The bells at Grade 1 listed Elmley Castle Church in the Bredon Hill Group are being restored after the project group was successful in securing almost £120,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Four of the church’s current six bells will be retired and replaced with new bells which will be lighter and much easier to ring.
The project to replace the bells began in 2010 with one new bell cast in 2011. The National Lottery Heritage grant, along with other donations and fundraising in the parish, will enable two more new bells to be cast and then the three bells hung as part of a new ring, with the ‘retired bells’ rehung above so they can be preserved. The current oak frame for the bells, which dates from 1878, will also be replaced with a much stronger iron frame and new supporting beams.
Project Manager and Tower Captain, Steve Bowley, said: “Our oldest bell dates from 1420 and the current bells are very heavy and almost impossible to tune any longer. Most of our original bells came from other churches and were not necessarily the right note! As well as being lighter and easier to ring, the new bells will therefore be more tuneful. They will also be fitted with electromagnetic hammers so they can be computer programmed to play different tunes remotely.”
The bellringers completed some fundraising themselves, ringing 10 ‘quarter peals’ around Bredon Hill in one day last year. The project team also received grants from the Worcester Association of Bellringers and from Taylor’s Foundry who are funding one of the bells in memory of a former bell hanger who also rang the bells at Elmley Castle.
Steve and his team hope that the new bells will encourage more people to join them as ringers. It is traditional to decorate bells before they are hung, and the team are planning to ask the school to help, opening a conversation for them to be involved with bellringing generally. A camera will also be put into the belfry with a screen in the church so it will be possible to watch the bells ringing!
Steve continued: “Bellringing is not always accessible, and our new ring will help to make it more so. It’s both physically and mentally challenging and is a great way of keeping fit and healthy as well as a very social hobby. We owe it to future generations to make sure that this ancient craft doesn’t die out.”
The final peal of the ‘old six’ was heard at the end of August. The process of removing the bells, casting new ones and then hanging them is likely to take a few months but it is hoped it will be complete by the new year.
