The bells that make up our tuneful ring of six bells were cast over a span of 600 years. There were three bells in Clungunford in mediaeval times, and until 1895 they hung in a turret at the west end of the nave. The lightest of the three was inscribed, in Latin, “John’s bell will ring for ever”. It was recast by Isaac Hadley of Leominster in 1703. When the present tower was built in 1895, the three bells were hung in it, and because this bell had become cracked it was replaced by Taylor’s of Loughborough. The mediaeval inscription does not appear on it. It is now the fourth of our present ring of six.

The fifth of our present ring is the oldest bell, and it has been sounding out its message over the village and the surrounding countryside for over 600 years. It was cast by the Gloucester foundry in the second half of the fourteenth century, not long after the nave was roofed. Its Latin inscription is translated as “Sent from heaven, my name is Gabriel”. The largest bell, the Tenor, is also mediaeval, and weighs 7½ hundredweight. It was cast by the Worcester foundry in the early fifteenth century and its Latin inscription means “May it sound sweetly and pleasantly by the prayer of St Cuthbert”.

In 1980s there was renewed interest in the bells, and funds were raised to buy two second-hand bells that were tuned to match the existing three bells. One was cast in 1889 and the other was cast in 1870. Further fundraising made it possible to add an extra steel frame in the tower to hang these two bells in 1996. In 1997, a generous gift enabled us to ask Taylor’s to cast a new bell to be the Treble of a ring of six. It is inscribed “My song is love unknown”.

Our band of local ringers, who ring them before church services, would welcome anyone wishing to join them.  Groups of ringers from further afield sometimes come to ring at Clungunford and anyone wanting to ring here should contact the Churchwardens.