The Bells of Exeter (Cathedral Church of St Peter), Devon

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter! The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter holds the world's 2nd heaviest ring of twelve bells, with a tenor weight of 72-2-2cwt. The treble, 2nd were cast in 1922 by John Taylor & Co, the 3rd was cast in 1915 by the same founder. The 4th was cast by John II Birdall in 1616. The 5th was cast in 1651 by John E Pennington, the 6th, 9th and 11th were cast in 1676 by Thomas Perdue. The 7th and tenor were cast in 1902 by John Taylor & Co. The 8th was cast in 1693 by Thomas Purdue and the 10th in 1729 by William Evans. The extra treble was cast in 1979 by John Taylor & Co (Bellfounders) Ltd and the flat 6th was cast in 1630 by Thomas II Pennington. The 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and flat 6th are all listed for preservation. One important point to note about one of the bells here is that the 9th bell, was cast with a flat top (ie. without canons). This is a commonly modern way of casting bells, for fitting to metal headstocks, with this bell being the earliest known example of a flat top casting. The treble and 2nd bells were the subject of a major maintenance project, that saw the removal of their ''button tops'' and the frame repainted. In April 2022, the 10th bell was rehung on new bearings.

The bells are all named, and can be found below. They are largely named after their founders.
0 extra: ''Jubilee''.
1. ''Thomas I''
2. ''Thomas II''
3. ''Little Nine o'Clock''
4. ''Birdall''
5. ''Pennington''
6. ''Purdue''
6 flat. ''Pongamouth''
7. ''Fox''
8. ''Doom''
9. ''Cobthorne''
10. ''Old Nine o'Clock''
11. ''Stafford''
12. ''Grandison''

This video was recorded during the Ringing World National Youth Contest 2022, and features a largely under 18's band. Whilst the striking may not be the best, I feel it is important to showcase the ''next generation of ringers'' trying their hand at the world's 2nd heaviest peal of bells. It is also to note that a few minutes after these videos were taken, the tenor clapper broke, and the rest of the day's ringing was on the ''minor'' twelve.

12 bells, 72-2-2cwt in Bb.