All Saints' Church
The bells of the Parish Church of All Saints is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales. Not only are the peal of bells of note, listed it is said for the purity of their tone,the Church itself is remarkable for its size, beauty, interior monuments, and its yew-filled churchyard. The bells are traditionally one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and commemorated in an anonymously written rhyme:
- Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,
- Snowdon's mountain without its people,
- Overton yew trees, St Winefride wells,
- Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.
The earliest record of the peal of Gresford bells dates back only to 1714. An apparatus was installed in the belfry in 1877 so that all eight bells could be chimed by one person. The bells are rung regularly for church services, and the old custom of ringing on November 5th is still continued, though it is unclear whether this is to commemorate the successful landing of William of Orange in 1688, or the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes to blow up Parliament in 1605. During World War II, the custom of tolling the passing bell was discontinued, as the bells were to be rung only as an invasion warning.