Prior to the
Great Fire of 1666 the old tower had a ring of five bells. The new tower was completed in 1704 and in 1714 a ring of 8 bells was installed. These were increased to 10 in 1714 with the addition of 2 trebles given by two lost ringing Societies, the Eastern Youths and the British Scholars. The 10 bells were removed for safe keeping in 1940. After the War, the bells were cleaned whereupon four of them were found to be cracked. A lack of funds and enthusiasm for the bells led to them being scrapped in 1976. A fund was set up on 19 September 2005, led by the
Ancient Society of College Youths, with a view to installing a new ring of 12 bells in the tower in a new frame. The money was raised and the bells were cast during 2008/9 by the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry. They were consecrated by the
Bishop of London on 3 March 2009 in the presence of the
Lord Mayor Notable recent
peals have included one of Stedman Cinques on 16 April 2011 to mark the 400th anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter to the Plumbers' Company, a peal of Cambridge Surprise Royal on 28 June 2011 when the Fishmongers' Company gave a dinner for
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at their Hall on the occasion of his 90th birthday and a peal of Avon Delight Maximus on 24 July 2011 in solidarity with the people of Norway following the tragic
massacre on Utoeya Island and in Oslo. On the latter occasion the flag of the Orkney Islands was flown at half mast. The BBC television programme
Still Ringing After All These Years: A Short History of Bells, broadcast on 14 December 2011, included an interview at St Magnus with the Tower Keeper, Dickon Love. ==Ringing times==