Hand bells are a very useful teaching aid. They are often used to explain the art of change-ringing, in which the bells sound in a different order each time they are rung. In the 19th century it was quite common for a tower to obtain a set of hand bells that matched the notes of the bells at the top of the church tower. 

Moving on from demonstrating the basics, ringing changes on hand bells can be quite challenging. Usually each ringer takes two bells, one in each hand. Top experts even ring four bells, holding two in each hand. 

The bell ringers soon realised that their hand bells had great potential as a musical instrument in their own right and tune ringing groups sprang up. And so it is today, some church towers have their own handbell teams other groups are completely independent of church tower bell ringers. The larger groups, sometimes using in excess of 100 bells, are often described as hand bell choirs or hand bell orchestras. 

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Photo courtesy of the 
Whitechapel Bell Foundry