hung in a new wooden frame by James Harrison of Market Raisen, Lincolnshire. The bells were tuned to the key of E with the tenor (largest bell) weighing 19-3-8 cwt. (Bell News 1929 page 6420). The cost of the new ring was £557.11s.11d. and they were hung in the south west tower , the north west tower was now empty of bells and remains in this condition today. A near identical ring was also cast by Lester and Pack for Knaresborough in 1774 of which the back 6 or the original 8 remain. It is tempting to speculate that the Knaresborough bells were intended to be a sister ring to those already installed at Ripon.

The second and fifth bells were re-cast in 1866 by John Warner and Sons of London. In 1868 the whole ring was quarter turned and re-hung by Thomas Mallaby of Masham in the original wooden frame .

The Cathedral acquired its first ring of 10 bells in 1890, when the original wooden 8 bell frame of 1762 was replaced by a metal one, and two new smaller bells were added to the existing 8. The treble was donated to the memory of John Kearsley by Messrs R Kearsley and Co and the 2nd to the memory of Miss Anne Cross of Coney Garth by her brother and sisters. At the same time the chiming mechanism was added to the clock and set to sound the Cambridge Chimes (also used by the clock chime at the Houses of Parliament), this work being paid for by public subscription. All the work was carried out by J Shaw and Co. of Bradford.

Weights taken from the furnace books at J Taylors of Loughbrough prior to recasting in 1932

This ring appears not to have been a great success and whilst a report in Bell News describe the bells as "splendid" (page 143 1897) other reports in the same journal are less kind ".....the bells came in for a good deal of adverse criticism. The tone is poor and one cannot hear the trebles in the ringing chamber" (page 684 1929) and "..... sound of that clanging peal........the ring was of very mediocre tone......." ( page 246, 1933). The inscriptions of these bells have been replicated in the current ring with the exception of the tenor which was inscribed.

Inscription from the 1761 Lester and Pack Tenor:

THE REVd INo DERING SUB DEACON,
GULus LAMPLUGH HENRY GOODRICKE HUGH THOMAS INo. FOGG CHRIS DRIFFIELD AND JAS. WILKINSON PREBENDS,
LESTER & PACK OF LONDON FECIT 1761

In 1932 the belfry was restored and the entire ring recast in 1932 by John Taylor's Bell Foundry in Loughborough and rehung in a new metal frame. Mrs Julia White offered to cover the cost as a memorial to her parents, brothers and sisters. A tablet in the Ringing Room records:

" To the glory of God and in memory of her parents, brothers and sisters, the bells of this Cathedral were re-cast and the belfry restored by Julia White of Highfield, Ripon. 1932-1933".

On the 5th July 1932 the old bells were removed from the Cathedral and transported to the bell foundry of John Taylor and Co at Loughborough for recasting. A temporary bell was installedl to do duty whilst the bells were away at the foundry. The bells returned to Ripon on the 14th March 1933 and were officially rung for the first time following the dedication service on the 8th April 1933.

This generous gift by Julia White produced the present fine ring of 10 bells we have today, hung in the south west tower. Interestingly the first public performance on the bells was not at Ripon Cathedral but at Taylors Bellfoundry on March 1st 1933 where they featured in a radio broadcast given by Mr E Dennison Taylor on Church bells. To illustrate the art of change ringing a bob course of Grandsire Triples was chimed on the back eight of the new Cathedral bells by H J Poole 1-2, E Morris, 3-4, C Harrison 5-6, H Stubbs 7 and J P Fidler 8.

The details of these bells are given in the table below.

In recent times additional work has been carried out on the bells. These works include:

• November and December 1977, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry overhauled the bells and fittings.
• 1998 the pulleys were replaced and general maintenance carried out by David Town of Northallerton.
• 2000 - general works to improve the internal acoustics.
• 2000 - 2001 - complete repainting of frame and fittings by Ken Lancaster (Steeple Keeper).
• May 2003 - new ropes purchased from Ellis of Loughborough

The Ringing Room at the Cathedral is unusual in being furnished with 2 stained glass tablets recording details of peals. The older tablet records a peal of Kent Treble Bob Major rung in 1866 to celebrate the Ripon millennary Festival. The tablet was presented by the conductor, T Clark, President of the Cathedral Society of Change Ringers. The other was erected in 1986 to commemorate a peal rung for the 1100 anniversary of the City of Ripon. This peal of 5184 changes of Plain Bob Caters was conducted by David Town. It was recorded on a stained glass tablet to designed to match the one for the 1886 peal. The tablet was painted and fired by Septimus Waugh, a stained glass artist of York.These tablets are two of four known in the country, the others are at St John's church, Sharow near Ripon and St Peter's church in St Albans.

Central Tower (also known as St Wilfrid's Steeple)

Prior to the Word War 2 the angelus bell turret on top of the central tower had fallen into a dilapidated state and was removed. In June 1964 the turret was replaced and a bell from John Taylors and Co Loughborough was purchased and hung within the turret. The bell is fitted with a trigger action clapper and is currently undergoing refurbishment by David Town of Northallerton as part of the central tower restoration project.

Many thanks to George Dawson, Andrew Bull, Andrew Aspland, Nick Davies and Geoffrey Johnson for contributing information appearing on this page.