The Tone and Tune of Church Bells in Medieval England, 1066-1535.

Description

The study of the sound of English church bells is a developing area, with scholarly interest largely limited to the metallurgy of bells, synthesising the sound of cracked bells, and recreating their soundscape (Carvalho et al., 2021; Mileson, 2012; Stafford et al., 1996). Other than the general volume of church bells and introductory studies, little work has been done to assess medieval contemporaries’ perceptions of the sound of church bells (Arnold and Goodson, 2012; Mortimer, 2009; Smith, 1999). Furthermore, studies on church bells generally accept that bells are to be in tune with one another with no critical analysis in relation to this, limiting themselves to introductory studies on how a bell could be tuned (Audy and Audy, 2006). This paper aims to address this gap in research by employing an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate mentions of church bells in chronicles, close rolls, and churchwarden accounts to determine the significance that their tone and tune had to medieval contemporaries. Within the period of study, there is a clear development in wanting to control the tone and tune of church bells; this is seen with bell founders being bound financially to create bells of a certain tone, of bells being commissioned by kings to be in tune with the other bells in a ring, and by wanting to control and alter the tone and volume of bells by installing muffles by the end of the period.

Period	6 Jan 2026
Event title	BFE / RMA Research Students' Conference 2026
Event type	Conference
Location	Birmingham , United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National