Old Windsor Bell Ringers    
Campanology at its best

 
 
PEALS

The ultimate ringing experience...

A peal is a change ringing method rung to 5000 changes or more and no change during the peal can be repeated. For example an extent of triples (seven bells) has a total number of 5040 non repeated changes and is the common length of a peal. The average time for completing a peal is approximately three hours

The rules for a peal are :

  • No Change can be repeated.
  • A ringer can only ring one bell throughout the duration of the peal.
  • No help can be given to any ringer from a person whom is not ringing.
  • Ringers are not permitted to use any visual / memory aids of changes
  • The peal must start and end in 'rounds' (only time a repeated change is allowed)
  • The peal must be rung in one constant period with NO breaks.
Extent
Bells rung in peal
Number of changes in peal
5
120
6
720
7
5040
8
40,320
10
3,628,800
12
479,001,600

Estimating 2 seconds for every change (a reasonable pace), a extent on 6 bells can be accomplished in approximately half an hour while a full extent on eight can take a staggering twenty two and a half hours. In 1973 ringers in Loughborough became the first and only ringers in history to achieve this feat on a tower of bells, and only took them an astonishing eighteen hours. (Hats off to them). We are almost certain that it would be near impossible to improve on this feat as to ring a full peal on twelve bells would take over thirty years to complete!!

 
 
 
   
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