Great Paul rings for London Festival of the Bells 2021 at 9.20am on 31 July 2021

Great Paul is hand rung by bell ringers at St Paul's Cathedral, to mark the start of the London Festival of the Bells on 31 July 2021 at 9.20am

In the morning the bell rang out alone to herald the start of the Festival. On this occasion, the ringers included the Lord Mayor of London, the Lady Mayoress and the Bishop of London.

Later in the day the bell was rung as was intended when it was installed in 1881, a sound which has not been heard in decades. Firstly Great Paul rang alone, then after fifteen minutes the bells in the north west tower joined in and all rang together until Great Paul gradually faded out.

Great Paul is the largest bell ever cast in the UK and the largest church bell in the British Isles. Its total weight is 16.7 tons. In the UK it is exceeded in weight only by the Olympic Bell, cast in the Netherlands for the 2012 London Games, which is currently not hung for ringing.

Video by Jemma Meyer