Gloucester's medieval chimes rang on eight bells, and the Church kept them after the Reformation
A History of the Chiming Machines at Gloucester's Cathedral and City Churches [pdf]
A history of the chiming machines at Gloucester Cathedral and city churches, from a 1525 indenture paying a blacksmith to repair a chime on eight bells and two plainsong hymns, through 18th-century tune-changing mechanisms, to electrification and decay. It traces how these weight-driven barrels worked, why they were prestigious, and how the cathedral's bells survived the Dissolution by royal order in 1553.
It may well have been unique in having a chime ringing on eight bells, at a time when clock technology was a relatively new and fast-developing craft.