How the church bells rang out to sound the Conqueror's curfews

In fact, the word curfew comes from the French couvre feu and it means to cover a fire.

Although William the Conqueror is generally credited with imposing the first curfew in 1068, there is reason to believe such a bell was rung in this country at Oxford long before his arrival, and it was certainly rung on the continent prior to 1068. It was the Conqueror's actions which revived the practice throughout England, together with heavy penalties for those who disobeyed the bell's message.

His concern was not about public disorder, however; it was about putting out one's fire at night. At the time, there was a great fear of fire because most citizens' homes were built of flimsy material such as wood with thatched roofs; the fire occupied a place in the centre of the floor and there was a large hole in the roof through which the smoke escaped. Some people went to bed and left the fire burning, often with disastrous results.

Any resultant fire was also likely to affect other buildings and so the church bell would sound at 8pm to warn everyone to put out their fires.

At the sound of the bell, therefore, they were supposed to rake the burning embers into a heap, then ensure the fire was extinguished or at the least smothered. This was especially important in our towns and cities where the houses were very close together and where fire would spread rapidly.

In resurrecting this law, William also ruled that no lights should show within a household after the curfew bell but this was relaxed in 1103 by Henry I who said that lights, e.g. candles, could show even though the household fire had to be extinguished.

As time passed, the ringing of the curfew bell each night at 8pm was utilised for other purposes. Both Edward I and Edward III made laws which said no-one carrying arms should be on the streets after the curfew bell - this may have been the first time the curfew bell was utilised in an attempt to maintain public order and reduce crime.

There is no doubt it became widely used as a means of keeping the peace with the result that the word curfew came to have another meaning.

Today, we associate the term, not necessarily accompanied by the sound of a bell, as a period during which someone must remain indoors for a specified period as a mean of ensuring they do not break the law. The period of the curfew is often during the night, say between 8pm and 6am, but not necessarily so. It can even extend to several days or relate to particular dates, and the system was often used in wartime.

Today, the curfew bell continues to be sounded in several towns and villages across England but it demands no particular action from us. It is merely symbolic, being the continuation of a long-established custom.

Nonetheless, the curfew system, not necessarily aided by the sound of a bell, has been utilised for some interesting purposes. In 1918, for example, the British Board of Trade was anxious to ensure the people economised on fuel such as electricity and coal, and so it introduced a curfew order. This said that all restaurants had to extinguish their lights by 10pm, that no theatre must show lighting after 10.30 and that no shop front should be illuminated. That curfew order lasted from April until December 1918.

In most cases - if not all - the bells used to announced the curfew were those of the parish church. They could be heard throughout the area concerned and undoubtedly exercised a certain authority - in other words, if the church bells rang, the people knew their message was important and should be heeded.

Throughout history, of course, church bells have rung and continue to ring for many reasons apart from announcing that a service is imminent. They ring joyfully to announce a wedding or mournfully to accompany a funeral or even to announce a parishioner's death. In the latter case, passing bells were rung and from their sound could be deduced the age and sex of the dear departed.

Nine strokes or knowles heralded a man, and these were followed by one stroke for each year of his life; six knowles referred to a woman and three for a child, in each case being followed by rings for the relevant age.

Bells were rung to warn of impending danger too, such as an invasion, but I believe they were also rung in Malton and Middleham to celebrate the victory of a local horse in a classic race.

DURING a recent visit to Bedale, we took the opportunity of exploring the handsome parish church whose patron is St Gregory, otherwise known as Pope Gregory the Great. This is one of the finest examples of a fortified church in the North of England.

In the fourteenth century, the Scots made regular attacks on premises in Northern England and so the owners of farms and large houses did their best to protect themselves by fortifying their homes. The churches followed suit; the battlements on this church are not for mere decoration.

There has been a church on this site for at least 1,200 years, with Bedale possessing one built of stone around the ninth century. The present church, which is surprisingly light and airy, has a chequered history which is accompanied by lots of alterations and improvements over the centuries.

A sense of spaciousness is reinforced by the Lady Chapel which boasts a huge five-light window facing east. This window is unique and is thought to have come from Jervaulx Abbey.

One of my reference books (c1920) supports the belief that the window was added by stating that its stones are all numbered, something that was necessary for its re-construction on a new site, but I did not see those markings.

So far as I am aware, there is no firm proof that this window did come from Jervaulx but the story is sufficiently durable to make it a strong possibility.

One of the main benefactors was Brian Fitzalan, the Lord of Bedale, who was not related to the Fitzalan Howards, Earls of Arundel. Between 1287 and 1300, he added a broad south aisle which extended the Lady Chapel, and a chantry was also founded here by the Fitzalans for three priests to pray for deceased family members.

There is lots of evidence the church's Catholic past, from the carvings on the modern pulpit which depict the life of Pope Gregory to the empty niche above the porch which once contained a statue of the Virgin Mary. Other striking reminders are the amazing wall paintings, including one of St George and the Dragon. This was covered with whitewash during the Reformation but revealed during restoration work in 1926.

It is unusual in that St George has his lance in his left hand! So was St George really left-handed? These old churches can tell such interesting stories!

NO VISIT to Bedale is complete without a tour of Thorp Perrow Arboretum, particularly when its wonderful collection of trees are draped in their stunning autumn colours. We arrived to find huge crowds of visitors, all with the same idea but once inside there was ample space for all. We could tour its 85 acres in comfort and in fact, had our picnic within the grounds as we admired the trees.

It is difficult to mention particular trees because so many are very special but there is a Sicilian fir, one of only 20 or so left in the wild. Another is the Bishop pine which holds its seeds for up to 50 years, releasing them when forest fires of California engulf them. The seeds drop into the ash on the forest floor and then germinate - not surprisingly, these are known as fire-climax trees.

There is the Judas tree, a native of the eastern Mediterranean regions and supposedly the tree upon which Judas hanged himself. The Hungarian oak has leaves which can grow 8ins long while the leaves of the western red cedar smell like pineapples.

Another, the dawn redwood, was thought to have become extinct more than 200m years ago, until one was found in China in 1941 - and there is one here!