The Sherborne bells

A correspondent staying at Sherborne on a market day in 1826 counted the bells that rang from four in the morning until nine at night: the church treble, the chimes, the almshouse bell, the school bell, the market bells and Wolsey’s great bell. He was told that the first morning bell and the eight o’clock evening bell were the curfew, kept up since William the Conqueror ordered fires and lights put out at eight. Others said the bells only called people to work. He noted that a morning and evening bell was rung in most towns that had one, though few people asked why.