No church bells in Welwyn Garden City
A hot topic
By Roger Filler
Although you may have heard bells ringing in Lemsford and Tewin, the ringing of church bells in Welwyn Garden City is forbidden.
Heated Discussion
Eary in the town’s development the subject was discussed and after heated discussions it was decided
‘not to ring bells at such times as to cause a nuisance to or to interfere with the comfort or amenities of the residents’.
That decision, as far as I know, continues to this day.
This page was added on 29/07/2009.
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Yes, Anthony, I was a chorister at St Mary’s a few years before you and Clive.
Derek Ralph was a member of the Westminster Abbey choir before taking over the Hatfield Hyde church choir. His standards were high.
Robert Oakhill’s comments on St Mary’s bells being rung by choir boys is absolutely correct. I and my twin brother Clive were two of them. The choir master at the time was Derek Ralph also my God Father. Very happy days.
Anthony Brewer (now aged 70 )
I grew up around the corner from St John the Evangelist in Monks Rise and used to love waking up to the sound of the church bells on Sunday.
Choirboys rang the little church bell on a rota (roster?) basis at St Mary Mag’s, Hatfield Hyde. This was in the early and mid-1950s.
My Dad was Priest in Charge @ Christ the King, Haldens and I am quite sure there was an electric bell which went ‘clang’ when rung before services. It wasn’t a peal just a clang!
There is a church bell at St Francis which is ringable and is used prior to the main morning service
The Parish Council Minutes for the banning of the bells in Welwyn Garden City appear in the Welwyn Garden City News, the newspaper of the time, starting on 21 September 1923. The following two month’s issue of the newspaper contains ‘Letters to the Editor’ about the bells, or lack of them, in Welwyn Garden City.