Parnell
Cathedral bells ringing rounds.
- S-CSouth-City line
- South family
- Brass signature
Why Parnell sounds like this
Bells ring rounds down a scale, twice, then a low bell closes. Auckland's first ring of eight bells arrived in 1863 and hung in a wooden tower at Bishopscourt in Parnell, before moving to St Matthew-in-the-City in 1906. Ringing rounds, each bell in turn from highest to lowest, is how bell-ringers begin, so the chime rings them where they started.
Inside the chime
Parnell's chime runs about 4 seconds, in two parts. Every station's chime ends on its family's signature, so you can tell roughly where you are by ear.
- 1
Parnell's own motif 3.2 s
Cathedral bells ringing rounds. No other station plays it.
- 2
The South family's brass 0.8 s
A short brass note, then a longer one a fourth higher. With 21 stations, Grafton and Parnell down to Pukekohe and Manukau, it is the largest family.