Many peals listed here have notations attached to them. Some of these notations are self-explanatory, but others are abbreviations, possibly with some numbers appended. These latter are typically descriptions of printed sources describing the peal.
The most common such abbreviation is 'RW,' denoting The Ringing World. All peals rung since early 1990 have a Ringing World citation of the form RW followed by eight digits, grouped into two sets of four digits by a full stop. These describe the issue number of the The Ringing World and the page on which the peal report appears. For example, a peal published on page 54 of issue number 4264 (January 15, 1993) would have the note RW4264.0054.
Earlier peals only occasionally contain a Ringing World citation, and then of a different form. Most commonly this is of the form a two digit year, a slash, and a page number.
In some cases, particularly for early peals, other sources are quoted, using the following abbreviations:
| A | Argus |
| ABG | Aris's Birmingham Gazette |
| ANC | Ayscough's Nottingham Courant |
| AOWJ | Applebee's Original Weekly Journal |
| AWC | Adams's Weekly Courant |
| BCG | Bath & Cheltenham Gazette |
| BDP | Birmingham Daily Post |
| BG | Bristol Gazette |
| BH | Brighton Herald |
| BJ | Bath Journal |
| BL | Bell's Life in London |
| BLM | Blackburn Mail |
| BM | Bristol Mercury |
| BN | Bell News |
| BNC | Burbage's Nottingham Chronicle |
| BNP | Bury & Norwich Post |
| BO | Bradford Observer |
| BPAUA | Bury Post, And Universal Advertiser |
| BPB | Bromley Peal Book |
| BPSEFP | Brighton Patriot & South of England Free Press |
| BrJ | Bristol Journal |
| BS | Blackburn Standard |
| BWJ | Berrow's Worcester Journal |
| BWO | Bradford and Wakefield Observer |
| C | Browne mss. - information from Revd. A Clayton |
| CB | Church Bells |
| CBNJ | Creswell & Burbage's Nottingham Journal |
| CC | Cheltenham Chronicle or Chelmsford Chronicle or Cambridge Chronicle |
| CC Peals | Central Council Collection of Peal Board Transcripts |
| CCJ | Cambridge Chronicle & Journal |
| CG | Chelmsford Gazette |
| ChJ | Cheltenham Journal |
| CHR | Change Ringing - The History of an English Art |
| CJ | Canterbury Journal |
| CJTC | Country Journal or The Craftsman |
| CLM | Caledonian Mercury |
| CM | Charles Middleton’s book of compositions |
| CNJ | Creswell's Nottingham Journal |
| CP | W Lee’s transcript of Charles Payne’s peal book |
| CR | History & Art of Change Ringing |
| CVM | Coventry Mercury |
| CY | Ancient Society of College Youths |
| DJ | Daily Journal |
| DM | Derby Mercury |
| DPB | Daily Post-Boy |
| DUR | Daily Universal Register |
| E | Era |
| EIO | E J Osborne mss. |
| EM | Evening Mail |
| EP | Evening Post |
| ES | Essex Standard |
| ESch | Eastern Scholars |
| ESJ | Eddowes’ Shrewsbury (or Shropshire) Journal |
| FER | F E Robinson "Among the Bells" |
| FFBJ | Felix Farley's Bristol Journal |
| FWJ | Fog's Weekly Journal |
| G | Gazetteer |
| GA | General Advertiser |
| GEP | General Evening Post |
| GJ | Gloucester Journal |
| GNDA | Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser |
| HC | Hampshire Chronicle |
| HCWYA | Huddersfield and West Yorkshire Advertiser |
| HE | Halifax Express |
| HG | Halifax Guardian |
| HHE | Halifax & Huddersfield Express |
| HJ | Hereford Journal |
| HMSS | Hardcastle MSS |
| HO | Huddersfield Observer |
| HP | Hull Packet |
| HPERT | Hull Packet & East Riding Times |
| HS | Horsham Society Peal Book |
| HT | Hereford Times |
| HuC | Huddersfield Chronicle |
| IC | Independent Chronicle |
| IG | Ipswich Gazette |
| IJ | Ipswich Journal |
| JCM | Jopson's Coventry Mercury |
| JCY | Junior Ancient Society of College Youths |
| JD | John Day's Peal Book |
| JNPB | John New's Place Book |
| JOJ | Jackson's Oxford Journal |
| JRCY | Junior Royal Cumberland Youths |
| JY | James Young’s peal book |
| KC | Kentish Chronicle |
| KG | Kentish Gazette |
| KP | Kentish Post |
| LC | Leicester Chronicle |
| LCA | London County Association |
| LEP | London Evening Post |
| LEPBC | Lloyd's Evening Post and British Chronicle |
| LG | Lancaster Gazette |
| LH | Leicester Herald |
| LI | Leeds Intelligencer |
| LiM | Liverpool Mercury |
| LJ | Leicester Journal |
| LM | Leeds Mercury |
| LNJ | Leicester & Nottingham Journal |
| LonC | London Chronicle |
| LonJ | London Journal |
| LPNLEP | London Packet or New Lloyd's Evening Post |
| LRSM | Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury |
| LWLN | Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper |
| LY | London Youths |
| MC | Manchester Chronicle |
| MCLA | Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser |
| MG | Manchester Guardian |
| MJ | Maidstone Journal |
| MM | Manchester Mercury |
| MorC | Morning Chronicle |
| MP | Morning Post |
| MT | Manchester Times |
| MTG | Manchester Times & Gazette |
| MWJ | Mist's Weekly Journal |
| NC | Norfolk Chronicle |
| NCou | Newcastle Courant |
| NewC | Newcastle Chronicle |
| NG | Norwich Gazette |
| NJ | Nottingham Journal |
| NM | Norwich Mercury or Northampton Mercury |
| NS | Northern Star |
| NSLGA | Northern Star & Leeds General Advertiser |
| OA | Oswestry Advertiser |
| OC | Oldham Chronicle |
| OG | Oxford Gazette |
| OPA | The Oracle and Public Advertiser |
| OS | Oldham Standard |
| OUH | Oxford University & City Herald |
| OxC | Oxford Chronicle |
| PA | Public Advertiser |
| PB | Peal Board |
| PC | Preston Chronicle |
| PEP | Penny Evening Post |
| PG | Preston Guardian |
| PGAMI | Parker's General Advertiser and Morning Intelligencer |
| PHJ | Pugh's Hereford Journal |
| PLP | Penny London Post |
| PM | Post Man |
| PSN | Mss collection of Philip Sadler of Norwich |
| PY | Painswick Youths |
| RCY | Royal Cumberland Youths |
| RI | Redditch Indicator |
| RM | Reading Mercury |
| RMOG | OGRM - Reading Mercury & Oxford Gazette |
| RO | Rochdale Observer |
| RW | Ringing World |
| RWJ | Read's Weekly Journal |
| RWJBG | Read's Weekly Journal Or British Gazetteer |
| S | Sottanstall, Elements of Campanologia |
| SC | Shrewsbury Chronicle or Suffolk Chronicle or Sheffield Courant |
| SCY | Stourbridge Chapel Youths Peal Book |
| SI | Sheffield Independent |
| SJ | Salopian Journal |
| SJC | St. James's Chronicle |
| SJCBEP | St. James's Chronicle or the British Evening Post |
| SJEP | St. James' Evening Post |
| SJY | St James Youths |
| SL | Samuel Lawrence’s peal book |
| SM | Stamford Mercury |
| SMS | St Martin's Society Peal Book |
| SR | Sheffield Register |
| SRI | Sheffield and Rotherham Independent |
| SSG | Mss collection of Samuel Slater of Glemsford |
| STY | Society of Trinity Youths |
| SWA | Sussex Weekly Advertiser |
| TG | Philip Sadler’s transcript of Thomas Greenwood’s peal book |
| TS | The Standard |
| TT | The Times |
| US | Union Scholars |
| USIW | Union Soc I of Wight |
| WA | Warwick Advertiser |
| WC | Wolverhampton Chronicle |
| WEP | Whitehall Evening Post |
| WEPLI | Whitehall Evening Post or London Intelligencer |
| WH | Worcester Herald |
| WHJ | Wakefield & Halifax Journal |
| WJ | Wakefield Journal & West Riding Herald or Worcester Journal |
| WJLPM | Westminster Journal and London Political Miscellany |
| WMC | Wheeler's Manchester Chronicle |
| WR | Weekly Register |
| WrA | Wrexham Advertiser |
| YA | Yorkshire Association |
| YC | York Courant |
| YCh | York Chronicle |
| YG | Yorkshire Gazette |
| YH | York Herald |