The Ancient Society of College Youths (ASCY) is a

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in which the ringers commit to memor ...

society, founded in 1637 and based in the City of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The society played a leading role in the early development of change ringing, and today, it provides ringers for important events at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

and

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. Although it is a non-territorial association, its importance is recognised through having four representatives on the

Central Council of Church Bell Ringers The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) is an organisation founded in 1891 which represents ringers of church bells in the English style. It acts as a co-ordinating body for education, publicity and codifying change ringing rules, al ...

History

The society is said to be founded on 5 November 1637, although it is possible that it was actually in existence before this date. The first Master is noted as Lord William Brereton. The first ringing by the society was recorded in c.1642, when it managed "a plain six-score on five bells". Robert Roan (Master in 1652) is said to have invented the ringing methods known as

Grandsire Grandsire is one of the standard change ringing methods, which are methods of ringing church bells or handbells using a series of mathematical permutations rather than using a melody. The grandsire method is usually rung on an odd number of bells ...

Doubles and Plain Bob Minor, which are still rung today.

Fabian Stedman Fabian Stedman (1640–1713) was an English author and a leading figure in the early history of campanology, particularly in the field of method ringing. He had a key role in publishing two books ''Tintinnalogia'' (1668 with Richard Duckworth) and ...

, the author of ''Campanalogia'' in 1677, also became steward to the College Youths in that year, and in 1682, he was elected Master of the College Youths. Copies of historical documents (1637–1974) of the society are held by the National Archives,

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

and

London Metropolitan Archives The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London: it is the largest county record office in the United Kingdom. It was established under its pr ...

Achievements

Some notable early achievements of the society are highlighted as follows: * 1684, 18th Nov.: three 720s rung consecutively on the back six bells at Southwark; * 1690, 7th Jan.: "The whole peal of Plain Bob Triples" believed to have been rung at St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate; and * 1725,19th Jan.: The first peal on 12-bells was rung - 5060 Grandsire Cinques at St. Bride's, Fleet Street.Retrieved from the ASCY website - April 2017 The Society was also a pioneer in "long length"

peal In campanology (bell ringing), a peal is the special name given to a specific type of performance of change ringing which meets certain exacting conditions for duration, complexity and quality. The definition of a peal has changed considerably o ...

s; the first of these long lengths took place on 18 May 1728, and It consisted of 10,080 changes of Plain Bob Major. More recently, three members of the ASCY - Philip Earis, Andrew Tibbetts and David Pipe - have rung the longest peal ever, on

handbells A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged cla ...

, consisting of 72,000 changes of Minor, ringing 100 different methods, all of which had to be memorised, and taking 24 hours and 9 minutes. The Society also rang the 'extent' (or maximum number of possible permutations in the order of the bells) of Major - 40,320 changes, on 27 December 1977, taking 15 hours, 59 minutes to do so.

Belfry stewardship

The ASCY is responsible for the bells at: *

St Giles-without-Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to S ...

; *

St Lawrence Jewry St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the ...

; *

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Holy Sepulchre London, formerly and in some official uses Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is the largest Anglican parish church in the City of London. It stands on the north side of Holborn Viaduct across a crossroads from the Old Bailey, and ...

; *

St Magnus the Martyr St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge, is a Church of England church and parish within the City of London. The church, which is located in Lower Thames Street near The Monument to the Great Fire of London, is part of the Diocese of London and un ...

; and *

St Michael, Cornhill St Michael, Cornhill, is a medieval parish church in the City of London with pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation. It lies in the ward of Cornhill. The medieval structure was lost in the Great Fire of London, and replaced by the present bui ...

. Its members hold regular practices at these towers, as well as at

St Mary-le-Bow The Church of St Mary-le-Bow is a Church of England parish church in the City of London. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest and most important thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080 by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebui ...

and

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

References

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External links

Ancient Society of College Youths homepageCentral Council of Church Bell Ringers - for more information on English full-circle bell ringing.
1637 establishments in England Music in London Bells (percussion) Bell ringing societies in England