BellBoard

Completeness of BellBoard

BellBoard is a complete record of quarter peals and peals rung around the world since it was set up in 2012.

Before 2012, it is an incomplete record. The Ringing World and many independent volunteers are improving the completeness and accuracy of BellBoard all the time. There are several complete subsets of records, for example everything rung by one individual, or all the peals or quarter peals for a single tower or even society.

The following is a list of datasets thought to be complete on BellBoard.

• All peals since 2004 (tower and hand)
• All known peals of more than 10,000 changes on tower bells

Associations

All known peals rung for

• The Society of Royal Cumberland Youths (not including the Junior Society)
• The Middlesex County Association (founded 1897; also its predecessors, mainly the West Middlesex Association. It became the Middlesex CA and London Diocesan Guild in 1903)
• Bedfordshire Association
• Beverley and District Ringing Society (many rung joint)
• Bristol Society
• Society of Bromley Youths
• Society of Cambridge Youths
• Derby Diocesan Association
• Friends of Dorothy Society
• Guildford Diocesan Guild
• Llandaff & Monmouth
• Manchester University Guild (Tower bell peals)
• Oxford Society
• Oxford University Society
• Sheffield University [and Universities] Guild
• Southampton Universities Guild (peals, including jointly rung for other societies)
• Swansea and Brecon
• St Davids Guild
• West Wales Association
• Welsh Colleges Society
• York Colleges Society
• All peals rung on East Meets West tours

Towers

Where a tower is noted as having complete BellBoard records for peals, it usually means that the number of peals in BellBoard matches the number of peals in the Felstead database (see below), which is taken as the most authoritative list of all known tower-bell peals. There may still be other peals which are unknown by Felstead - for example those which were published in local newspapers of the time rather than a ringing journal.

• Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire (peals)
• Acton, St Mary, Middlesex (peals)
• Amersham (peals)
• Appleton, St Laurence (peals)
• Appleton, Workshop (peals)
• Ashbourne (peals)
• Barnes (quarter peals and peals) since augmentation in 1897
• Barnoldswick, Lancashire (quarter peals and peals)
• Beckley (peals)
• All Bedfordshire towers (peals; all associations)
• Belper (peals)
• Bradfield (St Nicholas), South Yorkshire (peals and quarter peals)
• Bradley (St Martin), West Midlands (peals)
• Brampton, Suffolk (peals)
• Bredbury, St Mark, Cheshire
• Bristol - Bedminster St Luke, Brislington, Clifton Emmanuel, Horfield, Knowle, St John on the Wall, St Nicholas, St Thomas, St Werburgh, Southville, Stapleton, Stoke Bishop, Temple Church, Westbury on Trym (peals)
• Broadclyst, Devon (peals)
• Bushey (peals)
• Cambridge (Great St Mary) (peals)
• Cassington (peals)
• Chalfont St Giles (peals)
• Charlton on Otmoor (peals)
• Cheadle, St Mary (peals)
• Chesham (peals)
• Chiswick (quarter peals and peals) since augmentation in 1901
• Clyst Honiton, Devon (peals)
• Corston, Somerset (peals)
• Coseley, West Midlands (formerly Staffordshire) (peals)
• Covehithe, Suffolk (peals)
• Cricklade, Wiltshire (peals)
• Cuddesdon (peals)
• Cumnor (peals)
• Darley Dale (peals)
• Denton, Haughton, Greater Manchester (St Anna) (peals)
• Derby (peals at Cathedral, St Peter’s, St Luke’s; also ex rings St Andrew, St Alkmund’s, St Werburgh)
• Didsbury, Manchester (St James) (peals)
• Duffield (peals)
• Duston, Northamptonshire. (St Luke) (peals)
• Eckington (peals)
• Eynsham (peals)
• Filton, Gloucestershire (peals)
• Frenchay, Gloucestershire (peals)
• Garsington (peals)
• Grayshott, Hampshire (peals)
• Guildford Cathedral (peals)
• Harpole, Northamptonshire. (All Saints) (peals)
• Heptonstall
• Holloway, Greater London (St Mary Magdalene) (peals)
• Horspath (peals)
• Hulme, Manchester (St Philip, also Holy Trinity) (peals)
• Islington, St James (peals)
• Islip (peals)
• Kingsthorpe, St Peter & St Paul Abington (peals)
• Kislingbury, Northamptonshire. (St Luke) (peals)
• Leighton Bromswold (peals)
• Liverpool Cathedral
• Long Stratton, Norfolk (peals)
• Lundy Island (peals)
• Manchester - (all peals inside the M60) (Cathedral, Fallowfield Holy Innocents, St John the Evangelist Miles Platting, Town Hall) (peals)
• Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire (peals)
• Marsh Baldon (peals)
• Matlock (peals)
• Northampton, Northamptonshire: St Giles, St Edmund, Holy Sepulchre, St Peter, All Saints, St Mary Dallington, St Benedict West Hunsbury, St John the Baptist (peals)
• Northenden, Manchester (peals)
• Oxford City Centre (14 towers, including St Peter in the East) (peals)
• Oxford (Cowley, Iffley, Marston, Headington, Wolvercote, N Hinksey) (peals)
• Pendlebury, Greater Manchester (Christ Church) (peals)
• Penwortham (peals)
• Piltdown House Campanile (quarter peals and peals)
• Pinhoe, Devon (peals)
• Preston (St John and St Mark) (peals)
• Radley (peals)
• Reddish, Cheshire (St Elizabeth) (peals)
• Reydon, Suffolk (peals)
• Rothersthorpe, Northamptonshire. (St Peter & St Paul) (peals)
• Rushden, Northamptonshire (peals)
• Salford, Greater Manchester (St Thomas Pendleton) (peals)
• Salford, Sacred Trinity (Peals)
• Solihull (quarter peals and peals at St Alphege; all known handbell ringing)
• Southwold, Suffolk (peals)
• Sowton, Devon (peals)
• Stanton Drew, Somerset (peals)
• Stanton St John (peals)
• Stretford, Greater Manchester (St Matthew) (peals)
• Stockport, St George, Greater Manchester
• Stockport, St Mary, Greater Manchester
• Sunningwell (peals)
• Swinton, Greater Manchester. (St Peter) (peals)
• Ticknall (peals)
• Todmorden Unitarian (peals)
• Twyford (peals; quarters up to 1970)
• West Didsbury, Manchester (Christ Church) (peals)
• Westhall, Suffolk (peals)
• Westminster St Stephen’s (Rochester Row).
• Weston Favell, Northamptonshire. (St Peter) (peals)
• Wheatley (peals)
• Wheatley, Leigh End (peals)
• Windsor, Curfew Tower (peals)
• Woodeaton (peals)
• Worsley, Greater Manchester
• Wrentham, Suffolk (peals)
• Yarnton (peals)
• York St Lawrence (peals and quarter peals)

Wales

• All known peals at all towers (also on handbells) in the Diocesan areas for the Llandaff & Monmouth, Swansea and Brecon, St Davids Guild or West Wales Association
• Abergele
• Bangor (Glenadda)
• Barmouth
• Beaumaris
• Bodelwyddan
• Chirk
• Denbigh
• Dolgellau
• Guilsfield
• Halkyn
• Llanbedrog
• Llandegai
• Llandrillo
• Llandudno
• Llansilin
• Porthmadog
• Prestatyn
• Rhuddlan
• Ruthin
• Rhyl
• Worthenbury

Australia

• Adelaide (all towers, peals)

New Zealand

• Wellington, New Zealand, Cathedral of St Paul (quarter peals and peals)
• Wellington, New Zealand, Old St Paul’s (quarter peals and peals)
• Wellington, New Zealand, The John David Ring (quarter peals and peals)

Ringers

Peals from the peal books of

• F Nolan Golden
• C Edward Jeffries
• Bertram Prewett
• William Pye*
• George Pye
• Ernest Pye*
• John R Smith
• Elizabeth Smith (nee Faulknall)

(* Beware of similar names such as William Pye English and Ernest W Pye (son of William Pye), also William E Pye (son of Ernest W Pye))

Methods

• Lancashire Surprise Major (peals)
• 11-Spliced Triples (peals)
• Triton Delight Royal (peals)
• Deva Surprise Major (peals)
• Ytterbium Surprise Major (peals)
• Double Coslany Court Bob Major (peals)

If you can add to this list, please email us.

Other major ringing databases

The Felstead database [https://felstead.cccbr.org.uk] contains brief details of every known towerbell peal. It does not contain handbell peals and it does not contain ringer names.

The Pealbase database [https://www.pealbase.co.uk] contains full details of all known peals (handbell and towerbell) back to the early twentieth century. It is being actively maintained and its scope backwards in history is increasing. Summary details are available once users are registered for free.