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The bell can swing through a full circle in alternate directions. English full-circle bells shown in the "down" position, in which they are normally left between ringing sessions English full-circle bells shown in the "up" position. In the western world, the common form of bell is a church bell or town bell, which is hung within a tower or bell ...
Within the bell is a clapper that strikes the thickest part of the bell mouth called the soundbow. In English, ringing a set of bells is known as a "ring of bells", and an example of a ring of eight bells is shown mouth upwards in the rest position in the accompanying image.
Bell tower at Forest Home Cemetery in Fifield, Wisconsin. The bell is tolled during funerals. English-style full circle bell with clapper half-muffled. A leather muffle is put over one side only of the clapper ball. This gives a loud strike, then a muffled strike alternately. The bell is shown inverted in the "rest position".
The accompanying picture shows a half-muffled full-circle bell, with the bell in the inverted position (or the "up" position). The clapper is shown resting on the lower side of the bell's soundbow, and when it first rotates (to the right in the picture) the un-muffled side of the clapper will strike when the bell rises to the inverted position ...
The clapper on an English handbell is on a hinge and moves back and forth in a single direction, unlike a school bell in which the clapper swings freely in any direction. It also has a spring that holds the clapper away from the casting after the strike to allow the bell to ring freely.
The bell is suspended from a headstock which can swing on bearings. A rope is tied to a wheel or lever on the headstock, and hangs down to the bell ringer. To ring the bell, the ringer pulls on the rope, swinging the bell. The motion causes the clapper to strike the inside of the bell rim as it swings, thereby sounding the bell.
See animation, above. The bell or gong (B), which is often in the shape of a cup or half-sphere, is struck by a spring-loaded arm (A) with a metal ball on the end called a clapper, actuated by an electromagnet (E). In its rest position the clapper is held away from the bell a short distance by its springy arm.
As the sally rises, the ringer catches it to pause the bell at its balance position. In English-style ringing the bell is rung up such that the clapper is resting on the lower edge of the bell when the bell is on the stay. During each swing, the clapper travels faster than the bell, eventually striking the soundbow and making the bell sound ...