CHURCH BELLS across the borough will be tolled today as the nation mourns for the Queen.
Parish churches, chapels and cathedrals are being encouraged to open for prayer or special services, and, at noon, toll bells for an hour.
The death of the Sovereign is one of the rare occasions when fully muffled bells are sounded – a technique to create an echo by fitting pads to both sides of the bell clapper.
Churches will also open books of condolence for parishioners to sign, while flags will fly at half-mast until the day after the Queen’s funeral, details of which have yet to be announced.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Revd Justin Welby, paid tribute, saying: “The Late Queen leaves behind a truly extraordinary legacy: one that is found in almost every corner of our national life, as well as the lives of so many nations around the world, and especially in the Commonwealth.
“It was my great privilege to meet Her Late Majesty on many occasions. Her clarity of thinking, capacity for careful listening, inquiring mind, humour, remarkable memory and extraordinary kindness invariably left me conscious of the blessing that she has been to us all.
“In my prayers at this time I also give thanks for the marriage of The Late Queen and His Late Royal Highness Prince Philip. Theirs was an inspirational example of Christian marriage – rooted in friendship, nourished by shared faith, and turned outwards in service to others.
“May Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II rest in peace and rise in glory.”
