This weekend the bell ringers of St. David’s Cathedral in Hobart are celebrating the 10th anniversary
of the installation of four new bells in the cathedral’s tower. The celebrations get started on the
Friday evening at 6pm when we ring for an hour on on all the variations our bells allow. Then on
Saturday morning the bell tower will be open for visitors from 10.30am until 12. Watch the ringers
in action, see the bells swinging, feel the tower swaying!, and enjoy the view from the roof.
The original ring of eight bells was installed in 1936, when the tower was built. The new bells add
to these eight, extending them to give more options and a richer sound. The heaviest of the new
bells, weighing over 1 tonne, is in fact older than the original eight bells. It was cast in 1911 for a
church in England. The availability and donation of that bell was the seed that started the project in
Hobart in 1999. The other three bells were cast new in 2002 and 2004 following other specific and
substantial donations.
By 2005 sufficient funds were in place to begin the installation. For two weeks in April 2005 all the
cathedral’s bells were downstairs for a never-to-be-repeated public display. In early May they were
hoisted back into the tower and the new bells were heard for the first time on 15th May 2005.
Thanks to all the donations that we received, large and small, the project was a complete success.
All the various reasons why the project was claimed to be a good idea – including a bigger sound,
more ringing options for special occasions and for teaching, attracting more visiting ringers to
Hobart – have turned out to be true. The cathedral, the ringers and the city of Hobart now enjoy
what is without doubt one of Australia’s finest rings of bells.
Tower Captains Miranda Morris, Kate Webb, Bell Project Coordinator, Doug Nichols
