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Traditionally, English Church bells ring out annually on St. George’s Day, April 23rd. Equally so, it is tradition to NOT ring Church bells on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.

A few years ago, the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers was faced with the rare quandary of what to do when these two traditions clashed. This arose in 2011 when Easter Day fell on April 24th, the latest it had ever been since 1859 – only one day short of the latest possible date.

In discussions with C of E General Synod representatives it became evident that neither party had any archival evidence of how the issue had been resolved in earlier times. Since the advent of full circle change ringing in the English style the other occasions when the clash had occurred – were in 1639, 1707 and 1791.

In AD 325, the Western Christianity Council of Nicea had standardised a system for determining the date of Easter, and in 1583 it was slightly modified to correspond with the first Ecclesiastical Paschal full moon occurring after March 20th. This means that Easter Day itself can now fall as early as March 22nd and as late as April 25th.

The next step is for the Central Council to frame a resolution so that a recommendation – one way or another – can be made to the General Synod for ratification, thereby enabling timely notification to be circulated to each Diocese and instructions passed on to bell ringing team captains across the land. A sub-committee will most likely be formed and tasked to ensure that a successor Council sorts out the matter in a timely fashion before 2095 – when Easter Day next falls on April 24th.

Ringers at large are invited to brief their CCCB representative(s) with their point of view.

Remember there are only 72 years to go and counting!

From our correspondent:
                        Quoz  E.  Modo