In 1872 a set of eight bells were purchased by public subscription from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, arriving in Melbourne on the Cutty Sark and transported by train to Bendigo. They were installed in the tower within fourteen days of their arrival and rung by the swing method on Good Friday 1873 (muffled) and unmuffled on Easter Day. The equipment proved inadequate for the task, however, and when after seven years the bearings became worn the bells were for 80 years only able to be rung clavier style (a rope working a clapper).

The bells were cleaned up and rehabilitated in 1952, and a crew of ringers again set them swinging, but the framework was not fully stable and the ringing was very hard - "the hardest going ring in Australia". In 1962 the whole works were dismantled and a new frame for ringing by the full turn "rope and wheel" method was installed. Unfortunately the bells were cracked during work on them and the whole set had to be returned to London for recasting. The set was eventually installed and dedicated in 1964.

The largest bell, called "the tenor", weighs 14 cwt 2 qr and 4 Ibs (735 kg) and the smallest bell, called "the treble", weighs 4 cwt 3 qr and 20 Ibs. The full set of bells weighs 3316kg. A ringer is required for each bell which is hung in such a manner as to ring a full circle of 360 degrees with each stroke from upright position to upright position enabling the full sound of the bell to be heard in the traditional English style as against the bells of Sacred Heart Cathedral which are rung electronically. The bells do not ring tunes but follow specific mathematical patterns that are learned by the ringers. What a prospective ringer requires is a degree of physical strength and co-ordination, a sense of timing and an ability to work with a team. The bells are rung every Sunday from 9.30 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. and a practice session is held on Wednesday evenings between 7.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. Visitors are welcome to come along and see what is involved in bellringing (or campanology as it is also known) but if ringing is in progress please stand quietly at the top of the stairs. Access to the ringing chamber is via the spiral staircase and then a wooden staircase at the West end of the Cathedral. The members of the Cathedral Band also belong to the Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers that holds an Annual Ringing Festival at one of the many ringing centres around Australia and New Zealand. Should anyone be interested in finding out more about ringing and is interested in learning, please contact Joe Fulton (Tower Captain -5443 0539). The ringers practice each Wednesday at 7pm.