Merrily on High: In Britain, Bell-Ringing's Eternal Peal

There are approximately 50 million people in England, but Sunday attendance in Anglican churches has dropped below 1 million, according to Church of England data released last year.

But it would be a mistake to think that the Church of England is irrelevant in a secular society that some intellectuals have described as post-Christian. It is still the faith of the establishment -- even if former prime minister Tony Blair converted to Catholicism after he left office -- and the church remains an influential moral voice in periods of political, social and economic crisis.

The thousands of cathedrals, parish churches and village chapels form a priceless inventory of historic architecture and decoration, and some function as concert halls. In 2005, according to the Church of England, 86 percent of the adult population visited a church or other house of worship. And even those who haven't will have heard the bells.

Some, increasingly, don't want to hear them.

Whitworth recalls ringing at a church in rural Oxfordshire when a man burst into the ringing chamber. "Who's in charge and how long is this row going to go on for?" he demanded. "You're disturbing our wine party on the patio."

In the east coast town of Aldeburgh, a few residents recently complained about the ringers pulling a three-hour peal once a month.

And what of the ringers themselves? Are they in it to save lost souls or just to make music? "You see ringers come and ring but never attend a church service, but for quite a few of the Rushden ringers, we do see the spiritual side as well," said Whitworth, a 73-year-old retired teacher.

Before 19th-century reforms in the church, the ringers were a band of musicians paid to ring and who would then "clear off," Whitworth said. A lot of them would slake their thirst with beer. "There was a time," Marks said, "when the ringers would have their barrels of beer up in the belfry. The doors were made smaller or bricked up to prevent them from doing this."

The church took back control of the ringers in the 19th century. "To this day, there is evidence in some ringing rooms of lists of rules and regulations regarding the conduct of ringers," Whitworth said. "They also introduced swear boxes."

After a practice session at St. Mary's, seven ringers repaired to a village pub for a glass of ale and to muse about the state of bell-ringing. There was a resurgence of interest at the millennium, said Brenda Dixon, but they could use more ringers in their 20s and 30s. "There's not as many as there were," she said. "I still don't think it'll die out. It's addictive to people."