Bell tower in a medieval town: how it worked

Bell tower

Also called: belfry

A tall tower whose great bell told the town the time, called people together and warned of fire.

Used for

Telling the time, calling meetings, giving alarms

Bells made of

Bronze: copper and tin

Town belfries

Built by towns in Flanders and northern France

Famous example

The Belfry of Bruges (Belgium)

History The voice of the town

Before clocks and phones, bells told everyone what was happening. They rang for church services, for the start and end of the working day, for the curfew at night and for markets. A fast, wild ringing meant danger: fire, flood or attack.

Bells were cast in bronze, a mix of copper and tin, by pouring hot metal into a mold, often right beside the church because big bells were so hard to move.

The Belfry of Bruges, Belgium, rising over the market square. Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

History Towers of freedom

In the towns of Flanders and northern France, citizens built their own belfries, separate from the church. A belfry showed that a town had won the right to run its own affairs. Its strongroom kept the town's charters and money safe. A group of 56 belfries in Belgium and France is now a World Heritage Site.

The Belfry of Bruges, begun in the 1200s, is about 83 meters tall and has a carillon of 47 bells that plays tunes.

The drum of the carillon in the Belfry of Ghent, Belgium. Its pins play tunes on the bells by themselves, like a music box. Photo: Julian Lupyan, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Art In this artwork

Here the bell hangs in an open belfry on the tower of a small stone church. Town belfries in Flanders were often much taller and stood apart from the church.