[RWCentenary] Westminster Abbey service, ringing and tower tours

[RW Centenary News]

Ringers everywhere can feel justifiably proud 
that Westminster Abbey, where English Kings and 
Queens have been crowned for nearly 1,000 years, 
will play such an important role in The Ringing 
World Centenary Day – Saturday, 26th March 2011.

The centre piece of the day, at the kind 
invitation of the Dean and Chapter, will be a 
special service of Evensong at 3pm. Details of 
the service have yet to be agreed, but it will 
include an address by the Dean, the Very Revd Dr 
John Hall, and singing of hymns and anthems led 
by the Abbey choir. The choir, which is renowned 
throughout the world for the quality of its 
music, comprises boys from the Abbey Choir School 
and the Lay Vicars (male choristers of more mature years).

As a special concession kindly agreed by the Dean 
and Chapter, holders of Centenary Day tickets 
will be able to enter the Abbey from 2pm to spend 
time looking round the great building before 
taking their seats. There is much to be seen. As 
well as the magnificent architecture, there are 
many royal tombs, the shrine of St Edward the 
Confessor and hundreds of monuments to the great 
national figures of the past, including writers 
and poets from Chaucer to Dickens, Hardy and 
Betjeman in Poets’ Corner. The normal admission price for tourists is £15.

The north-west tower and the bells, a fine ring 
of ten with a tenor of 30cwt in D cast at 
Whitechapel in 1971, will naturally feature in 
the celebration. Unlike in most churches and 
cathedrals, the Abbey bells are traditionally 
rung after, rather than before, services (except 
when HM The Queen is attending, in which case the 
bells are rung both before and after). On 
Centenary Day, the Dean and Chapter have kindly 
agreed that the bells can be rung for up to one 
hour after the service and that visitors may take 
part in the ringing alongside members of the 
Abbey Company, provided that a high standard of 
ringing is maintained. Application forms which 
will note ringing ability requirements will be 
issued with the Centenary Day tickets. In the 
event of more ringers applying than can be 
accommodated, selection will be by ballot.

Before the service, between 1.00 and 2.30pm, 
members of the Abbey Company of Ringers will 
conduct tours of the NW tower. These will include 
the ringing chamber, where beautifully-written 
peal boards record all but the most recent peals 
on the bells (each one rung to commemorate a 
significant national event or royal anniversary), 
and a viewing of the bells. As numbers for the 
tower tours will be limited, application to 
participate will be by means of a form sent out with the day tickets.

More information will appear in the following 
weeks about the many events planned for Centenary 
Day – all available to ticket-holders at no extra charge.

Chris Rogers