There are just two octave sets of bells in Ballarat – that’s eight bells, to the uninitiated.
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The more well-known is at the Town Hall, but St Peter’s Anglican Church at the top of Sturt Street is home to eight bells that are celebrating 125 years of ringing out.
The bells – and indeed the bell-tower surrounding and supporting them – were the gift of Mr James Fry, a noted flour miller of the early colony and benefactor of the church.
Mr Fry set aside £1,300 for the construction of the bluestone and brick tower, the foundation stone of which was laid on July 3, 1891. Mr Fry declined to lay the stone himself, and in fact due to a family illness was not present on the day, an absence that was noted with sadness.
He also provided funds for the purchase of the bell set, which was imported from England. The largest of the bells weigh more than a small car, says campanologist and ringing co-ordinator Ed Dunens.
“Bells can either be ‘up’ or ‘down’,” says Mr Dunens.
“If they are ‘up’, it means they are ready to ring by a downward pull of the bellrope. If you were standing near it and it hit you on the downswing, it would kill you.”
On close inspection, the belltower has a small gap separating it from the actual church building.
“That’s because the tower vibrates when the bells are rung. If you stand outside when all eight are being rung you can see the belfry vibrate. It stops cracking.”
In fact, the bells are organised in a pattern to distribute the physical force throughout the tower equally.
“If they all swung in the same direction, the combined energy would tear the tower apart. It would collapse,” says Mr Dunens.
A celebration of the centenary of the stone-laying of the tower will take place on Sunday, July 3.
Anglican Bishop of Ballarat Garry Weatherill be the celebrant.
The regular group of bell ringers will ring for 30 minutes before a 10am service and 30 minutes after.
They will be joined by ringers from other parts of Victoria, including Bendigo.
They will attempt a quarter peal – ringing the bells around 1250 times without repeating the same pattern.