Old North Church to Ring Her Historic Bells in Memory of Those Who Died in Newtown, Connecticut

Old North Church in Boston will join with churches around the country and ring their bells at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, December 21 in memory of those who died last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy called for bells to ring twenty-six times to honor the twenty-six victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. After ringing twenty-six bells, Old North’s bell ringers will ring a quarter peal, which last about forty minutes.

Old North’s set of eight bells are the oldest peal of bells outside of England. Cast in Gloucester England in 1744, they are still rung every weekend by the MIT Guild of Bellringers. The first bell ringing guild was founded in 1750 by Paul Revere and several of his teenage friends.