York Minster bells to chime again next month after year's silence

The bells of York Minster, which have been silent for almost a year since the controversial dismissal of 30 campanologists, will chime again next month with a fresh team of ringers in place.

The new band, which includes some former volunteers, has been selected by the minster and a new head bellringer, Angela Mitchell, who was appointed in June.

More than 40 applications were received from bellringers in York and from the wider region, the cathedral said. Among the new recruits are several ringers under the age of 18, said to be “talented and experienced”.

The minster’s 12 bells, the heaviest of which weighs three tonnes, are regarded as some of the best in the country, and the former team was considered among the most expert campanologists.

But simmering tensions between the minster’s governing body, the Chapter of York, and the ringers came to a head last October when the band was summarily dismissed and locked out of the 15th-century cathedral’s bell tower.

The bellringers were initially told the dismissals were for health and safety reasons. However, six days later, John Sentamu, the archbishop of York, issued a statement saying a member of the group was regarded as a safeguarding risk, and others had “consistently challenged” the chapter’s authority.

The dispute centred on David Potter, a leading figure in the team who was the subject of two police investigations following allegations made in 1999 and 2015. On neither occasion were charges brought. Potter was excluded from the minster in July 2016.

Minster sources claimed the bellringing team was in the hands of a “fiefdom”.

The bellringers and their supporters accused the chapter of behaving in an “unchristian” manner over the dismissals. More than 17,000 people signed a petition demanding the bellringers’ reinstatement.

Despite fears of a silent Christmas, the minster’s bells pealed for Nine Lessons and Carols on 22 December thanks to volunteer campanologists from elsewhere in Yorkshire. But they were silent for the first time in 600 years on Christmas Day itself, after a team from Leeds refused to help in solidarity with the sacked team.

In a statement on Tuesday, the minster said: “Recruitment and induction of all minster staff and volunteers, including the new volunteer bellringing team, is carried out in line with the Church of England’s safer recruitment processes focusing on safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, security, health and safety.”

In a sign of its determination to change the culture of bellringing at the minster, it added that it planned to have “a year-round recruitment process that will give experienced bellringers moving to York and the region the opportunity to apply to join the team at any time”.

When Mitchell, a headteacher, was appointed as head of bell tower, she said the controversy had been difficult and that there was “some healing to do”.

The new band will start work next month with an induction and rehearsals.