It'll be trebles all round as St Mary's fits the high notes

Published on Saturday 29 November 2008 10:01

THEY have filled a hole that had been left at St Mary's Cathedral for more than a century.

Justice and Fortitude weigh around half a ton each and were created by craftsmen steeped in centuries of tradition.

Their arrival means the Episcopalian cathedral joins the exalted ranks of St Paul's in London and York Minster as one of only a handful in Britain to have a full set of 12 church bells.

The other ten bells – which weigh up to a ton – have been in place at the cathedral on Palmerston Place since 1879.

The bell ringers have been working close to 20 years to get the expensive new copper and tin bells for the church.

The pair of treble bells were the smallest in the set of 12, which cover the notes from A to G sharp, but still required a major operation to install them.

They were cast and tuned at Loughborough-based bell makers Taylors Eayre and Smith Ltd, the oldest and largest bell foundry in the world.

Cathedral provost the Very Rev Dr Graham Forbes said: "We're absolutely delighted to have a complete set of bells after 120 years. To ring out a proper peal you should ideally have 12 bells and now we have the full set.

"The bell ringers have saved up a lot of money to put these bells in place and we will definitely have them ringing in time for Christmas."

St Mary's Society of Change Ringers, led by tower captain Bill Brotherton and his wife Helen, have led the efforts to raise the 28,000 needed.

Mrs Brotherton said: "It's very exciting. We've been fundraising since 1990 and a couple of years ago we realised we had the money to go ahead.

"Most people probably wouldn't notice, but the two new bells will make a big difference to us."

The ringers will get their first chance to try them on Thursday.

St Mary's Cathedral is now the first church in Scotland to have a peal which covers the full diatonic scale.

Jed Flatters, technical services director at Taylors, who oversaw the installation of the bells, said: "The diatonic scale has 12 notes in total, and Justice and Fortitude complete the set for St Mary's.

"Diatonic bells are operated by a team of bell ringers each using a wheel and pulley system. It takes 12 bell ringers working in tandem to produce a complete tune. This process is literally known as 'ringing in the changes'."