Profit and pleasure: English change ringing and its impact on the soundscape of Cambridge

This thesis challenges the prevailing consensus that change ringing societies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were primarily concerned with recreation and sociability. Through detailed analysis of the financial and other records of the leading bellringing company in Cambridge, it demonstrates that the members were equally, if not more, concerned with the pursuit of profit and that the sums they earned could be considerable. The scale of their recreational and social activities was enabled by that income.

Tracing the pattern of occasions for which the bells rang from the bellringers’ own accounts reveals that they made a more frequent contribution to the urban soundscape than has previously been appreciated. Commonly used sources of evidence for the use of church bells, such as parish records and newspaper reports, significantly understate both how often they rang and the types of occasion on which they were heard.

For much of the period paid ringing overwhelmingly celebrated personal rather than public occasions and a significant proportion of the ringing was initiated by the ringers themselves in the hope of subsequent financial reward. It was entirely associated with secular occasions and never with religious worship. Taking account of the frequency with which the bells rang, the prevalence of speculative ringing, and the often personal nature of events celebrated, it is suggested that much change ringing may have had little direct meaning or significance to those who heard it.

Whilst recognising that further studies are needed to confirm whether the profit motive was equally important in other urban locations, it is suggested that evidence of bells ringing should be treated with caution if it is used as an indicator of wider popular sentiment or public engagement. The distorting effect of the ringers’ pursuit of profit may lead to a re-evaluation of previous studies and should be factored into new ones.