Hear Them Ring Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bronze

Whilst brass and iron have been used, bronze has been the traditional bell metal for centuries. It is strong and durable, and allows the bell to be worked on after casting to tune it to an exact note. Steel was tried in churches in England for a while in the 1800s, mainly because it was cheaper than bronze, but it wasn't durable and no major steel bells have been made since the 1870s.

Answer: Whitechapel Bell Foundry

Cast by The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1751 the Liberty Bell weighs 2080lbs. The first time it was rung it cracked and it was re-cast twice by Pass and Stowe of Philadelphia. It was rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774, and again in 1775 after the battle of Lexington and Concord. Tradition states it was rung in 1776 to announce the reading of The Declaration of Independence, but this may not be correct as the steeple in which it was hung was known to have deteriorated badly by that time. It is now housed in the Liberty Bell Centre in Philadelphia.

The three incorrect answers are all inventions. As far as I know there are no foundries of those names.

Answer: Lutine Bell

The Lutine Bell was recovered from the shipwreck of HMS Lutine and was hung in the underwriting room in Lloyd's of London. In total it has hung in four successive underwriting rooms. Originally it was rung when there was news of an overdue ship: once meant the ship was lost, two rings were good news meaning the ship had docked. As it has a crack it is now only rung when a member of the Royal Family dies, or there is a disaster. It was rung for 9/11, the Asian Tsunami and the London Bombings. It is also tolled at the start and end of the two minute silence on Armistice Day.

The three incorrect choices are all famous bells.

Answer: Seventeenth Century

Bell ringing is one of those things that is much harder than it looks. It demands concentration, good memory, manual dexterity, a sense of timing and stamina. To ring a full, true, peal of bells can take as long as 3 hours. The Lincoln Cathedral Guild founded 1612 claims to be the first bell ringing society, with the Society of Ringers of St Stephen in Bristol starting in 1620, and lasting until the nineteenth century. Bell ringing flourished during Restoration times when some of the first mathematical diagrams of peals were published.

The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers represents ringers around the world and also keeps records of longest rings, ringable bells etc. Their journal, "Ringing World" has been going since 1911.

Answer: Great Tom

Great Tom, weighing just over 6 tons, was cast in 1680 and hangs in the Christopher Wren designed tower of Christ Church, Oxford. It is rung 101 times at 9.05pm every night, which is the number of original students of the college.

Answer: They are so large that swinging them would damage the tower

Some of the largest bells in the world are so large and heavy that to swing them to ring them would risk serious damage to the tower because of the weight involved. Very large bells of this type are rung by a swinging beam arrangement that sounds the bell by striking it on the outside. Good examples of this type of bell can often be seen in Eastern temples.

Answer: Campanology

Campanology encompasses all things related to bells and their making and tuning, and it can also include the various methods of ringing them and the composing of music for them. Bell ringers however would argue that it does not include bell ringing and that tintinnabulation is the word for everything connected to the art of bell ringing.

Answer: Elizabeth Goudge

"City of Bells" was published in 1936 and is the first of a trilogy based in the fictional cathedral city of Torminster. As she herself was born in Wells close to the cathedral, and with a father who taught in the cathedral school and who was later a Canon at Ely Cathedral. she was intimately familiar with this type of surroundings.

Answer: Newport, Kentucky

Cast by Paccard of France, this bell weighs an amazing 66,000 pounds with a swinging weight of 89,390 pounds. It is one of more than 20 peace bells around the world. It was carried along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers by barge, with many stops along the way for celebrations, eventually arriving in Newport, Kentucky in summer 1999.

The bell is tolled every day at five minutes to noon, this time having been decided on to avoid interference with bells in the nearby courthouse which always ring at noon.

Answer: Little John

Hung in the clock tower of Nottingham's Council offices, Little John is named after the character in the Robin Hood legend. Little John has a very deep tone and because of this the sound carries well and can, on very quiet days, be heard faintly in Derby, about 20 miles away. This is thought to be the farthest distance in the United Kingdom that a bell sound carries.