BELLS |
A bell is a hollow body of metal used for making sounds. Bells are usually made from bell-metal, an alloy of copper and tin. Small bells used for interior functions are often made of silver, gold or brass. From the 7th century large bells have been used in England in cathedrals, churches and monasteries. The Curfew Bell is rung in some parts of England, notably at Ripon, to this day. It was originally a signal to extinguish fires at a certain hour of the day. The number of 'changes' that can be rung on a peal of bells is the factorial of the number of bells. Thus four bells allow 24 and eight bells 40,320. (4! = 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 = 24, and 8! = 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 =40,320). |
Notable Bells | |||||
Name | Location |
Height (cm) |
Diameter (cm) |
Weight (tonnes) |
Date Cast |
King of Bells | Kremlin, Moscow | 627 | 691 | 198 | 1733 |
. | Krasnogvardersk | . | . | 171 | . |
. | Moscow | . | . | 110 | . |
Great Bell | Peking | . | . | 53 | . |
. | Cologne Cathedral | . | . | 53 | . |
. | Nanking | . | . | 22 | . |
Great Paul | St Paul's Cathedral, UK | . | . | 17 | 1881 |
Big Ben | Westminster, UK | . | . | 13 | 1858 |
Great Peter | York Minster, UK | . | . | 10 | . |
Missing details will be added as they become available.
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