Mention the name Fabian Stedman to most people and they would probably say they haven’t heard of him.

But bells across the country, including those at St Mary’s Church in Dover, will ring out in his honour this weekend.

It will mark the 300th anniversary of the death of Mr Stedman, who is widely celebrated among bell ringers because of the enormous influence he had upon on the development of the familiar and evocative style of bell ringing known as “change ringing”, instantly recognisable as typically English.

“The sound of church bells across the countryside and in our towns and cities is quite distinctive, with its ever-changing and seemingly repetitive cadences,” said Peter Dale, of St Mary’s.

“Yet in truth not one of sequences is repeated. Bell ringers have ‘methods’ of stitching together patterns of permutations, with the complexity and mathematical rigour needed to perform sequences at the rate of 30 per minute whilst avoiding duplication.”

Mr Stedman is often called the father of change ringing. His principle for an odd number of bells is based upon ringing the six permutations possible with three bells while the other bells work in pairs. After each “six” the ringers change working partners.