The oldest bell at the Cathedral is the Service Bell, which hangs in the north west tower. It was cast by Philip Whiteman, a London bellfounder, in and hung the following year. Its weight is On acquisition it was named the Prayer Bell, possibly because it was installed to meet the requirement of the Book of Common Prayer that a bell be rung daily before Morning and Evening Prayer.
It remains in use for daily services at the Cathedral, normally struck by an automated chiming mechanism, but it can be rung manually. Cast by John Taylor and Co of Loughborough in , the change ringing bells hang in the north west tower, and form the second largest ring of 12 bells in the world by total weight.
Change ringing requires both physical and mental ability. It takes most ringers several years to become sufficiently skilled to ring on the challenging bells of St Paul's. Each bell is given a number, from 1 to 12, and is usually rung by a single ringer. The order or sequence is changed and each bell rings again. The smallest 'treble' bell weighs just over 8 cwt, while the largest 'tenor' bell weighs over three tons 61 cwt.
Housed in the south west tower, Great Paul is the largest bell in the UK in current use, weighing in at an incredible It was cast by John Taylor and Co in and its note is E flat. It is the second largest bell ever cast in the British Isles, being exceeded only by the bass bell of the Rockefeller Memorial Carillon in New York, which weighs over 20 imperial tons.
Our three clock bells, also in the south west tower, strike the hours and quarters. The largest, Great Tom, weighs over 5 tons and is in A flat.
