The bells of St Albans Cathedral rang out in tribute on Remembrance Sunday, as the Cathedral ringers performed a quarter peal of Grandsire Cinques on all twelve bells.

The ringing was half-muffled, a traditional practice for Remembrance that creates an echoing, mournful effect as each bell sounds once clearly and once softly — symbolising loss and memory. The result was a hauntingly beautiful sound, heard across the city as people paused to remember those who gave their lives in war.

As well as being for Remembrance, this was also in memory of Deryck Hannaford, long-serving Steeple Keeper, whose funeral was held in the Cathedral on Tuesday 11 November.

The method, Grandsire Cinques, is a complex twelve-bell pattern demanding concentration and teamwork, and marks a significant achievement for those who took part. The name comes from old French and refers to eleven changing bells and one tenor keeping time — twelve bells in total. 

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🔔 Why “Cinques” (Five) Means Eleven Bells

Change ringing uses a set of traditional names that come from old French. The names do not count how many bells are ringing, but rather how many pairs of bells are changing in each row of the pattern. Over time, those old names simply became labels for ringing on an odd number of bells, up to twelve.

Name	Number of bells🔔	Origin
Singles	3	One pair plus a stray
Double	5	Two pairs moving
Triples	7	Three pairs moving
Caters (from quatres, French for four)	9	Four pairs moving
Cinques (French for five)	11	Five pairs moving
Maximus (Latin for the greatest)	12	6 pairs, the greatest number of bells for a tower

So Grandsire Cinques means the Grandsire method rung on eleven changing bells, with the twelfth keeping time — the full sound of a twelve-bell tower.

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Earlier in the weekend, the ringers gathered for a practice session ahead of the city’s Fireworks Spectacular, serenading those gathering in Verulamium Park. The Bell Ringing Team enjoyed “epic views from the tower” before turning their focus to the more reflective tones of Sunday’s service.

👉 Learn more about bellringing at St Albans Cathedral:
stalbanscathedral.org/bells