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Bellringing celebrates the joy of weddings and victories, intones the sadness of deaths and funerals, and summons people to church. The casual listener immediately recognises that some bells play hymns, songs and melodies. Those bells are called carillons or chimes. They do not swing and the striking of the clappers is controlled by one person.

The bells at Bosham church and in towers like it all over the country produce no recognisable tunes. Yet they are rung in sequences as disciplined and orderly as the stones and timbers of the towers themselves. These bells, rung in an ancient yet very modern way, produce a rich cascade of sound. This is called change ringing.

Change ringing requires special bells, special "music" and ordinary people who enjoy climbing towers and working as a team. The human ingredient is critical because change ringing is very different from playing a carillon or chime. It is not a single person sitting at a keyboard. There are no computers or electronic devices. Change ringing depends on real bells, each swung in a complete circle by a single person: six bells as at Bosham - six people, eight bells as at Chichester Cathedral - eight people, standing in a circle.

The Bells
The bells are special in several ways. They are large, ranging in weight from a few hundred pounds to several tons. A ring of bells consists of four to twelve bronze bells.

A Bell in Her Usual Position
a. Stock
b. Stay
c. Slider
d. Blocks
e. Wheel
f. Groove of Wheel
g. Fillet
h. Ball of Clapper
i.  Flight of Clapper
k. Cannons
l.  Timber of Cage
m. Gudgeons
n. Lip of Bell

Bells for change ringing are hung in stout frames that allow the bells to swing through 360 degrees. Each bell is attached to a wooden wheel with a handmade rope running around it. The mechanism achieves such exquisite balance that ten-year-olds and octogenarians can control the largest bell easily. The harmonic richness of a swinging bell cannot be matched by the same bell hanging stationary but each swinging bell requires one ringer's full attention.
The bells are arranged in the frame so their ropes hang in a circle in the ringing chamber below. Into each rope is woven a tuft of brightly coloured wool (sally), which marks where the ringer must catch the rope while ringing. Bells are rung from the "mouth up" position. With a pull of the rope, the bell swings through a full circle to the "up" position again. With the next pull it swings back in the other direction.

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