Perth church bells ring out for Christmas carols collection
- Published
Carillonneur Dr Ian Cassells played the 26 carols on the new collection
The UK's largest collection of church bells, housed in St John's Kirk in Perth, have been recorded for a new selection of Christmas carols.
St John's Kirk has 63 bells, including the Ave Maria which was cast in the early 1300s.
The bells are played on a carillon, a pitched percussion instrument played with a keyboard.
The Kirk's largest bell, the 28cwt Bourdon, provides the carillon's distinctive bass note.
The Kirk's largest bell, the 28cwt Bourdon, was cast in 1506
Carillonneur Dr Ian Cassells played the 26 carols for a new CD which was produced by the Friends of St John's Kirk.
A camera allows visitors in the church below to watch Dr Cassells when he plays in the church tower.
Dr John Hulbert, chairman of the Friends of St John's Kirk said it was only right to share the carillon's "special sound with everyone".
St John's Kirk has 63 bells, with 35 of these forming the carillon.
The Bourdon was cast in Flanders in 1506, and installed in St. John's when the tower was completed in 1511.
The recordings have been collected on a new CD produced by the church
The other 34 bells were cast in London and installed in 1935 following a campaign by Melville Gray of Bowerswell to create a memorial to the men of Perthshire who were killed in the Great War.
The proceeds of the CD go to the Friends of St John's Kirk.
Although it is believed that a kirk has existed on the site since the 8th Century, its first records date from 1126.
The heart of King Alexander III was buried there in 1286, and in the early 1400s King James I initiated the enlargement of the kirk to cope with Perth's growing population and importance.