Editing Cockney (section)

===Bow Bells' audible range===
[[File:StMaryLeBowChurch.jpg|thumb|upright|The church of [[St Mary-le-Bow]]]]
The church of [[St Mary-le-Bow]] is one of the oldest, largest, and historically most important churches in the City of London. The definition based on being born within earshot of the bells,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/#/bow-bells/4535373284|title=St Mary-le-Bow|website=www.stmarylebow.co.uk|access-date=5 January 2012|archive-date=20 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520115520/http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/#/bow-bells/4535373284|url-status=live}}</ref> cast at the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]], reflects the early definition of the term as relating to all of London.

The audible range of the Bells is dependent on geography and wind conditions. The east is mostly low lying, a factor which combines with the strength and regularity of the prevailing wind, blowing from west-south-west for nearly three-quarters of the year,<ref>Prevailing wind al LHR https://www.heathrow.com/content/dam/heathrow/web/common/documents/company/local-community/noise/reports-and-statistics/reports/community-noise-reports/CIR_Ascot_0914_0215.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004011049/https://www.heathrow.com/content/dam/heathrow/web/common/documents/company/local-community/noise/reports-and-statistics/reports/community-noise-reports/CIR_Ascot_0914_0215.pdf |date=4 October 2020 }}</ref> to carry the sound further to the east, and more often. A 2012 study<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sabin |first=Lamiat |date=2012-06-26 |title=Bow Bells to be given audio boost to 'curb decline of Cockneys' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/bow-bells-to-be-given-audio-boost-to-curb-decline-of-cockneys-7880794.html |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref> showed that in the 19th century, and under typical conditions, the sound of the bells would carry as far as [[Clapton, London|Clapton]], [[Bow, London|Bow]] and [[Stratford, London|Stratford]] in the east but only as far as [[Southwark]] to the [[South London|south]] and [[Holborn]] in the [[West London|west]]. An earlier study<ref>{{Cite news |title=Cockney {{!}} Oxford English Dictionary |url=http://public.oed.com/aspects-of-english/english-in-use/cockney/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20180303014212/http://public.oed.com:80/aspects-of-english/english-in-use/cockney/ |archive-date=2018-03-03 |access-date=2025-01-09 |work=Oxford English Dictionary |language=en-US}}</ref> suggested the sound would have carried even further. The 2012 study showed that in the modern era, noise pollution means that the bells can only be heard as far as [[Shoreditch]]. According to legend, [[Dick Whittington]] heard the bells 4.5 miles away at [[Highgate]] Hill, in what is now [[north London]]. The studies mean that it is credible that Whittington might have heard them on one of the infrequent days that the wind blows from the south.

The church of St Mary-le-Bow was destroyed in 1666 by the [[Great Fire of London]] and rebuilt by [[Sir Christopher Wren]]. Although the bells were destroyed again in 1941 in [[the Blitz]], they had fallen silent on 13 June 1940 as part of the [[British anti-invasion preparations of World War II]]. Before they were replaced in 1961, there was a period when, by the "within earshot" definition, no "Bow Bell" Cockneys could be born.<ref>J. Swinnerton, ''The London Companion'' (Robson, 2004), p. 21.</ref> The use of such a literal definition produces other problems since the area around the church is no longer residential, and the noise pollution in that area combined with the absence of maternity wards there means that few are born within earshot.{{Sfnp|Wright|1981|p=11}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smallman |first=Etan |date=2012-06-25 |title=Muted Bow Bells drive Cockneys "to extinction" |url=https://metro.co.uk/2012/06/25/muted-bow-bells-drive-cockneys-to-extinction-479876/ |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=Metro |language=en}}</ref>