Evidence status: DOCUMENTED
One bell.
Then silence.
Then another.
The slow toll of a church bell has become one of the most recognisable sounds of death.
Originally, however, the bell was not always announcing that someone had died.
Sometimes it was asking you to pray because they were still dying.
The Short Answer
Christian communities in Britain and Ireland historically used bells at several stages surrounding death.
The passing bell could be rung while a person was dying so that anyone hearing it would pray for the departing soul.
A bell could then announce that death had occurred.
Another toll might accompany or announce the funeral.
Over time these different practices became blurred together, leaving the general modern idea of a solemn bell toll for the dead.
The custom also served a very practical purpose before telephones and rapid communication:
the bell told the community that one of its members had died.
What We Know
The passing bell has a long history in English Christianity.
William Andrews's Old Church Lore records that the bell was rung while a person was passing from life, allowing those who heard it to pray for the dying person.
He quotes Elizabethan regulations instructing that when a Christian was “in passing”, the bell should be tolled and the curate summoned. A short peal could follow death, with further ringing surrounding burial.
That distinction is important.
The original passing bell was not simply a death announcement.
It could begin before death.
Later came what we would more readily call the death knell or funeral toll.
How It Became a Habit
In a pre-digital village, a church bell was mass communication.
It called people to worship.
Warned of danger.
Marked celebrations.
Measured communal time.
And announced death.
Irish folklore preserves the practical role clearly.
One account explains that when somebody died, relatives informed the sacristan, who immediately rang the dead bell.
Why?
So parishioners would know someone had died and could say a prayer for the deceased.
In parts of Scotland, a bellman could physically walk through the district ringing a handbell and announcing both the death and the date of burial.
The bell was prayer, ritual and local news service all at once.
The Story Everyone Tells
An older supernatural explanation says bells frightened away evil spirits gathering around the dying person.
Welsh folklore recorded exactly that belief: hostile spirits were thought to wait for the soul as it left the body, while the ringing bell drove them away.
This has sometimes been presented as the original reason funeral bells were invented.
That goes further than the evidence allows.
Church authorities themselves explained passing bells in terms of prayer for the dying and the dead.
Supernatural folk explanations grew alongside formal religious practice.
What the Evidence Actually Says
The historical functions overlap.
A bell could:
summon prayer,
tell neighbours someone was dying,
announce death,
identify that a parishioner had died,
signal an approaching funeral,
and solemnise burial.
Later generations tended to compress all of that into:
the funeral bell.
So:
DOCUMENTED: Passing bells were rung while people were dying.
DOCUMENTED: Church regulations explicitly connected the ringing with prayer and pastoral attendance.
DOCUMENTED: Bells also announced deaths and funerals to the local community.
DOCUMENTED: Some folk traditions believed bell ringing repelled evil spirits.
WELL SUPPORTED: The modern funeral toll developed from several related forms of death-related bell ringing rather than one single use.
Different Elsewhere
How bells were rung could convey information.
Different numbers of strokes or patterns might identify whether the deceased was a man, woman or child.
Local customs differed considerably.
And funeral bells have not disappeared.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, Church of England churches and cathedrals across England were encouraged to toll their bells in mourning.
The technology may be medieval.
The sound remains instantly understandable.
Why It Stuck
Because a bell can make private loss public.
One household may be grieving behind a closed door.
The bell carries that grief across the entire village.
People stop.
Listen.
Count.
Wonder who has died.
For centuries, that sound told communities something simple:
someone who was here yesterday is gone today.
Related Curiosities
Why Do We Hold a Wake After Someone Dies?
Why Do We Put Flowers at Funerals?
Why Are Coffins Traditionally Carried Feet First?
Sources & Further Reading
William Andrews, Old Church Lore — historical passing-bell customs and Elizabethan regulations.
National Folklore Collection of Ireland — account of the “dead bell” announcing a parishioner's death and prompting prayer.
J. Maxwell Wood — Scottish use of bells and bellmen to announce death and funeral arrangements.
Church of England — modern continuation of mourning bell tolling following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Last checked: 19 September 2026