The first mention of the Borisogleb bells appears in the monastery chronicles of 1566, when Tsar Ivan the Terrible gifted the Borisogleb Monastery a bell weighing 138 poods. This bell was the largest in the belfry until 1758, when a new bell weighing 261 poods was cast with the monastery's funds. The set of bells in the belfry changed multiple times: bells sometimes broke and were recast. For instance, in 1817, the bell of Ivan the Terrible cracked and was recast with the addition of new copper.

By the early 20th century, there were 9 bells in the belfry, with the largest remaining the 261 pood bell. In 1913, the Borisogleb peasants appealed to the monastery's abbot, Archimandrite Vlasiy, for permission to raise funds for a new bell that would match the grandeur of the monastery. Money was collected from the community, with significant contributions from St. Petersburg merchants Alexander Ivanovich Ulybin and Vasily Ivanovich Cherepenikov, as well as Archimandrite Vlasiy. A bell weighing 606 poods was cast in Yaroslavl at the factory of the Olovyanishnikov merchants. It was solemnly raised on October 13, 1913, and the consecration was conducted by the Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov, the future Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Tikhon Bellavin.

After the revolution, the requisition of church valuables, including bells, began. Representatives of the trust "Rudmetalltorg" arrived at the Borisogleb Monastery in October 1929. Locals recalled that a few days before the bells were removed, the monastery gates were closed and armed guards were placed. The removed bells were smashed for easier transportation. By the end of the 1930s, 99% of the bells in Russia were destroyed, bell foundries ceased operations, and the skills of bell ringers were lost.

The first ringing of the bells after nearly sixty years of silence was heard by the Borisogleb residents in August 1988. At that time, 18 ancient bells, collected by the workers of the Borisogleb branch of the Rostov Museum from nearby villages and settlements, were raised to the belfry. These bells accompanied the first service in the newly reopened Borisogleb Cathedral in 1989 and the first Irinarkhovsky cross procession in 1997. After the removal of these bells in January 2009, they were moved to the storage of the Rostov Museum. By Easter 2009, ten new bells, cast in Tutayev at the workshop of master Nikolai Shuvalov, were raised to the belfry. The largest of them weighs 5200 kg. This set was gifted to the monastery by Moscow entrepreneurs and patrons, the Ananyev brothers, in honor of the 645th anniversary of the Borisogleb Monastery. Now, in the morning silence of Borisogleb, the sounds of the chimes resonate. In June 2009, the hourly chime was restored in the belfry, and in 2010, icon painter Elena Lavrinenko re-painted the fresco "John the Baptist, Angel of the Desert" in the niche between the arched spans of the upper tier.