Church bells

[Elisi]

I grew up just outside the quiet market town I live in, so I know it well, obviously. Got married, had children (the 3 absolute loves of my life) and we moved into town. Couldn't believe we'd got it at the time 😁Thing is, we live 75 yards from the church. It used to be that on occasional Saturdays someone would get married and the bells would happily ring out. Occasionally. New vicar and oh my goodness. We (our neighbours and us) all loved the Covid lockdown, 2 years of blissful peace. Those effing bells now ring every 15 minutes plus the hour. For example, at 10.59pm it will ring 4 times, plus 11 strokes. Then at 11.15pm it'll ring once. 11.30pm, twice. 11.45pm, 3 times. Midnight, 4 times plus 12. And this goes on 24hrs a day. Worse though, the effing bellringers. 3 hours between 6.30pm and 9.30pm every Tuesday, bell-ringing practice, it is absolutely deafening. Nobody's children can sleep, and they start again between 9am to 10am Sunday morning. That's not including when they have their mates over for bell-jollies, it has become an absolute living hell. Vicar has been spoken to and we've all basically been told to suck it up. AIBU to try and take this further?

Totally UNREASONABLE

You bought a house near a church. That was your choice.

OP, you coming back? YABU. Church bells are, by definition, a noise but that doesn't mean to say an awful noise. You may not like it, but many people love them. Sell your house. Or buy earplugs.

DD was in a similar situation to you OP. She moved.

😂😂😂😂

The church was there first! If it's happening round the clock I'm sure you'll quickly get used to it until you don't notice it at all.

I have lived opposite a high-speed train line and within earshot of foghorns, and while at first it's really jarring, eventually I either didn't notice them, or found them comforting.

Don't be the person that moves near a church/pub/music venue and then campaigns to get it changed.

I don't think op is being that unreasonable! She knew she was moving next to a church but that church only rang bells on a Sunday morning and for Saturday weddings - now the church bells ring much more often.

I get that that must be so annoying, but I suppose there was always a chance it could have changed - I don't know that I would have thought of that when buying a house.

The nighttime ringing must be so annoying. Imagine just dropping off to sleep and then being woken by the 12.15 bells.

I had a little chuckle at the phrase "bell jollies" 😁

No that’s noise pollution. You need to get everyone to contact the council and agree on acceptable times. All day and night is not on.

I think it may be worse than usual currently because they will probably be practicing for the Coronation. If I remember correctly, they are trying to ring at as many towers as possible that day.

Try living in Bavaria. Church bells on the quarters, and hour obviously, and at other times before services / weddings etc for twenty minutes at a time. several churches nearby all slightly out by a few seconds. I love it. My children use the bells when they don’t have watches - waiting at the corner to go to school, if their friend isn’t there at the two bells for 7:30 it’s time to leave without them. Leaving the park at 17:00 to come home - they’ll listen for the bells.

Write a letter to the churchwardens. Their names will be on the church website and they are responsible for the building. Complaining about the ringing of bells is likely to not get you very far. It's a church and bells are run. Asking for the clock to be silenced at night is not unreasonable.

I'm also surprised that bellringers are practicing so long. It's thirsty work and most are off to the pub after a couple of hours. Maybe you could ask them to finish by 9pm on a school night.

I am very puzzled by this story. First we need to distinguish between the clock bells and the church bells.
It sounds like the clock bells didn't strike before the new vicar arrived. Really? I don't know much about church clocks but I do know the striking mechanism can be turned off. Or put on a timer so it doesn't strike at night. Was it disabled when you bought the house (by the previous vicar?) And was it disabled during covid? Normally I am of the "suck it up" faction, but if there were no clock bells and now there are, then you do have a grievance worth pursuing. If everyone did without the clock striking during the last incumbency and never c.omplained then it would be difficult to claim the clock striking was an essential feature of local life.
As to the bell ringers practicing ringing the church bells which of course are different from the clock bellchange ringing is one of the great underrated arts of Britain and almost unique-- the carillon bells in Europe are pathetic in comparison. You should be happy to be able to appreciate one of the glories of this country's heritage.

😂😂😂 do you actually know anything about churches?!

The practice sessions, Sunday mornings, and weddings YABU. The clock chiming so late YANBU. That’s not on. Ours is usually turned off in the evening.

Dre taking it further; do you have God's number or do you have to contact him via the bells?
Even if the chimes were not chiming, or the bells were rarely rung when you moved in, the very fact that you are virtually atop a church should make you consider that these things might be bought into play at some stage.
Do you expext cows to drop perfumed pats because it smelt like spring flowers on the day you viewed the house?

I have the same as you, even the same times for the noise.

Church bells are lovely but when you live so close to them, it's just noise. A very loud noise!

It's even worse for me now that I do shift work.

Ours chimes all night. You get used to it. I sleep straight through it now, but when my mum visits she brings ear plugs.

I think you just shouldn’t buy a house close to a church and complain about the bells. It’s like buying above a pub and complaining about noise when people leave, or next to a school and complaining about noise from children playing.

I love the sound of church bells, but every 15 minutes! What on earth?!?
You would expect them on a Saturday (weddings etc), Sunday service and one or two practices in the week. Maybe more for weekday weddings, the Coronation etc.
I would not expect them to be the ‘ringing clock’. Could you speak to the Council? I can see no reason why they are ringing at midnight!

European carillons are not pathetic. The people who play them are professional musicians with at least a 4-year BMus under their belt.

I can see no reason why they are ringing at midnight!

They won’t be. It will be the church clock chiming, not the church bells ringing.

Would you buy a house near a school and complain that people park near your house?
(This literally happened to me outside DDs nursery today so it’s on my mind!)

Totally standard. I live near a church and actually very much appreciate the quarter chimes. Helps keep track.of time when I'm getting ready to go out somewhere!

What I would say is that this thread shows that there is a massive contingent who think that you don’t move next door to a church if you don’t like the bells. It sounds like you had a few years peace during Covid and now you want that to continue.

However for a lot of people church bells are a much loved part or village or small town life. IF you get the bells stopped, limited or muffled remember that you then still need to live in this town with most of your neighbours knowing you were responsible and wondering why you moved next to a church in the first place

I like the idea of them through the day just not during the night!

This, absolutely. No need for the bells to ring overnight. Weekly practice, weddings and Sunday mornings fine, but not overnight. And as pp pointed out, if it's a very old church, the bells wouldn't, historically, have sounded overnight anyway.

I love the sound of church bells but can imagine how you could be driven demented by them.