Contemporary Sound Practices: Church Bells and Bell Ringing in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

As a social species, humans have developed soundscapes that surround, and to some extent circumscribe, their daily existence. The concept of aural heritage, its conceptualization and its management represent a rapidly expanding area of research, covering aspects of both natural and human heritage. However, there have been no contemporary regional or supra-regional studies that examine the nature of sound making in Christian religious settings, nor the extent to which it is still used. This paper presents the results of a survey into the presence of bells and bell ringing practices among five major Christian denominations in New South Wales, and examines to what extent bell ringing is still practiced and what factors may determine any differentiation. In doing so, it provides an objective basis from which to investigate future changes in bell ringing practices, and provides a solid foundation with reference to aural heritage of sound in a religious setting.

Responses to government-imposed restrictions: The sound of Australia's church bells one year after the onset of COVID-19

“…In 2018–2019, the authors undertook a study examining church bell ringing in the state of New South Wales, Australia, with research questions investigating the extent of church bell ringing still practiced, what factors may determine this differentiation, and what values and significances were attributed to the bell ringing sounds by the practitioners themselves. While the full data is reported elsewhere ( Parker and Spennemann, 2020b ; Parker and Spennemann, 2021 ), we found that a high proportion of Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox churches retained bells on church premises, especially in churches of a historic period. For these churches that had bells, a large proportion of these denominations actually rang them, and there was subsequently a high level of perceived value placed on bell ringing, especially because it was considered a form of heritage.…”

To Ring or Not to Ring: What COVID-19 Taught Us about Religious Heritage Soundscapes in the Community

“…The view of individuals can be quite opinionated and often with disparate attitudes on the action of bell ringing, and significantly, bell ringing practice can alter with the installation of a new priest [24]. A survey of bell ringing practices in New South Wales found that, overall, Anglican, Uniting, and Presbyterian clergy tend to attribute a lower significance to bell ringing than wardens, the church council, or the congregation [21]. Only among Roman Catholic clergy does bell ringing hold a considerable level of significance.…”

“…That the effective power over soundscapes generated by the church bells rests with the individual clergy at the local level has serious implications well beyond the individual congregation. Without doubt, the ringing of church bells contributes to the soundscape of a community and thus should be regarded as part of a community's cultural heritage [19,21]. Unlike with other cultural heritage assets, where there is a formal multi-layered process to assess the adverse impact of any proposed activity (see Figure 1), it is the power of a single clergy, who are untrained in issues of heritage management, that can make these decisions.…”

“…Examples of intentional notification sounds are bells, be they ships' bells ringing the time or bells rung in a church tower calling the faithful to attend religious services [10,21,22]. Soundscapes are dynamic and undergo changes concurrent with technological advancements and patterns of the underlying human activity alongside societal changes (e.g., noise pollution ordinances) [20,23].…”

“…These include values attributed to the tradition and sacred embodiment of bell ringing in liturgical function; as a memory trigger of significant events from a person's individual history such as the end of World Wars, royal coronations, births, deaths, and marriages; and community heritage values based on the historical ringing of church bells within a certain parish or town. While church bells were ubiquitous until the mid-twentieth century and could be found in many Christian churches if the congregational finances allowed it, societal change in the post-World War II era has seen a decline in bell use and bell installation in recently consecrated churches [21].…”